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Crews value versatility, maneuverability, and a light touch.
By Carol Brzozowski
Ask any erosion control specialist what’s important in job-site equipment, and a few factors consistently surface: reliability, easy maintenance, functionality, maneuverability, and cost efficiency.
Downtime costs money, and any job-site machine that can perform a multitude of tasks in any given environment without costing a lot to operate and that is easy to fix if broken wins favor in the industry.
Although no company specifically manufactures or markets “erosion control equipment,” certain types of machines and attachments used in construction work are also common to the erosion control sector.
For example:
- Small machines, such as tractors or skid-steer loaders, are used to easily maneuver in established landscaping, such as golf courses or housing developments.
- Tracked (versus wheeled) machines exert less ground pressure per square inch and are less likely to damage fragile streambank soils or landscaped sites.
- Machines that accommodate multiple attachments can be used for cutting and clearing brush, digging, trenching, mowing, and spraying herbicides.
- Large machines are used for earthmoving, moving trees, and other types of work typical of the first stage of clearing and grading and sites where there are fewer obstacles present.
Versatility in the South
USA Erosion in Rowlett, TX, routinely hauls its equipment throughout Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma. The company runs many crews that perform a multitude of erosion control tasks, such as installing silt fence and erosion control matting, hydromulching, sodding, grading, and broadcast seeding. USA Erosion runs about a dozen Caterpillar 246B skid-steer loaders in its fleet.
In one project in Arlington, TX, crews had to deal with steep embankments and creeks, and the skid-steers came into play as a successful solution to the problem.
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Photo: Bobcat |
| A Bobcat Toolcat with a front-end angle broom attachment |
The subdivision construction had been shut down due to erosion control issues that had been ignored. USA Erosion was brought in to consult on the project. The company spent three months on it and was able to bring the site back into compliance, enabling the developer and builder to build and sell houses.
Although erosion control had been done on the site, it hadn’t been done properly, and the city shut down the site, notes Marcy Weaver, general manager of USA Erosion.
“It needed total erosion control. Slope stabilization, retaining walls, soil stabilization, matting, and rock check dams needed to be installed,” says Weaver. “The previous company had not installed these properly, and we took over and did what needed to be done the way it needed to be done, and now the developer and builder are up and open and going strong.”
One challenge of the job involved simply getting the skid-steers onto the site.
“There were some rock check dams that needed to be installed and built, grading that needed to be done, and matting that needed to be installed on the slopes. We were able to use our skid-steers to get down in there,” Weaver says. “There were very tight areas, and with our track machine, we were able to get in, maneuver rock down in there, and build the dams we needed to be able to build without getting stuck down there.”
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| A Toolcat with a front-end mower attachment |
That would not have been possible with many other types of equipment, notes Weaver. “Our skid-steer was perfect for this particular job in this subdivision,” she says.
While USA Erosion has purchased other types of equipment, “We mainly stick with Caterpillar because of dependability, and that’s all we buy now,” says Weaver. “It’s the most functional piece of equipment for what we do. It’s a good, heavy piece of equipment; we don’t have a problem with parts and accessibility.”
Weaver favors the ability of the Caterpillars to take on several attachments, such as trenchers, sod rollers, street sweepers, and attachments for breaking up concrete, among others.
“The main thing is dependability and reliability. Our crews have to have something very reliable, and that’s what we have found in the Caterpillar versus other pieces of equipment we’ve used in the past,” notes Weaver.
Time is money for this company, as with others, and downtime can be costly.
“We have a full-time, on-staff mechanic who maintains all of our equipment,” says Weaver. “If we have a piece of equipment go down, our Caterpillar reps are quick to pick ours up, take it in, and loan us a new issue.”
Because much of her company’s work is done throughout a four-state region, it’s important to Weaver that job-site equipment can be hauled with as little effort as possible. “This equipment is easy to haul and transport on our trailers, in-state and out-of-state,” she says. “For erosion control, it’s a good, heavyweight piece of equipment for the erosion control matting, yet it is lightweight enough to be able to transport on the back of trailers to get in and out of subdivisions, because a lot of our work is residential.
“Maneuverability in small, tight, compact spaces like subdivisions is important in our work. Or you may be on heavy highway jobs where large pieces of equipment are difficult to move in and out; you don’t want to have to be shutting down lanes, and the smaller pieces of equipment just work really well.
“If we have to transport the equipment from here to Louisiana, we can put a crew in a truck and put a tractor and a couple of attachments on the back of it, and they can go do what needs to be done very efficiently and very cost-effectively.”
Machine versatility also is important to Weaver.
“We also do a lot of commercial and heavy highway work, so it is a functional piece of equipment,” she says. “We can use it to trench or dig out to install different types of erosion control matting.
“Attachments can be swapped off very easily and efficiently in small spaces, which is good for residential jobs. When we are doing residential subdivisions, we may be trenching and doing silt fence, sweeping the streets, or digging out for a construction entrance. We can do all of that with one piece of equipment, with a couple of different attachments.”
USA Erosion also has a few tracked machines, with steel- and rubber-reinforced tracks, in its fleet.
“We mainly use the track machines if we are working in Louisiana in swamp areas,” Weaver notes. “Those are perfect for when there is a lot of rain or we’re in a particular terrain; we can work when other people cannot work. That means we are able to make money when others cannot. We can get a job done and meet the timeline that needs to be met when others can’t, so that’s good for us.”
Weaver likes equipment that not only is heavy-duty and thus well made but that also is lightweight so “it’s not going to tear up the ground, the concrete, or the pavement.”
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Photo: CEAttachments |
| The EDGE Material Unroller from CEAttachments |
On some jobs an extra step is needed, she says. “We will have to clear a path and clear the brush a little bit. Most of the time, the excavation contractor or the clearing and grubbing crew will do that, but if they don’t, we have to be able to do that before we can use the trencher attachment and then be able to trench in our silt fence. So we are able to do that with one piece of equipment.”
Weaver says she’s been working in the industry for 10 years and still has a few skid-steers she’s had since she first started. “The key to it is maintaining your equipment,” she says. “We have a maintenance program we developed ourselves. We have a full-time mechanic on staff who keeps records on every piece of equipment we have.
“Our foreman does daily basic maintenance, and then each piece of equipment is checked in for monthly maintenance. If you do not do that, your equipment is not going to last.
“Part of it is the equipment you buy, but I’m a believer that second to none it’s training your people to operate the equipment. Training and safety classes are important, as is maintaining your equipment.”
USA Erosion has never had to file an insurance claim, says Weaver.
“I believe it is 100% due to the fact that we keep training our employees. We believe in safety classes, and we oversee every bit of our operation at USA Erosion,” she says.
Maneuverability in Texas
In Houston, TX, Advanced Environmental Services performs erosion control and sweeping work, as well as concrete break-out and hauling. The company uses the Bobcat Toolcat D-Series, especially for sweeping. The machines have lifting, hauling, and towing capabilities, as well as more than 40 attachments.
One of the features of the Toolcat that company President John O’Neill favors is the fact that it has an enclosed cab. “That keeps the operator out of the dust when sweeping, because of the fines in the air; we also make our operators wear masks and supply them with a respirator so they don’t breathe the dust,” says O’Neill. “The enclosed cab is a plus for that.”
As do other erosion control operators, O’Neill tries to avoid as much downtime as possible. After he purchased one of the first Toolcats to come out, it was recalled due to a steering mechanism problem. The Bobcat Co. in Houston took it into the shop and turned around the repair on the same day, getting the equipment back into working order for the following day.
“We keep up our service, along with service records,” O’Neill says, adding it’s easy to maintain the equipment in-house. “Other than that recall, I’ve not had to get it out for any other work.”
O’Neill appreciates the diversity of the Toolcat. His company creates mulch berms for erosion control and uses the machine like a small truck, pulling a trailer behind it.
“We can use it to work off of the trailer and pull it off-road,” says O’Neill. “We put water in a tank and put it in its bed so we can spray water to control dust as well. It’s a good piece of equipment. It saves us time and money over our other pieces of equipment; it’s easy to haul and easy to operate—it drives like a truck.”
O’Neill likes job-site machines that provide good maneuverability through articulated steering. Advanced Environmental Services recently took on a job in a steel plant in which the company had to work around pipe racks and other obstacles.
“With the articulating steering unit, the tires don’t get eaten up,” he says, indicating that with another piece of equipment belonging to his company, he has to replace the tires every three months due to wear and tear.
“On this Toolcat, I’m running the same set of tires that have been on it for two and a half years,” he adds.
EC in Wyoming
At Searle Brothers Construction in Wyoming, the EDGE Material Unroller from CEAttachments in Cedarburg, WI, is used for the company’s erosion control jobs. The company uses it to lay out fabric for erosion control and had recent success with it in lining a 2:1 slope on a pond embankment in Wyoming.
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Photo: CEAttachments |
| The Bobcat T190 track loader |
Although most of the work Searle Brothers does is in the low country where not a lot of erosion occurs, when erosion control is needed, the company uses a mesh fabric EC product. The fabric also is used in conjunction with different-sized rocks in projects where crews are trying to slow water flows and stop it from creating erosion. The EDGE Material Unroller is attached to a Bobcat T300.
“Before, we used to have a trailer we sat on top, and we used to run back and forth, up and down the hill,” says Raymond Searle, the company’s president. “With this, we can run the Bobcat right down to the bottom, cut it off, turn it around, and run right back up. It cut our timing by more than a quarter.”
Additionally, it cut down on the amount of energy exerted by workers moving up and down hills, he adds.
“It is the only machine we can get up and down these slopes with,” Searle says, adding the Bobcat provides better traction.
“It’s got a hookup to the hydraulics and a long pole. We had to modify it a little bit because the rolls we were putting on there were too heavy for the pole. The rolls we were laying out probably weighed 500 to 600 pounds, so we had to beef up the pole a little bit.
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Photo: CEAttachments |
| Even smaller machines have earthmoving power. |
“We just run the pole through the roll of fabric and tie off the ends so it won’t roll off, and then the attachment moves left or right of the Bobcat, depending on which way you are going. You unroll it a little bit and set something on it or have people stand on it and you take off. It unrolls itself.”
Searle also uses EDGE’s grabbing tools to pick up and place rocks in landscaping, remove invasive plants and trees (including roots), and remove fence posts, stumps, and debris.
“Those sure are handy,” he says. “I used them on a clearing job in Utah, and they were phenomenal. We’ve used them on a couple of jobs for moving concrete. They are worth their weight in gold.”
Weaver points out that escalating fuel costs—as well as other increased costs on sites requiring erosion control—are underscoring the need for efficient job-site machines.
“Fuel costs are really a factor with erosion control right now because the profit margins are not that great,” says Weaver. “You have to cut costs any way you can now to stay competitive in the market we are in.
“The competition is tough now, and we have to watch everything we do as far as the money we spend on equipment and maintenance. We want it to be very efficient, because if our equipment is always down, it’s costing us money and cuts into our profit margin, and we’re not going to be able to compete and stay in business.”
Carol Brzozowski is a journalist in Coral Springs, FL.
EC - May 2008
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