Changing the Landscape

Skid steers have served as the backbone of Tracy Bertog’s landscaping business for more than 20 years. Soon after Bertog started his landscaping business at the age of 16 with the purchase of a dump truck, he learned that owning good equipment was the key to working quickly and delivering fast results for his customers. Thirty years later, he now leads Bertog Landscape Co., a landscape maintenance firm located in the Chicago suburb of Wheeling, Ill., that handles everything from landscaping and snow removal to new construction, lighting and irrigation work.

When it comes to meeting customer deadlines, Bertog relies on the power and durability of his fleet of 24 New Holland skid steers. The machines perform commercial and residential landscape maintenance during the spring and summer and tackle snow removal — which accounts for roughly 30 percent of the company’s business — in the winter. Bertog bought his first skid steer (a new New Holland L783) more than 20 years ago. During a product demonstration, it lifted more weight and reached higher than his current skid steer.

“The skid steer picked up a whole pallet of bricks, which our other machine couldn’t do,” he says. As a result, Bertog bought his first New Holland machine and has been a customer ever since. “We use our skid steers on a daily basis, including our L783.”

Bertog loves skid steers because they fulfill his specific demands. Snow removal contractors, for instance, have special needs. “Our skid steers can lift more than 2,000 lbs of snow, which is crucial when piling snow in narrow areas between townhome driveways,” he says.

“Skid steers have so much force to push and lift,” said Efrain Estrada, fleet manager for Bertog Landscape.

“We do more snow removal in less time with these machines.” Estrada adds that the compact frame and fast cycle times on skid steers lead to efficient snow removal and landscaping work. He ranks New Holland skid steers at the top in terms of durability, horsepower and the ability to maneuver in narrow spaces.

As fleet manager, Estrada also oversees the comprehensive maintenance program on the company’s skid steers. Each spring, he checks tire levels, tail lights, directional signals, hydraulic lines and belt tension. He also checks the steering mechanism and the fuel lines for any possible leaks. In the fall, the skid steers are prepared for the upcoming snow removal season. Estrada flushes the engine coolant, checks the heaters in the cabs and inspects the hydraulic oil filters.

Estrada says the company is always on the lookout for skid steer attachments because they make the machines even more useful. “We have more than 50 attachments in our fleet,” he says. “They attach quickly and easily to our skid steers, which gives us a bigger return on our investment. To get ready for the snow season, we recently purchased three buckets and six snow blade attachments.”

For landscaping work, pallet forks are ideal for lifting saplings from flatbed trucks and moving them around the company lot. The company also uses power rakes to grade and level soil for sod installation.

“There isn’t a single job we work on where we don’t use one or two skid steers,” Bertog says. “We use them for trenching, loading and unloading trucks, digging holes and installing irrigation.”

Dave December is a marketing manager for New Holland Construction, based in Racine, Wis.