In order to go from one mode to another, the machine must come to a full stop. "If an operator flips the switch while he''s working, he will stay in the same mode until he comes to a stop," said Osborn. "Before he can actually go into the other mode, he has to push the "press to operate button." There is also an indicator light on the switch so he can look up and have a visual display of which mode he''s in." The position sensors were provided by Torrington, a sister IR company, with all wire harnesses coming from Fargo Assembly and the steering mode switch is from Eaton. "Torrington worked very closely with Jason and our team," said Krause. "These are not off-the-shelf sensors. We told them what the sensors had to do, gave them the area they had to fit in and the conditions they had to live under. The wheel angle sensors and the wheel speed sensors were developed from scratch as a joint effort between Bobcat and Torrington."

If your soil is loamy or sandy, you too can drill 30 holes in a day''s worth of rental. But rocky ground or heavy clay can stymie even the most powerful auger. Judging from my experience, about 25 percent of the holes attempted with augers end up being dug by hand.If you only have a few postholes to dig, don''t bother reading this story. Just rent, borrow or buy the three hand tools shown on p. 68 and get to work. By the time you run to the rental store and round up a buddy to run the other end of the machine, you''ll have a few holes dug already and save the one-day $60-plus auger rental fee. But if you have more than five deep, 12-in. wide deck footings or a whole fence''s worth of postholes to punch, augers can make short work of an otherwise miserable job.

Though light in weight, Airbor magnetic drill has a powerful 1.6-hp air motor and 1,600-lb magnetic holding strength. With its extra rack, stroke length is extended to 10 1/4 in. Annular cutter capacity is up to 2 1/16 in. diam. Geared chuck adapter converts the unit to a standard drill press. The Slugger Air Force pneumatic drill, at 24 lbs, 6 1/4" high, is useful for confined area drilling. The drill''s features include a permanent magnet that turns on or off by air power, a cutter capacity of up to 1 1/16" diameter x 3/4" depth and the ability to use ShortSlugger cutters and frame cutters. These cutters'' geometry allows the operator to drill multi-layered truck frames in a single pass.

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