The L85 is Bobcat’s first foray into the world of pivot-steer loaders. And it’s a pretty good start, too, as we found out in our all-encompassing practical test.
Practical… that’s what the headline for the L85 could easily have been. This small wheeled loader was a popular assistant around the yard during its stay with us, despite discovering its limits relatively quickly — particularly the rather modest 3.31m max lift height. But we’ll come back to that later.
Mention the name Bobcat in farming circles, and most will immediately think skidsteers. Indeed, the L85 is the firm’s first compact pivot-steer loader in its familiar red/white colour scheme, though it’s worth noting that Bobcat is part of the South Korean Doosan Group, which has been making a broad range of shovels under its own name for years.
In-house
Surprisingly Bobcat hasn’t used a Doosan engine. For the L85, Bobcat goes with its own motor, a 2.4-litre three-pot producing just shy of 70hp. In our view, it should have a few more horses for farm work. In general, the engine did a good job. On average it used 7.7l/hr, which is middle of the road for this class. Diesel consumption varied from 6.0l/ hr for light yard work to 10l/hr when out on the road. Long distances are not the L85’s forte due to the lack of boom suspension.
The start/stop button on the armrest is a great feature: press it briefly when getting out of the machine, the engine stops and the handbrake is automatically applied. Then just press it again to fire the engine back up. It may not sound like a big deal, but it is really convenient when working around the yard.
Bobcat should and wants to improve the air intake vent on the side of the bonnet (which can be opened without a key).
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