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New Bobcat R-Series Telehandlers arrive in UK

Launched earlier this year, the first of Bobcat’s new R-Series telehandlers have been delivered in the UK. The three T41.140SLP 14m Stage 5 telehandlers form part of an order for five T41.140SLPs purchased by Truelove Property and Construction Ltd, based in Lincoln in England. With standard tyres fitted, the T41.140SLP offers a maximum lift capacity of 4.1 tonnes, a maximum lift height of 13.65m and a maximum forward reach of 9.8m.

Established in 1968, Truelove Property and Construction is a family-run business based in the heart of Lincolnshire with over 50 years' experience and the completion of nearly 1000 new homes to its name. Truelove also has a subsidiary farming business called Happy Days Farming Company.

The new T41.140SLP telehandlers were supplied by AMS Bobcat Ltd, the local Authorised Bobcat Dealer based in Scunthorpe. Barrie Truelove, Owner and Director of Truelove Property and Construction Ltd, commented on the move to Bobcat telehandlers. “We were not satisfied with the performance of our previous brand of telehandlers. We chose to replace them with the Bobcat telehandlers for a number of reasons including their suitability for our applications, the price, the lead time and the quality and locality of service offered by AMS Bobcat. It has been a very successful transition as all of our operators are very happy with the new Bobcat telehandlers.”

The new telehandlers are in use on current Truelove property developments at Kirton Lindsey and Nettleham in Lincolnshire, where the company is building prestigious, individual two-storey family homes designed and built for modern open plan living with bespoke kitchens and bathrooms. Truelove builds all its houses to the LABC standard, one of the three main providers of structural or ‘new home’ warranties in the UK and the company abides by the Consumer Code for Home Builders 2020.

Presiding over some of the new Bobcat telehandlers on his project is Site Manager, Henry Truelove, Barrie’s son. Henry recently completed his first Ironman challenge in Mallorca in Spain, where he performed well, narrowly missing the podium in his class. He also dedicated his race to raising well over £2,000 towards the treatment costs for the mother of a good friend. She was seriously injured during a horse riding accident and was put into an induced coma for several weeks and is only now learning to walk and talk again.

​One of the T41.140SLP units is also being used on Worlaby Farm near Brigg, where it is being employed to lift and handle steel components being used to build a new 10,000-tonne grain store at the farm. Worlaby Farm forms part of Happy Days Farming Company. Truelove bought its first farm in January 1994 at Farndon near Newark in Nottinghamshire and then went on to buy Worlaby Farm and another in Kingerby at Market Rasen. The company has continued to grow with the acquisition of three further farms since then, with one at Snitterby in 1996 and two at Nettleham in 2006 and 2016.

Typically, the Bobcat T41.140SLP telehandler is used in construction applications, but this model can also find other uses in agriculture as demonstrated at Happy Days Farming, where the telehandlers are used for applications such as loading and stacking hay bales. Happy Days Farming mainly concentrates on arable farming with over 5,000 acres under management, but the company has also moved recently into pig production. Happy Days Farming employs all of their own labour and runs the farms themselves – the company is continually looking to expand and seek new opportunities in the farming market.

As mentioned above, three of the new T41.140SLP telehandlers are the first of the new R-Series models to be sold in the UK. As well as the T40.140SLP, the new generation R-Series telehandler range provides a choice of 11 more models with Stage 5 engines. The new R-Series telehandlers cover lifting heights from 6 to 18m with maximum lifting capacities between 2.6 and 4.1 tonnes.

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