EXTRAORDINARY EQUIPMENT, AND A CUSTOMER-FOCUSED COMMITMENT

Roadtec RP-175e Asphalt Paver ... Learn of the Roadtec RP-175e Asphalt Paver's features/benefits from Foreman Scott Vierstra, and the impact the machine is having on operations at Law General Contracting-Xtreme Asphalt, based in St. Louisville, Ohio.

The Roadtec RP-175e Asphalt Paver

Zollinger Sand & Gravel in Rittman, Ohio, has been in business for over 75 years. The multigenerational family business began with Charles Zollinger in the ‘40s to serve the construction industry by offering sand and gravel dug from their Wayne County property. “During the ’50s, my grandfather began washing sand and gravel,” said part-owner Mike Zollinger. Washing aggregate removes the silt, clay and other debris, producing a high-quality product with more application potential. For example, sand, when added to clean crushed rock, creates superior, longer lasting concrete, Zollinger explained. Digging, washing, and delivering aggregate products requires heavy equipment. Much of the Zollinger’s processing equipment was purchased in the ‘50s and ‘60s. “I remember my grandfather purchasing equipment from Columbus Equipment; we had an Eagle Iron Works dewatering sand screw and Cedar Rapids vibrating screen. Our service technicians handled repairs, but Columbus Equipment has always been there with parts in stock, keeping us up and running,” Zollinger noted. In the ’90s, the sand and gravel supply on the property began to wane. The writing was on the wall; the Zollingers needed an alternative business plan as the sand and gravel became exhausted. The business had supported generations of Zollingers over the years, and they were not going to throw in the towel easily. Taking stock of their assets, the Zollinger’s had land and manpower with the knowledge and experience to run heavy equipment. Having an extensive supply of holes throughout the property from the original mining operation, a logical course of action for the next endeavor was filling those holes. The Zollinger’s began a construction and demolition debris landfill that addresses both objectives – reclaiming the land and employing family members. The process of filling holes may sound easy, but extensive regulations are in place to ensure the reclaimed land is environmentally compliant. The process involves the precise lining of each pit with materials such as clay and tires to filter and prevent leaching, the pumping out of rainwater and transportation to the city sanitary system, and even engineering work on blueprints with exact GPS locations of each pit. The Zollingers also branched out from the C&D landfill to serve the community by crushing and recycling concrete into stone and fill material for construction companies, as well as producing quality topsoil. Committed to recycling every possible product to preserve our natural resources, the Zollingers recycle organic matter into nutrient-dense fine topsoil. They begin with organic matter from construction and landscaping companies which can include tree stumps and roots, brush, grass, leaves, rocks, and good ol’ dirt. Initially, the material is composted to encourage natural decomposition. After several months the pile of organic material is screened, sifting out the nutrient-dense topsoil from rocks, roots, and other materials. Once sorted, the topsoil and rock are made available to landscapers, construction companies and homeowners. The remaining organic material can either be composted again or spread on the reclaimed land to promote the growth of natural vegetation within the landfill. To sort the organic material, the Zollingers previously used a Read Screenall. This machine accomplished the job, but it was not the most efficient. Deciding to invest in a new screening machine, the Zollingers explored the various options and once again turned to Columbus Equipment Company for a Terex Ecotec 2100 Trommel Screen. “Jesse Garber from Columbus Equipment was very knowledgeable and assured us this machine would meet our needs and have the flexibility to be repurposed should we change focus,” Zollinger said. Having the trommel on hand, Columbus Equipment Company was able to expedite delivery and setup, enabling the Zollingers to demo the machine and determine its capabilities. “At Columbus Equipment, we are a family-focused business, so it’s always a pleasure to serve multigenerational family companies. It’s impressive for a company to successfully adjust their business model, providing valuable services for their community for over 75 years,” said Jesse Garber, Columbus Equipment Company, Material Processing Division general sales manager. “Learning the needs of Zollingers, I was confident the Terex 2100 would be a great match.” To read more check out our latest Material Processing Solutions magazine!

Roadtec Cold Planers/Milling Machines

For nearly 20 years, Westerville-based Russell Tree Experts (RTE) has focused on caring for trees in Central Ohio, working for homeowners, golf courses, and municipalities. Founders Joe and Shari Russell met at The Ohio State University, where both studied landscape horticulture. The company employs certified arborists and invests in state-of-the-art equipment to provide safe and efficient pruning and other tree care services. But sometimes trees grow where they are unwanted, such as on utility rights of-way, and must be removed. In those instances, Russell Tree Experts’ Environmental Division provides land-clearing services, working for clients such as ODOT, utilities and the federal government. The company started the division in mid-2021, figuring that splitting off land clearing would allow “arboriculture employees to focus on what they do, and allow the land clearing and environmental employees to focus on what they are good at,” said Josh Reiss, environmental division manager. The division works mostly on right-of-way clearing, such as greenfield transmission and distribution powerline rights-of-way and clearing for billboards or heavy highway projects. They don’t do mass block clearing. While most of the work is in Ohio, the division will travel throughout the Midwest. The division uses multiple pieces of forestry equipment from Columbus Equipment Company’s Material Processing Division to clear land safely and efficiently. Reiss, who has been in the forestry industry for a decade, likes working with Columbus Equipment Company because “everyone in the Material Processing Division knows their products and are passionate about what they offer. They won’t try to upsell you or put you in something you don’t need. They are invested in our success.” RTE has a variety of forestry equipment for different situations, Reiss said. For example, its Komatsu XT445 feller buncher with a Quadco 2900 felling head/fellerbuncher attachment is “the only way to go near power line lines, because you get more precise cuts and it allows the operator to process the logs as he’s cutting them.” The division also runs multiple large Komatsu excavators with a Rotobec grapple saw attachment. “Komatsu excavators are quick, strong and well built,” Reiss said. “The Rotobec saws are the best in the market. There’s not another forestry head or rotating grapple saw we’d rather buy.” The company also uses three CMI machines. “The CMI C400 is a great tool for larger mulching projects; it’s an absolute workhorse,” he said. “It’s built for the application, has great horsepower, leaves a great finished product, and we can count on it every day.” The two CMI C300s are also reliable, with “lots of horsepower in a little package.” One of the division’s newest machines is an FAE RCU-75 remote-control slope mower, which is “built to work on steep slopes you wouldn’t want to put a person in a machine on,” Reiss said. The operator uses the remote control from a safe distance, which “takes the human element out and allows you to go in and mow slopes that were otherwise unmanageable.” RTE also owns a slope mower from a different manufacturer that is frequently out of commission, he added, but “we can rely on the FAE. We know it’s not going to let us down. It’s so much safer and more productive. It can do in a day what it would take 12 guys working by hand to do with a much lower exposure to risk. We love it.” Reiss lists many advantages to working with Columbus Equipment Company. The sales representatives are experts in forestry machinery, and they also try to “understand our business model so they can tailor things to what we have going on,” he explained. “Columbus Equipment offers customers the best brands and serves as a one-stop shop for forestry businesses.” Even more importantly, “Columbus Equipment is unmatched in their product support. They put the best people in positions to support the equipment, give them the training and keep them up to date.” In fact, he said, “[Material Processing product support specialist] Scott Parsons is one reason we’ve been able to grow so fast. He is committed to helping us. When we call with a problem – which is rare – he knows what we are talking about; he knows the product inside out. If he can’t help us fix it over the phone, he’ll have someone come out. He makes us feel we’re their top priority.” RTE’s Environmental Division is an example of the impressive growth a company can achieve when they partner with a dealership that offers quality products, expert advice, and dependable support for your machinery. For RTE, that partner is Columbus Equipment Company and the Material Processing Division. Be sure to check out the full Fall 2023 Material Processing Solutions issue along with past issues: www.columbusequipment.com/media/

Brian Parker was running a successful diesel performance business when he got a crazy idea. After seeing a mulcher attached to a skid steer, he did some research and decided to give up the pressures of the diesel business to start a mulching company with a friend. “I was burned out turning wrenches every day and dealing with a hundred people a week. I needed a change,” he recalled. Now, just a few years later, B&N Land Management has contracts with a large power company, commercial site developer, and a pipeline company. B&N started small, using a mulcher attached to a skid steer. Parker and his friend got the equipment, “figured out how much fuel it used and set our rates,” and were ready to go. After a year, Parker wanted to move up to larger equipment and his friend preferred the smaller machines, so they parted ways. Parker’s first attempt at a bigger piece was a Cat D3K2 dozer with a mulcher, but it wasn’t big enough, so he moved on to a Fecon FTX200 mulching tractor. He was unhappy with the Fecon’s reliability and the service he was receiving. When the machine failed—again—he called Columbus Equipment Company’s Material Processing Division in desperation. “I called Jesse Garber, told him what was going on and said I needed a machine. I’d never even seen a CMI machine. Two days later, he brought a CMI mulcher to the job site. He said to run the C300 for a few days and and tell him what I thought about it. A few days later, I bought it.” He later traded in the CMI C300 for a C475, then added a C175 to his fleet. Parker is very impressed with the performance and ease of using CMI machines. “Running the 475 is like running a 50,000-pound skid steer, it’s super agile,” he said. “Visibility is great, and the controls are right where you need them. It’s super simple, not overly complicated.” That simplicity helps make the CMIs dependable and reliable, attributes Parker prizes in a machine. Before purchasing CMI machines “I had a machine that was down for six months out of 12, and when [the dealer] gave me a loaner, it broke. When that happens, customers think you’re unreliable and making excuses. Columbus Equipment Company really helped us dig out of a rut. We were way behind.” Dependable equipment is just part of the equation, he added. “I don’t care what brand of equipment you have, there’s going to be a problem. It’s how the dealer handles it that makes the difference. I am a small fish compared to other Columbus Equipment customers, but Jesse has treated me like family. [Finance Manager] Jeff Reichert has fought for us for financing, and he always makes it happen.” Parker also appreciates that Garber worked in the forestry industry and understands the business owner’s perspective. “He knows the ups and downs about needing parts and waiting on payments.” Parker credits Garber with helping B&N get a foot in the door with bigger projects, helping the contractor to find the right equipment as project sizes increased. CMI also has its roots in the forestry industry, Parker noted. “They’ve been in the field themselves, and they know what it takes and what you need.” The CMI C475 has an FAE 300/U fixed teeth rotor head and the CMI C175 has an FAE head with knives. The C175’s rotor has a bite limiter that limits the knives’ reach, reducing power demand and promoting a consistent working speed. The limiter also optimizes fuel consumption. “The knife cuts quicker than a carbide, and the smaller machine takes less horsepower to cut as fast as a big machine,” Parker said. Depending on the terrain and size of the vegetation, he sometimes uses the smaller machine to save fuel and still get excellent production. B&N’s primary services are clearing land for rights-of-way, electrical utilities, and site development in Kentucky, Ohio and Indiana. Business has been doubling or more annually, Parker said. He recently purchased a Komatsu D61 dozer and PC210 excavator from Columbus Equipment Company. Next up, he plans to buy a CBI horizontal grinder. His goal is to have the right equipment to efficiently do any jobs his clients ask him to perform. Brian Parker had already built a successful business before entering the land-clearing industry, so it’s no surprise he’s found success again. However, Parker would be the first to say that the Material Processing Division—including Jesse Garber’s industry expertise and exceptional service from Product Support Manager Aaron Dunham—have really accelerated the process.

Family businesses are the lifeblood of America, but with tough economic times small companies face many challenges. Bobby Jacobs, manager of Robert Jacobs Incorporated, an excavation company outside Cincinnati, Ohio, has followed his father’s secret to success. Continuing a 70-year-old family business is no simple task. Founded by his grandfather, Robert John Jacobs, and expanded by his father Robert Lee Jacobs, Bobby Jacobs took the reins in 2009. “We are a small, family-centered company built on traditional values,” Bobby Jacobs said. With around 16 employees, the company focuses on residential and commercial dirt work. “We do a bit of everything from digging basements and readying building sites to hauling topsoil.” Looking to capitalize on a business opportunity, Jacobs turned to Columbus Equipment Company and an Astec GT440 Mobile HSI (Horizontal Shaft Impactor) Crusher Plant. For more of this article, please visit our website for the full MP Solutions magazine article. https://www.columbusequipment.com/news/newsletters

Dayton-based Champion Landscape Equipment and Supply is in solid growth mode, thanks in part to owner Matt Brun’s focus on producing a quality product more efficiently. Since grinding and selling mulch is a significant part of his business, he recently switched to two Terex CBI Magnum Force Horizontal Grinders to increase efficiency and speed up mulch production. Brun traded in a Morbark 6400XT and purchased two CBI machines—a CBI Magnum Force 6800CT Horizontal Grinder and a CBI Magnum Force 5800BT Portable Grinder—from Columbus Equipment Company. The new equipment offers several advantages. “The 6800 is the more powerful of the two machines and is great for our finish grade,” Brun said. “The 6800’s production rate per hour is also much higher than the Morbark 6400’s even though they are both powered by the same 1,050 horsepower engine” Brun said. The 5800 is highly productive, yet it transports easily, so Champion can use it for offsite grinding. The company can also dye mulch in the 5800 rather than moving it to a separate area for dying. That boosts efficiency and relieves space issues in a tight processing yard. “The CBI 6800’s production rate is significantly higher for the finish grind than the Morbark’s. We’re getting around 300 yards of finish production per hour, compared to 180 yards with the Morbark,” Brun said. The quality of the product is equal to what he got with his Morbark and the Petersen unit he owned before that. For more of this article, please visit our website and read our latest MP Solutions issue. https://www.columbusequipmentmp.com/mp-solutions

It didn’t take long for Balsbaugh Excavating to see the value of an Astec GT440 horizontal shaft impact crusher. It just took the right situation.

When it came time to buy a new feller buncher, Mike Heiss didn’t bother shopping around. His company, H&H Land Clearing, has owned a Komatsu 430 for more than a decade and has been very satisfied with it and the service he gets from Columbus Equipment Company. So to him, it made sense to buy another one, this time opting for the new XT430L-5. “We really liked the 430, so we decided to upgrade but stay with the reliability of a Komatsu,” he said. “We’re the first guys in on a project. Uptime and being able to produce are important to us. We have to get the trees out of the way so everyone else can do their work.”

If you’re interested in the evolution of the logging trade, look no further than Corbett R. Caudill Chipping Inc., a family-owned company based in Hamden, Ohio. Owner Corbett “Corb” Caudill Sr. logged with his father using handsaws and horses to cut and move the timber when he was a boy. Today the company relies on state-of-the-art machinery to perform those tasks, with a Komatsu Forest XT465L at the heart of the operation.

The Robbins family has been in the sawmill business since the 1950s, but fourth generation logger Ed Robbins has been in growth mode almost since he started.

As the fourth-generation owner of a fifth-generation family owned and operated business, Chris Beaver puts a lot of thought into growing the business to benefit the next generation. Equipment from KPI-JCI and Astec Mobile Screens plays a crucial role in several of those services.

Mario Halasa, operations manager for Akron’s Finest Mulch, can sum up the company’s growth in a few, succinct, apples-to-apples statistics, comparing the early years with today. “In our first year in business, we sold about 400 yards of mulch. Now we do over 60,000 yards of mulch, plus topsoil and gravel. We started on 4 acres of property, and now we have over 50. We started in a 4-by-8-foot trailer, and now we have two retail yards, a stockpile yard, and we’re going to open another retail yard.” The company recently purchased a 1,000-plus horsepower Morbark 6400XT Wood Hog Horizontal Grinder to meet growing demand for its products.