Economic Recovery Leads to Increased Demand for Utility Vehicles

Economic Recovery Leads to Increased Demand
for Utility Vehicles

By J. Wade Tollison, Jr.,
Marketing Manager Commercial Division, Professional Segment, The TORO Company

A recessionary economy has elevated the importance of job productivity, which has driven an increase in demand for the heavy duty utility vehicle as purchasing budgets start to “unfreeze”.  The overall non-recreational U.S. utility vehicle (UTV) market has improved in 2010 as entities continue to discover and realize the cost-effective capabilities of the machines, both as work and transport vehicles.  Among other critical success factors, this improvement can be attributed to budget stabilization in the golf industry, federal government incentives that have stimulated consumer demand in the electric-powered Low Speed Vehicle (LSV) product category, and displacement of pickup truck purchases by both low speed vehicles and heavy duty utility vehicles.

While pickup trucks remain necessary in many large municipal, college/university, military, industrial or construction equipment fleets, the productivity paradigm has shifted to focus on the integral outcomes of the jobs performed, rather than facilitation or transport of the worker to the job sites.  Pickup trucks are often too expensive, too big, or unable to access job sites due to weight, turning radius, or a negative footprint or compaction impact to a natural grass environment.  Other more compact equipment options, such as skid-steer loaders, can be effective at performing specific jobs, but can only transport one worker, and can’t carry hand tools, materials, or additional workers.  There are clear trade-offs made by purchasers of pickup trucks or skid-steer loaders that can be mitigated with the purchase of heavy duty utility vehicles.  Heavy duty UTV’s can transport workers, tools, and heavy payloads of material from the shop to the work location, or from job site to job site, provide access to areas potentially not accessible by road, and get the job done with a turf-friendly “footprint”.

In addition to the customer’s need for transport and for increased hauling capacity, other requirements include increased durability, ride comfort, and fuel economy.  Toro has responded with the new Workman® HD Series of heavy duty utility vehicles to deliver the work productivity our customers demand in many customer-valued ways, including industry-leading total vehicle payload and towing capacities, as well as improved fuel efficiency, ergonomics, superior ride quality, and unmatched toughness in its product category.

The Workman HD Series is a heavy duty utility vehicle with design components such as an I-beam shaped DeDion rear axle, a truss-like front space frame, integrated wheel bearings and 4-wheel hydraulic disk brakes - all integrated to provide the highest total carrying capacity in the turf industry, in order to tackle the toughest jobs.  The DeDion axle is built with the same kind of I-beam design that is used for skyscrapers in the construction industry.  It gives the Workman superior vertical loading capacity by isolating the engine, transmission and main frame from all load forces.  The truss-like front space frame provides superior strength and rigidity, and the rear frame has a C-channel design for unsurpassed performance in its class for hauling heavy loads.  The advanced integrated wheel bearing technology is a feature that is prominent in automotive sport utility vehicles, and keeps the vehicle rolling under the heaviest loads, job after job.  Advantages such as enhanced sealing and precise manufacturing tolerances deliver benefits such as simple servicing and longer life.

The Workman HD Series includes the HD model, with a 23hp Kohler® air cooled gasoline engine, 2wd and 4wd HDX-D models, with a 24hp Briggs & Stratton® Daihatsu® diesel engine, as well as 2wd and 4wd HDX models with a 31hp Briggs & Stratton® Daihatsu® engine with electronic fuel injection (EFI).  EFI is standard in the automotive market, and is fast becoming the standard for ATV’s and UTV’s.  A key benefit is ease of instant engine starting in either warm or cold weather environmental conditions.  The EFI system delivers fuel directly to the engine, so you don’t have to apply a choke to start or warm up the engine.  Fuel is injected ahead of the intake valve and directly into the intake manifold, which controls the mixture of air and fuel.  The regulators and sensors in an EFI system are more precise than a traditional carburetion system.

Another benefit of EFI is that it allows the customer the ability to operate the utility vehicle in high altitudes or in mountainous regions without making any compromises in the areas of hauling or towing power.  In higher altitudes, traditional carburetors must be re-jetted in order to meet customer’s expectations regarding power and performance.  EFI actively controls the ratio of air to fuel through an Electronic Control Module (ECM), which receives input from multiple sensors to consistently optimize the power performance of the utility vehicle across the throttle range, even in high altitude conditions.

EFI is typically 15-20% more fuel efficient than carburetor engines, and delivers fuel to the engine more precisely.  By utilizing the high pressure fuel injector and sensors to detect engine fuel requirements, EFI gives the engine exactly what it needs for adequate power and little waste of fuel.  This power is consistent and smooth for speed and acceleration throughout the throttle range.  EFI engines are quieter and produce lower levels of emissions, and meet 2011 EPA compliance and California Blue Sky regulations.  In addition to fuel cost savings, less maintenance and mechanical adjustments are required with the elimination of the choke and carburetor, as well as on-board diagnostics that provide easy troubleshooting for the technician.

A comfortable operator is a more productive operator.  The HD Series delivers optimum operator comfort even in undulating terrain through its innovative suspension system.  Front suspension consists of an independent, double A-frame with opposing dual coil springs and shock absorbers that allows for 5 ¾” front travel, and rear suspension consists of the DeDion rear axle with dual leaf springs and shock absorbers that provides 3” rear travel.  4-wheel hydraulic disc brakes bring safety benefits also, and they are easier to service than traditional drum brakes. 

Versatility is where heavy duty utility vehicles widen the “total cost of ownership” advantage vs. pickup trucks or skid steer loaders.  Attachments such as topdressers, sand and fertilizer spreaders, 200-gallon chemical sprayers, aeration core sweepers, aeration core processors, infield groomers, synthetic turf conditioners, casket transporters, aerial vertical lifts, and deluxe hard cabs add tremendous versatility to this work platform.  Any of the above attachments can be added to the Workman HD Series utility vehicle in a matter of minutes for that specialized job, and they are all relatively easy to operate with proper training and review of the Operator’s Manual.  Heavy duty utility vehicles allow customers to work smarter, with greater productivity and efficiency.

Some examples of the above versatility include the following scenarios:

After a tornado, a disaster relief agency has a need to remove large quantities of debris from areas not accessible by public road.  At a golf course, a superintendent has the period need to efficiently spray growth nutrient and pesticide chemicals on his turf, with a machine that can meet day to day job requirements such as hauling rocks, tree limbs, or bunker sand.  At a university or professional baseball/softball complex, a sports turf manager needs to haul heavy loads of infield dirt or warning track material, but also needs to groom the infield to ease compaction and ensure consistent surface playability, as well as remove trash for improved aesthetics.  After a thunderstorm, a municipality has the need to repair power lines, traffic signals or signage.  On a construction project, heavy materials need to be transported across muddy, rocky, undulating or otherwise challenging terrain.  An industrial refinery has the need for a highly maneuverable vehicle to negotiate tight areas in the refinery compound, along with a heavy payload capacity to transport alumina to the smelter in order to produce aluminum.  At a cemetery, a casket needs to be transported from the funeral home vehicle to the burial plot.  This list could go on, but it is sufficed to say that there are hundreds of different grounds and facility maintenance and landscaping jobs can be performed by a heavy duty vehicle, particularly when combined with the attachments that are provided by the manufacturer or third party suppliers.

The economy-driven requirement to get more work done with fewer resources will continue to strongly influence customer purchasing behavior.  Heavy duty utility vehicles provide the functionality and benefits to meet the rising expectations and needs of consumers.  The more jobs that a customer can complete with a piece of equipment, the lighter the burdens are from an overall human resource and capital equipment standpoint.  Our customers are demanding products that rise to meet their work challenges, no matter how tough the job.  In this competitive environment, they will continue to raise the bar for added productivity, durability and efficiency so that they get more “bang for their utility vehicle buck”, more jobs done for added profitability and enhanced facility appearance.  Our utility vehicle design, functionality, quality, and integrated technologies must continue to be innovative and evolve to meet customer’s accelerating demands.

About the Author:

J.Wade Tollison, Jr. CSE, is Marketing Manager - Utility Vehicles for The Toro Company, headquartered in Bloomington, MN. He is responsible for the Workman HD & MD Series Utility Vehicles as well as new business development in the Vehicle product category. He achieved a Bachelor of Arts from Wake Forest University, and a MBA from the University of Minnesota.

Wade has 15 years of sales and marketing experience in the utility vehicle industry, starting in 1995 at Club Car, Inc. and followed by the last 10 years at Toro.