The Bobcat 743 is a skid-steer loader of the 700 series built by Bobcat Company, an American manufacturer of farm and construction equipment with headquarters in West Fargo, North Dakota. The 700 series is one of the ranges that built the company’s reputation for compact loaders.
Bobcat 743 at a glance
| Maker | Bobcat Company |
|---|---|
| Type | skid-steer loader |
| Series | 700 |
| Headquarters | West Fargo, North Dakota |
| Original works | Melroe Manufacturing, Gwinner, North Dakota |
| Skid-steer landmark | Melroe M400, 1960 |
| Bobcat name | since the 440 loader of 1962 |
| Owner | Doosan Group |
| Source | English Wikipedia, Bobcat Company |
Model-specific specifications are not covered by the available source, the English Wikipedia article on Bobcat Company; the page is based on that single source.
History of the Bobcat 743
A machine for a barn floor
The Bobcat line began with a practical problem: in 1956 the turkey farmer Eddie Velo needed a machine small enough to get inside a pole barn and light enough to work on its upper level. Louis and Cyril Keller of Keller Welding and Repair, near Rothsay, Minnesota, delivered a three-wheeled design on 4 February 1957, then patented a clutch-based transmission in 1958.
Melroe, the M400 and the name
Melroe Manufacturing of Gwinner, North Dakota, took the machine to the 1958 Minnesota State Fair and in 1960 introduced the four-wheeled M400 Skid-Steer Loader. The Bobcat trade name was first used in 1962 on the 440 loader, and the early advertisements called the machines “tough, quick, and agile”. The 700 series, with the 743 among its best-known models, followed in that tradition.
Ownership through the decades
Clark Equipment Company acquired Melroe in 1969. Ingersoll Rand acquired Clark in 1995 and in July 2007 sold its construction equipment group to the Doosan Group of South Korea for US$4.9 billion. Bobcat’s European headquarters moved from Waterloo, Belgium, to the Czech Republic in 2017.
Design and features
- Skid steering: as on every Bobcat loader since the M400, the 743 turns by varying the speed of its left and right wheels.
- The Keller transmission: the clutch-based system of 1958 made the early loaders dependable and became the basis of the Melroe M60.
- Compact dimensions: the machine was designed for places where a full-size loader could not go.
- The 700 series: a long-running family of Bobcat loaders remembered for simple, rugged construction.
Bobcat 743 versions
- Bobcat 732: an earlier machine in the same series.
- Bobcat 751 and 753: later 700-series loaders.
- Bobcat 763 and 773: the largest of the 700-series numbers in this listing.
See the Bobcat 732 and the Bobcat 753, or every model in the Bobcat collection.
Sources
- Bobcat Company, English Wikipedia: company history, product range, ownership
