How to Drive a Bobcat Skidder

Sit in the seat and pull the safety lap bar down over your lap. The Bobcat will not start when the bar is up. Turn the key in the upper left-hand corner of the cockpit to start the engine. In the upper right-hand corner is the instrument panel that shows a myriad of diagnostics on the engine, hydraulic systems and more. Push the throttle lever, found near your right thigh, forward to increase the RPM of the engine, or backwards to reduce the RPM. At this point the Bobcat engine will rev, but it will remain stationary until the hand controls are engaged.

Pivot the left foot control back with your heel to raise the boom, or forward with your toe to lower it. The boom is the set of arms to which the bucket is attached, that raises the height of the bucket in a vertical fashion. Pivot the right foot control back with your heel to roll (tilt) the bucket backward. This will help the contents of the bucket stay in place. To rotate the bucket forward and dump its contents, pivot the right foot control forward with your toe.

Push the left hand control forward to turn left, leaving the right hand control at neutral. Push the right hand control forward to turn right, again, leaving the left hand control at neutral. To turn with a zero radius in either direction, pull back on the hand control to the inside of the spin while pushing forward on the hand control that's on the outside of the spin.

Push both hand controls forward to move the Bobcat forward. Pull both hand controls backward to reverse the Bobcat. To stop, remove your hands from both hand controls, allowing them to automatically return to a neutral position.