The Bobcat S185 is a skid-steer loader of the S series made by Bobcat Company, an American manufacturer of farm and construction equipment based in West Fargo, North Dakota. Two old records of this model, one written as S185 and one as S-185, are covered by this page.
Bobcat S185 at a glance
| Maker | Bobcat Company |
|---|---|
| Type | skid-steer loader |
| Series | S |
| Headquarters | West Fargo, North Dakota |
| Brand origin | Melroe Manufacturing, Gwinner, North Dakota |
| First four-wheel skid-steer | Melroe M400, 1960 |
| Bobcat name | since 1962 on the 440 loader |
| 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. The original video for this record is no longer available.
History of the Bobcat S185
A loader for a pole barn
The Bobcat story starts with a request. In 1956 the turkey farmer Eddie Velo told Louis and Cyril Keller, who ran Keller Welding and Repair near Rothsay, Minnesota, that he needed a machine small enough to work inside a pole barn and light enough to use on its upper level. The brothers delivered a three-wheeled, belt-driven machine on 4 February 1957 and patented a clutch-based transmission in 1958; that system became the basis of the Melroe M60 loader.
Melroe and the name Bobcat
Melroe Manufacturing of Gwinner, North Dakota, took the machine to market after the Kellers’ uncle, a dealer, suggested it, and displayed it at the 1958 Minnesota State Fair. The four-wheeled M400 Skid-Steer Loader followed in 1960. The Bobcat trade name was adopted in 1962 for the 440 loader; Les Melroe and the advertising agent Lynn Bickett chose it, and early adverts promised a machine that was “tough, quick, and agile”. The S series, with the S185 in the middle, is a later branch of the family.
Ownership in brief
Clark Equipment Company bought Melroe in 1969 and Ingersoll Rand bought Clark in 1995. In July 2007 Ingersoll Rand 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
- Middle of the S series: between the S175 and the S300 in this collection.
- Skid-steer layout: four wheels and no steering axle, the arrangement established by the M400.
- Compact construction: built for yards, barns and other places a full-size loader cannot reach.
- One page for two records: the old entries Bobcat S185 and Bobcat S-185 now lead to this article.
Bobcat S185 versions
- Bobcat S175: the smaller model below it.
- Bobcat S300: the largest S-series loader listed.
- Bobcat 753: a 700-series classic for comparison.
The Bobcat S175 and the Bobcat S300 complete the group; all models are in the Bobcat collection.
Sources
- Bobcat Company, English Wikipedia: company history, product range, ownership
