This need for productivity and safety recently led Setz to add a JCB Teleskid—the first skid steer and compact track loader with a telescopic boom—to his operation.
Setz’s wheeled Teleskid, purchased from YES JCB in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is primarily used for cleaning yards, hauling round bales, and loading seed for planting season. When Setz is cleaning yards, he can extend the Teleskid’s telescopic boom and dump material into middle of the spreader without having to bump right up to it. When grabbing bales, he can now easily reach across the trailer and get a bale without having to shuttle over to the other side. And during planting, he can now directly load the seeder, without first needing to load the seed into a gravity box, haul the gravity box to the seeder, and auger it in.
The ability to get easily get in and out of the machine is also a major safety factor. When there’s an issue with the cattle, or other things go wrong, he likes that he is not pinned in the machine and has a safe exit path. And the Teleskid’s side-entry allows him to jump out of the machine mid-task, regardless of the height of the boom, to check the load or throw a chain on something, and get back in to get the job done. With a conventional skid steer, he would be forced to climb over the boom and slippery attachment or under an unsupported load, or would not be able to exit at all if the boom was at mid-height.
Setz says that the side entry of his Teleskid relieves a lot of the safety worries and allows him to complete tasks faster, making it easier for him to keep pace with the needs of the farm.