by Kyle Molyneux | Wed 19 Aug 2020
Building bike jumps with Bobcats
In South Africa, a Bobcat B730 backhoe loader and E55 mini-excavator have proved themselves to be the machines of choice for constructing some of the best mountain bike (MTB) trails ever seen in the country and anywhere around the globe.
Working on land forming part of the Vuurberg Wine Farm in Stellenbosch, the Bobcat B730 and E55 have been used under the direction of professional trail builders to construct trails with jumps of a magnitude that have never been seen before, providing an unequalled challenge to riders from all over the world. Kevin Purcell, National Sales Manager for Bobcat South Africa, the exclusive national dealer for Bobcat said, “To build parks and tracks like these, and the big exciting jumps that are required, needs specialised equipment. Our Bobcat compact machines are ideal for this unique application. We are proud to be associated with these prestigious events, which ensure wonderful experiences for participants and organisers alike.”
One of the most notable tracks involving the Bobcat machines was that built for the international DarkFEST 2020 Mountain Bike (MTB) event held earlier this year on the Stellenbosch site and involving top competitors from 11 countries. The Bobcat machines played key roles in assisting course builder, UK MTB star and Red Bull Rampage best trick award winner, Sam Reynolds, to design and construct the biggest ever jumps seen at an event like this one.
Bobcat South Africa supplied the Bobcat B730 backhoe loader for the works on the new DarkFEST trail, working together with the E55, which is owned by the Vuurberg estate and was purchased from the Capetown branch of Bobcat South Africa. Commenting on the role played specifically by the Bobcat B730 backhoe loader, Sam Reynolds said, “We used the Bobcat B730 to help build the DarkFEST jumps. It has been super useful for jobs around the farm for moving dirt around in the tighter places where you can’t get in a larger excavator, digging drainage to make sure the water doesn’t run on the jump. It has a super powerful turbo engine with over 100hp and we would not have been able to build the DarkFEST trail without this beast.”
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