Bobcat 731, the loader in continuous service for almost a quarter of a century. Now working for the next generation

For both brothers, this loader is not just a machine, it is part of their family. Their father, who died a few years ago, was the one who taught them to operate it, hence their emotional connection with the loader. José María Mompeán López acquired the loader as an exceptional investment at that time. With a great effort and thanks to the help of Mr. Marcos Marín, official Bobcat dealer for the region of Murcia.

Enrique and Valentín Mompeán as owners of this "historic" machine, and managers of Leñas el Malecón (Murcia), a company dedicated to the supply of firewood for homes, from fields in the region, comment: “We bought this Bobcat loader on the advice of Marcos Marín. He encouraged my father to buy it to improve day-to-day productivity and it is still doing its job 24 years later.”

This loader was the one most suited to his needs. At that time, Bobcat did not have the wide range of compact equipment that it has now. Furthermore, skid-steer loaders were associated with the construction industry, so they opened a new door to another type of application.

“With the Bobcat 731 skid-steer loader, we do all the tasks relating to the handling of the wood, such as loading and unloading of trucks, or piling up shavings and dowels. We move 400 tonnes of firewood each year.”

“Its undoubted sturdiness, its agility and its precision save us time on provisioning work and give us the option of supplying our customers with more. We use a grill bucket to handle and move the stumps of wood and another to clear and extract the earth.”

Beforehand, they used to do this manually, with hand trucks. It was hard work, and the Bobcat loader improved quality, saved them time, and was safer and more comfortable.

Leñas El Malecón has never had any other loaders. As well as its everyday tasks, it also uses it for other types of work to maintain the installations or for private jobs in the field of construction.

Bobcat original components for maintenance

Maquinaria Marcos Marín has done the servicing and tuning on this machine. It has also carried out various repairs to keep it running until today, always using original parts for its maintenance.

“We replaced some parts of the engine – you could say we gave it a new heart – to keep it going for many more years. We like its versatility," adds Enrique Mompeán.

"It has been a jack-of-all-trades. And we have never considered replacing it because it continues to work perfectly. On one occasion we were offered to buy it in exchange for a new one from another manufacturer with very good conditions and we didn't accept."

It’s our Bobcat and we have no reason to replace it

"The loader has more than paid for itself, but it is not just about economic value. We have seen the new models at trade fairs and they are impressive, a whole new level in terms of the design of the modern cab and its performance. They’re great, but we don’t need to replace ours since it does everything we need it to. It’s our Bobcat."