The first skid-steer loader was invented in 1957 by brothers Cyril and Louis Keller in Rothsay, Minnesota. They created the compact front-end loader to help a local turkey farmer clean out manure from his barns. This led to the creation of the Bobcat company.
The first version had a single cylinder Wisconsin engine and a fabricated steel rear frame. This one has an Onan engine and a cast steel frame. Dad, Louis Keller, said there there was around 60 of the first version made but no one knows for sure. If the serial number is on it they started at serial number 1001. Serial number 1001, the first one Dad and Cyril made at Melroe, is in the Forman ND museum. The Melroes gave the task to three other people to help them make parts for the first few Loaders. They were Don Lloyd, Nels Nelson, and Jim Toyne.
