Dwayne Carson Coastland Wood Industries Flame Paintersurmont.ca/uploads/2004Summer1.pdfBleeding Cat...

How custom paint jobs are helping one company extend the life of its equipment

Summer 2004 www.finning.cawww.finning.ca

Field Test: Putting the 535B skidder through its paces 36 Safety First: “Westray Bill” changes Canadian safety landscape 20 Believe It: Building an articulated dump truck for speed 8

FlamePainter

FlamePainter

Dwayne Carson Coastland Wood IndustriesNanaimo, British ColumbiaMarch 10, 2004

How custom paint jobs are helping one company extend the life of its equipment

Blazing a TrailA wood-mulching first in the oilfield

Business 101The first in a series to helpyou manage your business

Publications Mail Agreement #40020055

SPECIAL REPORTEquipment RentalsSector gains popularity by helping small and bigplayers save money

Same bloodline. Smaller offspring.

Meet the next generation of Cat® machines. A full line of Skid Steers, Mini Excavators and Work Tools built genuine Cattough and backed with Finning service. Visit us today, for all your residential, landscaping and general constructionequipment needs. To learn more, call 1-888-FINNING or log on to finning.ca. Be part of the legacy.

A FINNING (CANADA) PUBLICATIONSummer 2004

Departments4 The Finning Focus

The beautiful marriage of predictive maintenanceand telematics

6 GroundBreakerNew methodology helps cut costs; Cheviot Creek mine optimism; Games for mining engineers; Building an articulated dump truck for speed; Curling for a cause; Bleeding Cat yellow

10 The Tech ReportKeeping an eye on your engines so you don’t have to

11 Yellow IronNew products and services from Finning

20 Safety FirstCreating a new safety landscape in Canada

27 Yesterday/TodayBack to the future with pull-type scrapers

35 Business 101You have to have a plan

38 Count On UsPushing fertilizer

ON THE COVER:DWAYNE CARSON

COASTLAND WOOD INDUSTRIES

NANAIMO, BRITISH COLUMBIA

PHOTO BY BILL TICE

INSET: CAT 535B

PHOTO BY ALEXANDER MOFFAT

Features12 The Power of the Flame

How one man’s love of flames helps extend equipment life

16 The Maserati of Milling MachinesJust like the luxury sports car,it eats up the road

18 The Wood MulcherBrothers develop first-of-its-kindwood-mulching attachment

28 Meeting the ChallengeWorking on steep slopes

30 Growth SpurtWhat hard work, determination andthe right iron did for this company

36 Field TestMulti-purpose 535B skidder gets a variety of jobs done

12

Non-deliverable mail should be directed to: #201, 10350-124 Street,Edmonton, AB T5N 3V9Canadian Publications Mail Product Sales Agreement #40020055

16Special Report21 EQUIPMENT RENTALS

22 Renting On the RiseIs renting equipment the solution foryou? Our guide gives you the answer

24 It Is for EveryoneYou don’t have to be a big contractorto benefit from renting

38

24

28

Summer 2004 TRACKS & TREADS 3

The Finning Focus

Mozart or Metallica?EQUIPMENT OWNERS JILL MILLIONAIRE and Joe Average want answers. Howcan we move earth more cheaply? What tweak will give our machines thatextra power boost? Will operators be more reliable with Metallica or Mozart inthe cab? Bottom line for Jill and Joe? Productivity.

Thankfully, the clever people at Accenture, a management consulting andtechnical service company, have put questions like these through their think-tank hopper. In a recent study, they concluded that big productivity boosts arejust around the corner through predictive maintenance and the telematics capa-bilities being built into today’s machines.

Predictive maintenance is the ability, based on operating conditions, to pre-dict the precise moment when certain components will require service or over-haul so that maximum component life is achieved, downtime is minimized andthat precious commodity, money, is saved. Telematics is wireless-enabled, two-way communication between a piece of equipment and its external environ-ment. Think “Beam me up Scotty” and you’re close.

By combining the science of predictive maintenance with the communi-cation capabilities of telematics, you get answers to Joe and Jill’s questions. Thecombination enables you to:

• track machine health with precision, no matter where your fleet is located;• go beyond seat-of-pants hunches when tweaking engines;• ensure equipment is pampered over its lifespan; and• as many in the business tend to say, “make sure the fleet reels in high

resale value and that long-hoped-for retirement nestegg when it’s time to sell the business.”

Here at Finning, we’ve given a name to the emerging field of predictivemaintenance and telematics – we call it Equipment Management Solutions(EMS). Already, some forward-thinking equipment managers are putting themto work. They’re using S-O-S online and Global Maintenance System data totrack everything they ever wanted to know about equipment health, but mighthave been afraid to ask. They get timely reports on machine hours, location,fluid condition, fuel consumption (for electronic engines) and preventive main-tenance status.

These early adopters are gaining a clearer, more precise picture of total ma-chine health including automated reviews and alerts should anything go awry.Another new wrinkle sees stationary engines sending out health updates on 20key components every 15 minutes. The comprehensive reporting system, com-bined with Finning’s in-the-field technical expertise, is extending componentlife radically and pruning operating costs.

Sure, some of these cutting-edge users of technology are ’round the clock, Jill

Millionaire operations filled with mainte-nance planners, you say, but what canEMS offer Joe Average equipment ownerwho is more worried about that particularcubic metre of earth he has to move?

Some of these EMS capabilities are onthe shelf and ready to go for Joe, but thecomplete system is still largely in the de-velopment stages. Around the corner, assystems are refined, and as technologygets smarter, Joe Average – who doesn’thave his own shop, maintenance planneror mechanic – will be able to simulate, toan extent, these capabilities usingFinning’s EMS. And soon he’ll be able tochoose from basic monitoring and advis-ing of equipment health through to com-plete machine care including plannedmid-life overhauls and major componentchangeouts with guaranteed costs andavailabilities.

Some sunny day, Joe might even beable to tell you if operators are moreproductive when accompanied by Mozartor Metallica. Of course, as always, Tracks& Treads will keep you abreast ofdevelopments.

www.finning.ca4 TRACKS & TREADS Summer 2004

Lyle Makus, Technology Product Sales Manager

Where’s the used equipment insert that’s run for

some time in Tracks & Treads? We’ve elected to dis-

continue this slim eight-page offering, given the user-

friendly, searchable and extensive Finning used

equipment listings on our Finning.ca website. We

welcome your feedback on this or any other issue.

Drop me an e-mail at [email protected] and visit

www.finning.ca for the latest in used equipment

from Finning.

SUMMER 2004 VOLUME 41, NO. 2

PUBLISHER Ruth Kelly [email protected]

EXECUTIVE EDITORJeff [email protected]

EDITORMichel [email protected]

ART DIRECTORTamara J. [email protected]

ASSOCIATE ART DIRECTORVanlee [email protected]

CIRCULATION MANAGERRob [email protected]

ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVEAnita [email protected]

CONTRIBUTING WRITERSRobin Brunet, David DiCenzo, Lisa Grégoire,Keith Haddock, Jim Stirling, Bill Tice,Kerry Tremblay, Jim Veenbaas

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERSAND ILLUSTRATORSEarl Brown, Dustin Delfs, Jessica Facette,Aline Gauthier, Darryl Hansen, Carl Patzel,Bill Tice

Tracks & Treads is published to provide its readerswith relevant business, technology, product and service information in a lively and engaging manner.

Tracks & Treads is published for Finning (Canada) by

Venture Publishing Inc.#201, 10350-124 StreetEdmonton, AlbertaT5N 3V9 Phone: 780-990-0839Fax: 780-425-4921

Contents © 2004 by Finning (Canada)No part of this publication should be reproduced without written permission.

Letters & Feedback

Tell us what you thinkTracks & Treads would love to hear from you.Tell us what you thinkof the magazine, its stories, its columns, its look. Tell us how wecan improve the magazine and make it a more interesting read.

Send your comments to executive editor Jeff Howard by e-mail [email protected] or the old-fashioned way to: Jeff Howard, Tracks &

Treads, Finning (Canada), 16830 - 107 Avenue, Edmonton,Alberta, T5P 4C3

Dual speed saves timeOUR BUSINESS HAS just purchased a 236 skid steer with dual speed. This isan excellent feature and your machine leaves others in the dust! We cannow complete a snow removal job with the eight-foot bucket and twospeeds, so we are done long before the others. Thanks for theexcellent feature.

I have just picked up a copy ofTracks & Treads at our Edmon-ton dealer. Very nice publication.

Renita NadrowskiD.Z. Bobcat Service

T&T on the waterWOULD IT BE POSSIBLE to get my name added to Tracks & Treads mailinglist? I thoroughly enjoy the read as do my fellow engineers aboard theCCGS John P Tully. We have three 3412s and a 3306 aboard this vesseland many more Caterpillars throughout the fleet. Thank you.

Richard BaileyVictoria, B.C.

Global greetingsI'M A GREAT CAT FAN as well as a Cat operator of a 320B, from Sweden.I wonder if it's possible to have your excellent magazine, Tracks & Treads,sent to Sweden. I have a great interest in machinery and working methods! I would be very pleased if (sending me your magazine) could be arranged!

Peter SjorgenSweden

www.finning.ca


�

NEWS &�REVIEWS

GR

OU

ND

BR

EA

KE

RC

OM

PIL

ED

AN

D W

RIT

TE

N B

Y D

AV

ID D

ICE

NZ

O

www.finning.ca

plug check in the preventive maintenanceprocess.”

The magnetic plug check is part of Ekati’sOff-Highway Truck Condition-Based Moni-toring project that focuses on the differen-tials and final drives of the 777D, 789C and793C Caterpillar rear dump truck fleets. Theprojected savings are $909,000 annually.

A team effort between BHP Billiton andFinning on fuel, lubricant, air and coolantinitiatives has also generated annual cost sav-ings of more than $835,000 at Ekati.

Furthermore, the mine has been able toextend component life on its Caterpillargraders, dozers, loaders, and haul trucks byup to 25%.

6 TRACKS & TREADS Summer 2004

A STRATEGIC ALLIANCE between BHP Billi-ton Diamonds Inc and Finning has deliveredcost savings at Ekati Diamond Mine, whereFinning maintains the entire Caterpillar fleet.

The objective is to work as partners inmeeting or exceeding the productivity, avail-ability and cost goals of the mine. Its vision isto “create and continually build upon an en-during alliance that leverages the innovativestrengths of both organizations to becomeleaders in mine maintenance.”

The key to the success of the alliance hasbeen cultural alignment between the organi-zations, including the use of the Six SigmaMethodology and joint Six Sigma projects.The Six Sigma toolkit actually consists oftwo methodologies: the DMAIC (Define,Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control)and DMADV (Define, Measure, Analyze, De-sign and Verify).

“When I first came across the Six SigmaMethodology, I thought it was a painstakingaffair, but by the end of the first project ithad proved its worth,” said Finning opera-tions manager Gerry Drover. “It’s an excel-lent process and I now take the basics of anOE (organizational engineering) approach inalmost everything I do.”

Reliability engineer Michael Houlden saidhe frequently uses the skills he acquired.“(They) helped me implement a magnetic

Six Sigma Methodology Cutting Costs

PH

OTO

GR

AP

H S

UP

PLI

ED

BY

FIN

NIN

G C

AN

AD

A

RESIDENTS OF HINTON have been in direneed of some good fortune. When the Car-dinal River mine was closed last year, thetown was hit incredibly hard as approxi-mately 200 people lost their jobs.

But the news has since gotten better.Fording Canadian Coal Trust is opening theCheviot Creek pit at its Cardinal River opera-tions, resulting in employment for about 120people in the area.

“The optimism in the town is unbeliev-able,” says Hinton’s Mayor Alex Galbraith,one of those let go during the mine closurelast year.

And why shouldn’t the people of Hintonbe optimistic? The re-opening of the mine

New Mine Opening Creates Optimismwill mean stability in the area. According toElk Valley Coal President and CEO JimPopowich, strong export coal markets pres-ent an incredible opportunity to continueoperations in the area for quite some time.

“With 62 million tonnes of coal reservesin the permit area, mining at the CardinalRiver Operations will provide jobs and eco-nomic benefits to the community for morethan 20 years,” Popowich explained.

It’s expected that Cardinal River will ini-tially produce about 1.4 million tones ofclean coal per year, though that numbercould potentially double by 2005.

“It’s not only good news for the town, butfor the employees, as well,” says Galbraith.

GROUNDBREAKER

BY THE NUMBERS

HANDLING A BRAND new Cat 277 multi terrain loader ishard enough. Running the baby through an obstaclecourse, well that’s even tougher yet. But imagine havingto try and zig zag in and out of pylons, do a 360, pick up apallet with some tires stacked on them (which you cannotlet drop) and then park your machine.

Oh yeah, and one more thing – it has to be donebackwards.

That was just one of the difficult tasks a select group ofpost-secondary students from institutions all over thecountry had to perform at the recently held Canadian Na-tional Mining Games.

“The 360, that was rather interesting,” says Warren Be-beau, a mining reliability engineer for Finning, who alsoorganized this year’s event. “Some guys were pretty disas-trous, while others were smooth.”

Only the chosen anchor in teams of two operatorshad to run through the obstacle course backwards onthe 277, which was donated by Finning. The object wasto get the best time but in most cases, patience will winout over panic.

“We stress that a cleaner run is a lot better than a rushedrun with lots of penalties,” says Bebeau, preaching the im-portance of safety first.

Over the past 12 years, the Canadian NationalMining Games have been a showcase for some of thecountry’s most adept students in the field. The annualcompetition is open to any university with a miningengineering program.

This year’s event was held at the University of Albertafrom Feb. 19-21. In all, 10 schools with a maximum of 12students per team participated in the Games, partaking inmany different events including reclamation, mine rescue,gold panning and surveying, among numerous others. Be-beau, a former mining engineering student who has partici-pated in the competition himself, says that the platform isa great opportunity for students, particularly undergradsthat are new to the field and the equipment.

The Games not only unearthed the best school, but alsothe best individual competitor. Queens University’s JoshBlancher took home honours as the best operator and wona foot-long die cast model of a D11R tractor for his efforts.Laurentian University earned victory in the overall compe-tition and in addition to a little bonus money to help covertravel costs, the team members had their names added tothe winner’s plaque.

“Just like the Stanley Cup,” says Bebeau.

Mining GamesShowcase Different Breed

Number of Vancouverresidents selected for the 2004 Athens SummerGames Olympic TorchRelay: 3

Number of days it will take the relay to travel through fivecontinents before returning toGreece for the final segmentof the relay: 35

Due to governmentchangeover and resultingconstruction delays,approximate number ofdays the $136 million mainAthens Olympic stadiumwill be completed prior tothe start of the games: 30

Number of visitors anticipatedat the 2010 Vancouver-Whistler Winter OlympicGames: 250,000

Total economic impact indollars experienced byUtah from 1996 to 2003 asresult of hosting the 2002Games: 4,800,000,000

Number of job years ofemployment created as aresult: 35,000

Added income in dollarsfor Utah workers for thatperiod: 1,500,000,000

Number of times a sawmillhas won Canfor's President'sSafety Award (2003 winnerRustad Bros. Sawmill ofPrince George) in the last 17years: 1

Percentage increase in Cat retail machine salesfor the three months

ending February 2004compared to the sameperiod last year: 16

Percentage increase in North America: 29

Percentage of Catemployees involved in Six Sigma improvementprojects: 40

Approximate number ofprojects now underway:15,000

In the semi-conductorindustry, estimatedproduction cost in dollarsper megabit of computingpower in 1970: 20,000

Estimated cost in dollars per megabit in 2001: .02

Estimated cost in dollarsof active, intelligentwireless networking andsensing devices: .50

Percentage of children agednine to 12 year-olds that havetheir own Web site: 9

Hits per month received by the B.C. Road Builderswebsite: 40,000

Alberta’s anticipatedinvestment in dollars, in its provincial highway networkover the next three years:2,000,000,000

Approximate net inflow of people to B.C. in 2003:2,100

Last time inflow exceededoutflow: 1997


GROUNDBREAKER

www.finning.ca

IF YOU BUILD IT, THE

beast will run. Design-ing a monstrous truckto assemble and dis-mantle drilling rigsmay not have the sameromantic quality asconstructing a magicalbaseball field of dreamsbut to Bill Streeper, it’sstill a pretty cool gig.

The man behind theStreeper Group startedworking on a specialproject to create a mas-sive 8-wheel drive truckfor the contracting armof his operation sometime last April. “I wanted something that would go quick-er,” he says of the huge vehicle, equipped with a 3406E Catengine that helps it reach previously unattainable speedsof 40 mph.

Streeper explains the project was hatched through acollaboration with one of his clients, EnCana, and the B.C.government. They wanted to see the summer workloadupped but needed the proper iron to do so. Enter Streeper’sbaby. The truck features a 65-ton winch and an additional30-ton winch, all of which are run hydraulically. Camerason each side and the back end are hooked up to a monitorin the cab to aid the crew on the job. All in all, it’s quite aunique piece of work.

“He’s a visionary,” Finning rep Mike Friederici says of

the creative Streeper. Perhaps the most amazing thing aboutthe truck design is that he was actually able to squeeze it inat all. Time management is one of Streepers’s most neces-sary skills. His councilor job with the Town of Fort Nelsonand director position with the Northern Rockies RegionalDistrict keep him busy enough traveling around B.C., yetsomehow, he also manages to keep his nose in the five busi-nesses that comprise the Streeper Group.

Bill began the journey back in 1976, when he boughthis first truck. Chances are it was a far cry from the heftyprice tag for his new wheels. “By the time everything’s saidand done, it should be around $700,000,” Streeper says ofthe truck’s cost. “The guy’s at the Finning shop are gonnasqueal when it goes in for service.”

Articulated Truck Built for Speed

Curling WithA Cause in WetaskiwinIt may not be the Brier or the Scott Tournament of Hearts,but to many hard-working folks, the Wetaskiwin Farmer’sBonspiel is equally huge.

Early this winter, 40 rinks got together and took part inthe long-running three-day event in an effort to raise fundsfor charity. Earning bragging rights was just a bonus.

“It’s one of the bigger bonspiels in Alberta,” says Finningagricultural sales representative Dave Jones, who was sobusy taking auction bids that he didn’t even get to curl.

Well, not entirely. The 40 teams of four were each com-prised of three farmers and a local businessman. Guardswere set and hammers were thrown but the charitablecomponent of the bonspiel was just as important as whocame out on top after the tenth end.

The 2004 edition marked the third consecutive year

that Finning was involved in the “Bid From the Heart”auction. Finning donated 10 hours of use of a ChallengerMT865 tractor (in fact, Jones says that last year’s auctionactually led to a direct sale, when the neighbour of thewinner liked the iron so much he decided he needed onehimself), in addition to a beautiful Cat melton jacket. Thejacket was re-auctioned 28 times and for each $10 bid,every bidder’s name was thrown into a hat. Wetaskiwin’sGary Schnell eventually had his name drawn for the cozygarment, while Chris Anderson, a farmer from the Rimbeyarea, won the use of the MT865.

In all, $4,810 was raised for charity. “That was twice asmuch as we raised last year,” Jones says with pride. “Wewere very pleased and the club was very pleased.”

Hurry HARD!


PH

OTO

GR

AP

HY

BY

EA

RL

BR

OW

N

Bill Streeper stands beside his creation, an articulated dump truck with a 3406E Cat engine that can reachspeeds of up to 40 km/h.

TwoTrue CatYellowGuys

GROUNDBREAKER

PH

OTO

GR

AP

HY

BY

JE

SS

ICA

FA

CE

TTE

LOYAL CAT USERS tend to get downright emotional abouttheir devotion to the brand. Some, like grader driversDoug Lang and Gary Longhe, even get competitive.

The two buddies, both of whom work for FlagstaffCounty near Camrose, AB, simply love their iron but theyalso get a huge kick out of collecting Cat memorabilia.And the main goal for eachguy usually entails outdo-ing the other.

“It’s pride,” laughs the50-year-old Lang. “He buysa toy, I buy two.”

“My dad ran a grader,”says Longhe, 43, explaininghow he came by his pas-sion honestly. “He was al-ways Cat this, Cat that. Thename Caterpillar just stuckwith me.

“What other machine isthere?”

You’d figure the pairhope to run their very owndealership some day, whatwith the Cat theme theyboth have going on at workand at home. They continu-ally fine-tune and detail the actual machines (howmany graders have you seenwith a five-inch chromestack?) and their shed isdone up in the famous yel-low and black colours. Itboasts a wooden sign,which Lang and Longhe carved themselves, Cat clocks andeven colour-coded railings and light switches.

But the work site has nothing on their homes. Thedwellings have complete areas dedicated to Cat, featuringitems they’ve accumulated from various places like theFinning branch in Edmonton, the Cat headquarters in Peo-ria and even a local hardware store in Camrose.

Longhe’s wife refused to let him put his diverse collec-tion – models, pocket watch, cuff links, cards, among oth-ers – in the china cabinet. So he built his own case.

“No one touches my models,” the protective owner says.Lang has a fairly extensive collection himself. The 15-

year Flagstaff County veteran removed the living roomtable to make space for his stuff. It’s an impressive mix ofbuggies and graders but he knows of at least one piecethat’s missing.

“The only thing I haven’t got is a big rock truck, the onethey use in mines,” says Lang. “And I will have that. Butit’s an $800 item. I’m hoping I’ll have one at Christmas.”

Lang and Longhe have been working with Cat iron forso many years that they have no time for any other brand.In fact, the whole Flagstaff County crew of nine operators

has a Cat-first mentality right down to the very shoes theywear, though none can match the commitment of the duel-ing friends.

“Those two are crazy,” jokes co-worker Darryl Szott, aCat aficionado himself.

“We’re just true yellow,” says Longhe.


TOP: Cat lovers Doug Lang (left)and Gary Longhe (right) RIGHT:Gary’s trophy case of Catmemorabilia.

A PROBLEM WITH A PIPELINE COMPRESSION ENGINE CAN BE COSTLYBUT AS DAVID DICENZO FINDS OUT, FINNING HAS A SOLUTION USINGSATELLITE TECHNOLGY THAT PUTS OPERATORS’ MINDS AT EASE.

clients. Companies now enjoy muchmore peace of mind as the EM Opera-tion Centre continuously monitors theirCaterpillar gas compression engines,equipped with sensors, via satellite.

The five-person EM team retrievesdata on the 20 odd clients’ engines –each of which are outfitted withapproximately

50 sensors – every 15 min-utes on a daily basis, updating variousinformation like temperature, pressure,compression stages, combustion and vi-bration. Between the constant stream ofdata and the on-site field technicianswho perform extensive check-sheet re-ports, potential problems are addressedquickly and therefore result in lessdown time.

Top-end overhauls, which may en-tail the replacement of major compo-nents like cylinder heads can be doneevery 35,000 hours. The EM team alsoex-rays components, tests hardness andperforms non-destructive testing inorder to determine not only any prob-

lem area, but also the maximum life ofthe parts. For example, a customermight go 40,000 hours between cylin-der head change-outs, whereas thatwould have had to occur every 24,000prior to the introduction of EM.

“Our run times have improved,which increases our sales,” Davidson

says of Penn West’s 3600 seriesengines.

Though Penn West is inthe process of determiningthe cost effectiveness of theirparticipation with the EMservice, Davidson says therecertainly has been a positive

effect. Just having the on-sitefield technician alone hasexpedited any necessary re-pair process. With a remotework site situated some 230kilometres northeast of Ft.Nelson (home of the nearest

Finning branch), the old sys-tem of having to call a rep in

was painstaking to say the least.But for the past year or so, a tech-

nician has been on-site at theirdisposal. Less fuss. Less down time.

“It was three hours on a good day,”Davidson says of the long haul from thebranch. “From my standpoint, Finningchanged the way they provided ourservice for the better. It’s a much moreproactive product than before.”

More than 10 relatively large compa-nies have signed on for EM since its in-troduction in 2001. “It’s more than amaintenance program – it’s an invest-ment,” says Eljaalouk, who suggeststhat maintenance is the vehicle, not thegoal. “Customers love it. What it does istake the liability away from the cus-tomer’s side and on to Finning, where itshould be, and provides the equipmentreliability that customers expect.”

The Eye In the Sky

www.finning.ca

The Tech Report

ILLU

STR

ATI

ON

BY

ALI

NE

GA

UTH

IER


ANNOYANCES LIKE PREMATURE spark-plug failures or engine coolant leakscan become sizable operational head-aches, sometimes big enough to tem-porarily bring natural gas-producingprocesses to a grinding halt.

Glitches like these may un-fortunately be par for thecourse in such a complex in-dustry but many plant opera-tors have the fix – an Equip-ment Management Solutionagreement with Finning.

“Those were the kinds ofthings that would shut us downbefore,” says John Davidson,Penn West’s Northern Area Pro-duction Superintendent. “None ofthem are insurmountable but theywere affecting run times.”

And time, as we know, is money.In the natural gas industry, we’re talk-ing considerable amounts of revenue.Whenever one of the compressor en-gines situated along Alberta’s naturalgas pipelines goes down, the associatedoperational and loss of production costscan mount to $12,000 per hour.

Suffice it to say that keeping the bigbeasts humming, for as long as possible,is top priority. “One of the major goalsis to achieve lower operating costs toproduction ratios and thus reducingoverall life cycle costing,” says GeorgeEljaalouk, a technical service managerat Finning who leads Finning PowerSystems’ Equipment Management Op-eration Centre.

Makes sense, right? In the past cou-ple of years, Finning’s EM Centre hasdone just that for thankful gas industry

YELLOWIRONProfile

N e w P r o d u c t s a n d S e r v i c e s f r o m F i n n i n g

B-SERIES ARRIVESB-series Caterpillar skid steer loaders and multi-ter-rain loaders are now available. Key design changesinclude Tier II compliant engines with more per-formance and horsepower, improved operator envi-ronment, more high flow options and improvedserviceability and reliability.

MY S•O•S ONLINE Finning’s offers you My S•O•S Online, the industryleading, customized web-enabled reporting servicewhere you can access S•O•S fluid analysis resultsfor your equipment – whether a single unit or an en-tire fleet – all through a simple, user-friendly inter-face. For more information visit www.finning.ca.

VERSATILE CAT-POWERED WHEELED TRACTORSWheeled tractors from 50 to 125 HP are now avail-able. These rugged machines – built to the toughestquality standards in the industry – stretch the limitsof productivity and performance. All backed by serv-ice you can count on. Call 1-888-FINNING.

FINNING FILTER CLEANER SAVESReduce your operating costs with Finning’s air filtercleaning system, an exclusive, dry-type cleaningprocess that uses air and a vacuum to clean your fil-ters, meaning no chemicals, liquids or hazardousmaterials are used. As a result, filter elements can besafely cleaned and re-used up to eight times.


12 TRACKS & TREADS Summer 2004 www.finning.ca

C O M P A N Y P R O F I L E

PH

OTO

GR

AP

HY

BY

BIL

L TI

CE

Dwayne Carson, Coastland Wood Industries’ log yard supervisor, aboard the custom painted Cat 966F wheel loader.



WAYNE CARSON HAS always loved flames.Ever since he was a kid growing up in FortNelson, B.C., they have been his trademarksignature, appearing on everything from hisclothing to his toys. As a young adult, theflames appeared on his beloved 1979 black

and silver Ford F-150 pick-up truck. There, etched on therear window panel was a horse with, you guessed it, flamesas its mane and tail.

Today, Carson hasn’t changed a bit. The F-150 is stillpart of his now, much larger truck collection, and he is stilladding graphic flames to all of his treasures, but the trea-sures these days are vastly larger. Two of his more recentprojects include a Caterpillar 320C butt-n-top loader and aCaterpillar 966F wheel loader. As log yard supervisor atCoastland Wood Industries, a 325 million square ft. (3/8 in.basis) per year veneer producer located on the waterfrontin Nanaimo, B.C., Carson is responsible for all the iron inthe yard including these two machines.

But when it comes to his work toys, Carson has a morepractical side. “Half of our logs come in by salt water, andthe salt plays havoc on our equipment,” explains Carson.“The plastic paint we used for the custom paint jobs helpsto protect the machines against this element.” He’s referringto the Cat iron described above that underwent custompaint jobs. The work was done at Island Truck and Auto, alocal heavy-duty paint and body shop, where each of theCats spent three to four days being sprayed and treatedwith a special two-part plastic paint that covers the entirecar body. The new paint job helps repel corrosion caused

Coastland Wood proves that custom paintjobs can boost both bottom line and morale B Y B I L L T I C E

Dby salt water.

Carson has found that an added bonus of custom paint-ing the Cat equipment is the pride the operators have in thegear. “These machines look good,” notes Carson. “We fin-ished the paint jobs in early 2002 and the two machinesstill look like they are brand new, so the operators takeextra special care of them, right down to sweeping the cabfloor at the end of their shift. These two machines are alsoeasy to keep clean on the outside, because the plastic paintrepels the elements better than regular paint. The reality ofit is that, if the equipment looks good, the operators takebetter care of it, and that has an effect on our bottom linebecause our equipment lasts longer.”

The other pieces of equipment Carson is responsible forincludes a Cat 938G rubber tire wheel loader, which hasspecially designed forks for handling peeler blocks for themill, a 972G rubber tire wheel loader, Series I and Series II980G wheel loaders and a brand new 330C butt-n-toploader. Coastland’s fleet of log yard equipment handles wellover one million cubic metres of wood annually, including750,000 metres that is consumed by the two-line veneer millalone. An additional 400,000 cubic metres is evenly splitbetween custom chipping and resale. Coastland, whichstarted-up in 1988 with just 60 employees, now has over 200employees and annual sales in excess of $100 million. Thecompany also has a custom veneer drying plant on AnnacisIsland, near Vancouver.

Not all of the equipment at Coastland receives the specialpaint treatment. It is reserved for machines that will be inservice for longer periods of time. The mill is a 24/7 opera-

THE POWEROFTHEFLAME

tion and much of the equipment willwork three shifts per day. Coastlandturns over the Cat equipment at 12,000hours, which translates into about 30to 36 months for a machine that is run-ning on this type of schedule.

“With the kind of turnover wehave, it is not necessary for us tospend $5,000 to $6,000 on custompaint for every machine that comes inhere,” explains Carson. “The ma-chines that we have had custompainted only work one shift per dayand only have two operators – themain operator, and a back-up opera-tor. These machines will be here for awhile so it is definitely worth theextra investment.”

A number of other pieces of Coast-land’s Cat equipment have been me-chanically customized over the pastfew years, starting in the mid-1990s


C O M P A N Y P R O F I L ETHE POWER OF THE FLAME

PH

OTO

GR

AP

HY

BY

BIL

L TI

CE

TOP AND MIDDLE: A Cat 980 wheel loader,with a full load of logs, heads up the rampfrom Coastlands’ yard to the mill. Below, the980G in action in the yard.BOTTOM: The custom painted 966F wheelloader equipped with an Allu 423 doubleengine processing attachment. The Allu han-dles approximately 500 m3 of wood wasteevery day.



oastland Industries’ Dwayne Carson’s customizationprojects often go beyond paint. The latest is the Cat

330C butt-n-top, which was delivered last month. While itdidn’t receive the special paint treatment, it is still verymuch a custom machine.

“The new butt-n-top will primarily be used for pickinglogs out of the water,” says Carson. “We specified alonger boom with extra reach so that the operator canreach out and down for logs. Because of this, we added awider Weldco undercarriage that provides the machinewith more stability. Being able to reach lower and farther isvery important to us because the logs we need to accessare in tidal water. When the tide goes down, the operatorsstill need to be able to reach logs in order to feed the milland keep production moving.”

At times, the tide is just too low to pick logs out of thewater, so the operators often deck logs on the beach. Toallow the operators to have a full view of the decked wood,which is often stacked 40 feet high, Coastland workedwith Finning’s engineering department in Vancouver to de-velop a sloped, clear roof for the 330C. The roof is manu-factured from shatterproof safety glass. “The engineers atFinning are just great to work with,” adds Carson. “Theyfind out exactly what we need and then they find a way tobuild it for us.”

The new 330C also has a custom butt-n-top grapplethat was designed and built by IMAC, with input fromCoastland. The IMAC tool was made for salt water and includes full floating pins that are capped on each endwith a grease nipple. This keeps the grease in and the saltwater out. Because it was designed for a marine applica-tion, the grapple also features replaceable zinc strips,which are bolted to the grapple. The salt attacks and corrodes the weaker zinc, instead of the steel, and thenthe zinc strips are replaced as necessary.

Custom Job Goes Beyond Paint

C

when they converted a Cat 320 sewer and water machineto a butt-n-top loader. More recently, the 320C with thecustom paint job was also customized mechanically tomeet the mill’s requirements. “On the 320C, we had a fullWeldco package installed, including a forestry cab,” ex-plains Carson. “The package also included a longer boomand stick, and a butt-n-top grapple, which lengthened thereach by three feet, from 33 to 36.”

The other custom painted machine, the 966F wheelloader, was fitted with an Allu 423 double engine process-ing attachment, which the mill uses to handle approxi-mately 500 cubic metres of wood waste every day. In thepast six years, Coastland has had four of the Finnish-builtAllu’s, including the first one sold in North America. TheAllu replaces the bucket on loaders and excavators, andcan be used for screening, crushing, mixing and aeratingmany types of materials.

“Finning has given us 100% when it comes to helpingus meet our goals with the custom-built machines,” notesCarson. “Their engineering team never says ‘maybe youshouldn’t do that’. They always find a way. The service isexcellent, the support is awesome, and they go that extramile for us.”

Finning sales representative Matt Laing adds thatCoastland’s relationship with Finning is definitely a twoway street. “Coastland Wood Industries, and Dwayne inparticular, are great to work with,” he says. “They knowthe equipment, they know its capabilities and they knowwhat they need it to do for them.”

Despite the extra expense of customizing equipment,Carson has the full support of his boss, vice president of

forest operations Barry Simpson. “As long as Dwayne cansupport his case, I am behind him all the way,” saysSimpson. “Customizing our equipment has paid off forus in terms of efficiency and lower maintenance costsand Dwayne is always researching ways to lengthen thelife of our yard equipment.”

As far as Carson is concerned, he has the perfect job.He gets to customize equipment with the support of hisboss, and he gets to put flames on all of his toys, both athome and at work. “I like the Cat yellow,” notes Carson.“I just like to kick it up a notch, and as far as the flamesgo, they make the equipment look like it’s moving fast,even if it’s not.”

The custom painted 320C, in action in the yard, sorts logs. The butt-n-top loader is equipped with a full Weldco package, including a forestry cab, a longer boom and stick, and a butt-n-top grapple.

www.finning.ca

HE BITELLI SF200 IS builtin the same region of Italyas Maserati automobiles,and it boasts comparablemanufacturing standards.Like the legendary sports

car, the SF200 eats up the road – onlythe SF200 does it literally. Just askcrews at Coquitlam, B.C.-based JackCewe Ltd., who are using the 29,000 kgmachine to mill the asphalt on streetsthat require resurfacing throughout theLower Mainland.

Jack Cewe Ltd., one of B.C.’s most

respected general contractors, didn’tconsider adding road milling to itsscope of work until a few years ago,when it became clear that the resurfac-ing market could accommodate anoth-er spread. “Until now, we subcontract-ed the milling work. Many of ourthoroughfares in the Lower Mainlandare in poor shape, some to the pointwhere successive layers of asphalthave raised the road higher than thegutter,” says general manager GeorgeTuri. “We waited until the economyturned around before deciding what

kind of milling equipment to buy earli-er this year. Fortunately, the people atFinning made the choice easy for us.”

That is because Minerbio, Italy-basedBitelli, which first began producing stat-ic rollers in the 1930s and advancedhydraulic transmission controls forvibrating compactors in the 1970s, is awholly-owned subsidiary of Caterpillar.“Cat acquired the company four yearsago as part of our commitment to theroad building industry worldwide,”says Finning sales representative Marcde Boer. “Its asphalt pavers, cold planers

T


The Maserati of Milling MachinesB Y R O B I N B R U N E T

Respected contractor enters road milling market with top-of-the-line machine

PH

OTO

GR

AP

HY

BY

BIL

L TI

CE

In a parking lot in Coquitlam B.C., operator John Scomazzon and the Bitelli SF200 grind down damaged areas. The material is then recycled and theparking lot repaired.

and compactors set the standard fordurable road equipment, and the SF200raises the bar in terms of its asphaltmilling capabilities.”

Road resurfacing is a highly eco-nomic method of street repair. Insteadof digging up the entire road bed,milling machines are used to grinddown the damaged street surface, leav-ing the curb facing exposed. Trucksthen carry the milled material either toindustrial and commercial sites foryard surfacing or back to the asphaltplant where it is recycled into usablepaving matter. The missing few inchesof asphalt is mechanically installedand then compacted. Apart from givingroads new life, milling and re-pavingalso helps surface drainage by provid-ing more efficient grading paths forwater run-offs into nearby sewers.

Finning hosted a group of pavingcontractors earlier this year at theCaterpillar proving grounds in Tucson,Arizona where 35 machines from smallrollers to big pavers were demonstratedin a tightly-choreographed fashion.“The Bitelli stood out from the pack,”recalls Turi. “It was exceptionally wellbuilt and thought out.”

But what really cemented the dealfor Turi was Finning’s renowned back-up support, which extends to specialtymachines like the SF200. “That waspart of the original purchase agreementwith Bitelli four years ago,” says deBoer. “The company had confidence inour servicing capabilities, and in JackCewe’s case, the know-how of our Sur-rey branch came into play. We not onlyfully support the SF200, we can tie itin with the loaders and tractors inorder to develop a complete road resur-facing ‘train.’” The Jack Cewe purchaseincluded a Cat 248 high-flow skid steerwith hydraulic capacity to run front-end attachments like a cold planer, aswell as two 980Gs.

The same SF200 that was demon-strated in Tucson arrived in Coquitlamin February, but before it could be putto use, the Jack Cewe crew underwenta month of training to familiarize them-selves with the machine. “We alsohired a new crew, five people altogeth-er, including foreman Denny Johnsonand operator John Scomazzon,” saysTuri. “On any site we would also havea sweeper operator, someone runningthe skid steer and a ground man.”

Since arriving in B.C., the SF200has completed four small tie-in jobs,and at press time it was involved in itsfirst substantial undertaking: the resur-facing of seven residential streets inBurnaby. Denny Johnson, who has ex-tensive experience with the Cat 465, isamazed by the ruggedness of the Bitel-li machine. “We are currently perform-ing full-depth removal of two to 10inches, and not once has the SF200bogged down in severe conditions,” hesays. “By comparison, other machineswould plug up. But the Bitelli has atwo-metre drum width that is not off-set like other milling units, so it reallyeats up asphalt.”

In the unlikely chance the SF200were to plug up, a unique featurewould render cleaning the machine asimple task. Johnson explains: “Theconveyor has a reverse belt. If a chunkof asphalt were to get caught betweenthe belt and the wheels, we would sim-ply reverse it out. With other machinesyou have to go in with a pick and chipaway the chunk.”

Johnson adds: “Compared withother machines I’ve handled, theSF200 is somewhat heavier, the engineis a bit more powerful, and all in all itis much easier to operate.”

Turi is especially happy with whathe calls the SF200’s “urban” features:“It has terrific crabbing capabilities,”he says, referring to the machine’s dex-

terity in maneuvering in tight spaces.“The conveyor can fold up on itselfand the canopy can collapse hydrauli-cally. It also has a front-mouth insteadof a rear-mouth discharge, meaningtrucks work in front of the machineand can exit into the general flow oftraffic instead of against it. All thesefeatures are vital in tight city streets orresidential spaces.”

In fact, Turi is so impressed by theBitelli that he is already looking for-ward to another purchase. “What withthe 2010 Olympics and further eco-nomic recovery resulting in projectsbeing fast-tracked, we think one SF200won’t be enough for us.”

Meantime, de Boer and his col-leagues are basking in the introductionof the SF200 to Western Canada. “Com-petitors and the resurfacing industry ingeneral are taking a close look at howJack Cewe is using the machine,” hesays. “We’re proud of the way it is han-dling but not the least bit surprised: ver-satility and durability is what Bitellimanufacturing is all about.”


George Turi, general manager of Jack Cewe Ltd.

www.finning.ca

NNOVATION SOMETIMES REQUIRES

a bit of trial and error, a point towhich Albert and Kevin Bensoncan surely attest. The two brothers,owners of NEC Contractors Ltd. inLac La Biche, Alta., had themselves

a great idea when they decided to at-tach a mulching head to their Cat D6RLGP (low ground pressure) tractor forland clearing work in the oilfield busi-ness. But once their machine was final-ly ready to go, one of the company’s op-erators encountered a bit of a problem.

“The engine sits so high at the back,”says Albert, the salesman of the siblingcontracting team. “We backed right intoKevin’s pickup truck on the first day.”

“Nothing that $6,000 couldn’t fix,”Kevin says with a chuckle.

No real harm done – other than ajolt to the operator’s ego. And Kevin’sbank account, perhaps. The Bensonsquickly remedied the visibility prob-lem by installing a video camera intothe tractor’s cab, allowing them to get abetter glimpse of what goes on aroundthem while the modified D6R is in use.

Albert and Kevin come by their cre-ative ways honestly. Twenty years ago,they took over the business from theirfather, who was always quick to trysomething new with what was thenmostly a logging operation, be it intro-ducing the use of tree shears or aloader. The younger Bensons have onlyexpanded the scope over the years andnow, NEC Contractors Ltd. is able toperform a wide variety of work, fromlease preparation and road building toreclamation and heavy equipmenttransport, among other jobs.

Of course, the mulching of treestumps is a relatively new thing for theearth-moving Benson duo. It beganwhen the province’s Ministry of Sus-tainable Resources expressed a need todeal with leftover wood in the oil-patch in a much more environmentallyfriendly manner. In NEC’s case, thecompany follows the path of inde-pendent salvagers who usually logareas in three-acre parcels, leaving behind stumps, deadwood and unsal-vageable timber. The old method en-tailed ripping the tree stumps out ofthe ground, breaking them up intopieces and then burning them, which

produced carcinogens and wreakedgeneral havoc on the surrounding envi-ronment. Mulching was a morefavourable solution, but no one outthere was really doing it.

So the Bensons tackled the projectthemselves. They first started lookingfor a machine at ground level thatcould handle the severe conditionsthey typically face.

“Eighty per cent of our work is donein frost conditions,” Kevin points out.

The Bensons consulted with clientsand in time, they had stripped downtheir D6R, removing the ripper, theblade and the C-frame. What was left

I


The Wood MulcherB Y D A V I D D I C E N Z O

Northern Alberta contractors blaze a trail with their innovative wood-mulching attachment

PH

OTO

GR

AP

HY

BY

DA

RR

YL

HA

NS

EN

NEC Contractors’ Kevin Benson, who along with his brother Albert, created the wood-mulchingattachment that is the first of its kind in the Alberta oilfield.

was a bare tractor, with cab andcanopy. They had approached Con-struction Technology Inc. in Oklahomato create the proposed attachment andeventually bolted up a new, redesignedC-frame. Used to crush rocks, the$450,000 attachment has 140 ultra-sturdy teeth and sports a massive 10-foot head, which is driven by a Cat C153406.

“That’s why we picked Cat,” Kevinsays of both the engine and the tractoritself, two of many brand pieces theyown. “We know our Cat.”

And the development process wasfairly quick – just two and half monthswere needed before Albert and Kevinsaw their idea come to life in the sum-mer of 2003. “The machine was re-markable,” says Kevin. “It’s like a hugerototiller in your garden.”

“What it did was open a new win-dow,” Benson adds, referring to a client

who wanted to move away from thenastier process of burning stumps. “Wewent in there and mulched it all –turned it into top soil.”

“They’re always looking for newways to drum up business,” saysFinning’s Darryl Plouffe, who’s beenworking with NEC for the past threeyears. “It’s a very, very competitivemarket in that neck of the woods.”

Plouffe says that innovative clientslike the Bensons make the job both re-warding and challenging, as they con-stantly seek out ways to take the busi-ness to another level. It’s hisresponsibility to keep pace with them.“That’s the fun part,” says Plouffe.

The modified tractor has translatedinto a big boost for NEC, a companywith about 30 pieces of iron and anequal number of employees. If imita-tion is truly the sincerest form of flat-tery, then the Bensons have a few ad-

mirers out there. Sincethey got their stump-mulching tractor going inJuly of 2003, other compa-nies have followed suit. Itonly shows that NEC isdoing it right.

“We don’t have to sellthe machine at all,” Kevinsays of the trend-settingproduct. “We just have toget it out there.

“It will mulch anythingthat’s been logged,” headds. “We haven’t comeacross anything we couldnot mulch.”

For the Bensons, stay-ing a step ahead of thecompetition is certainlymeaningful but in this par-ticular case, they can alsofeel good about coming upwith a design that makes apositive impact on the en-

vironment as opposed to solely en-hancing the bottom line. By mulchingthe stumps, the remnants are workedinto the ground and the soil is muchhealthier than what resulted from theold burning methods. “It’s pretty excit-ing,” says Kevin.

Such a detailed approach to thebusiness means that the brothers havelittle time for recreation, though they dooccasionally put in some hours on theirhobby farms when the opportunity aris-es. Most of the schedule is devoted toimproving NEC Contractors Ltd. and inturn, making life as simple as possiblefor their existing clients. Those are tasksthe Bensons have no problem with.

“The whole oilfield business ischanging and you have to keep up,”Albert says. And if that means dealingwith a few hiccups every now andthen, like a hearty ding to a nearbypickup truck, so be it.


The wood-mulching attachment, on a Cat D6R, at work in the oilfield in northeastern Alberta, near Lac La Biche.

Creating a New SafetyLandscape

KERRY TREMBLAY DISCOVERS THAT THE RECENTLY ENACTED“WESTRAY BILL” PUTS THE BURDEN OF RESPONSIBILITY SQUARELYON THE SHOULDERS OF ORGANIZATIONS AND THEIR OFFICIALS.

“The legislation imposes a legalduty on all those who direct work, in-cluding employers, to take reasonablemeasures to protect employees andpublic safety. Wanton or reckless disre-gard of this duty causing death or bodi-ly harm would result in a charge ofcriminal negligence,” explains a mediarelease on the new law.

Both the organization and theindividual can

be charged with criminal negli-gence, then tried. However, becausethe offence is a criminal one, theCrown (government) would have toprove beyond a reasonable doubt thatthe accused, in directing the work,showed a “wanton and reckless” dis-regard of the worker’s safety.

The new law looks at the structureof organizations differently than hasbeen the case in other legislation. Forexample, the definition of “organiza-tion” has expanded to include a publicbody, a partnership, a volunteer associ-ation or a trade union.

Bill C-45 brings some harsh penal-ties for both organizations and individ-uals convicted of criminal negligence.Fines for organizations can be unlimit-ed. As well, the new law establishes ahost of sentencing options. These in-clude restitution orders or probation,where the organization has to report tothe court or be monitored by appropri-ate agencies. For individuals, it can

mean a prison term of up to 10years for causing an injury orlife for causing death in addi-tion to a fine.

A judge would decide, whenlooking at all the factors, whetherthere was wanton or recklessdisregard of duty that causedan injury or death, explains

Yost. It could, for example, be acase of the person knowing an

action or procedure was wrong andordering it done that way anyway –

either to save time or money.At a project manager level, if that

manager doesn’t provide fall protectionwhere it’s needed because it costs toomuch, then the manager exposes him-self and his employer to charges ofcriminal negligence if someone washurt or killed. At the worker level, if theforeman decides the crew will work inearth trenches and doesn’t ensure prop-er trenching procedures are followedand a worker dies, the foreman and theorganization could be liable.

For a crime like fraud, which requires intent, the law provides newguidelines for deciding when the organ-ization is responsible for the actions ofits employees. For example, a companypresident could direct a worker to pur-chase cheap stolen goods. While the or-ganization and the president would becriminally liable, the worker would notbe held responsible.

SWEEPING CHANGES IN new federallegislation on health and safety thatwill affect every organization andevery worker in Canada came into effect last month.

Bill C-45 creates an amendment tothe Criminal Code of Canada where-by employers and their represen-tatives will be held responsi-ble if injury or death occurs asa result of recklessly put-ting workers in danger.Organizations and indi-viduals representing em-ployers who fail to take rea-sonable steps to preventworkplace accidents can beheld liable for the crimes.

The legislation is a response to the recommenda-tions that came out of an inquiry into the deaths of 26 min-ers at the Westray mine in NovaScotia in 1992 and a 2002 reportof the House of Commons Stand-ing Committee on Justice andHuman Rights on workplace safetyand corporate liability.

According to Justice Canada lawyerGreg Yost, the changes will affect virtu-ally everyone in an organization – fromthe members of the board of directorsand the company president to foremenand even to a senior worker who isasked to, or offers to, mentor a new em-ployee. All of those people are directingwork either by the nature of their jobsor because they have chosen to take onthe responsibility.

www.finning.ca

Safety First

ILLU

STR

ATIO

N B

Y A

LIN

E G

AU

THIE

R


SPECIAL REPORT

EQUIPMENT RENTALS

The ability to rent theequipment you need for aspecific job and period of time has provided contractorsof all sizes with the tools andflexibility required to bid for a wider variety of jobs.Contractors have taken note of the opportunities as equipment rentals haveskyrocketed. In North Americain 1982, equipment rentalsgenerated revenues of $614million. By next year, thatnumber should reach anastounding $40 billion.

It began during thereconstruction ofEurope. Now, it’s acommon businesspractice.

22Three Finningcustomers explainhow renting helpedthem get where they are.

24

CA

NA

DIA

N P

RE

SS

CP


Equipment Rentals

SPECIAL REPORT

www.finning.ca

Renting heavy equipmentbegan in Europe but theidea has caught on this side of the Atlantic. The market has grown by more than 2,000% in less than 20 years.

SPECIAL REPORT

EQUIPMENT RENTALS

INNING INTERNATIONAL INC. CEO DOUG WHITEHEAD IS KEENLY AWARE

that the world is becoming a renter’s market. “Over 70% ofheavy equipment across the United Kingdom goes to rentals,not sales,” he told the press last November. “Rentals will playan increasingly important role for us, not just in the U.K.(thanks to Finning’s purchase of British rental giant HewdenStuart) but in North America as well.”

Indeed, more people are outsourcing equipment than everbefore. Many industry analysts estimate that the North American rental marketwill see revenues of more than $40 billion by 2005, compared to $21 billion in1998 and just $614 million in 1982.

The first people to significantly replace owned machines with rentals werecontractors in the building trades. In Europe, the market for rentals originated inpost-World War II England, when a lot of heavy equipment was government-owned and leased to cash-strapped users in order to rebuild cities and galvanizethe economy. The European rental market thrives today because the high cost ofliving gives medium-sized contractors little chance to acquire decent machineinventories. But why is the market expanding so quickly on this continent?

Simply put, competition among rental firms has kept rates low and broughtincreased selection and availability to the rental yard. Which is fortuitous, sincea growing number of contractors now seek a wider variety of jobs. “These days,contractors must work within margins as tight as 3 to 5%, so renting the right

B Y R O B I N B R U N E T

Renting On the Rise

F


There isn’t much that can’t be rented anymore. Below, on a construction site in

Port Moody, B.C., Matcon Excavating’s ChrisHarper operates a Bomag BP 35/38

reversible plate compactor. In the background sits an Ingersoll Rand 185 towbehind compressor. At right, the Cat Rental

Store’s Elio Cardarelli operates a Cat CS-433C in Coquitlam, B.C.

SPECIAL REPORT

EQUIPMENT RENTALS

tools for the right job becomes imperative,” says Harry Hoyer,general manager of The Cat Rental Store network.

Caterpillar launched the Rental Store concept in the U.S.in 1997 in order to leverage the strength of the Caterpillarname, build awareness of Cat in a new business and unifythe identity of dealers in the business. Hoyer, whose outletshave expanded from one to 25 across Western Canada in just32 months, adds: “You can liken the growth of this market tothe way the big-box retail chains have developed. A lot ofsmall and medium-sized outlets have amalgamated or beenacquired by bigger firms, and big firms with a national scopehave big buying power, big capitalization power and over-head efficiencies. So the operating cost structure is keptdown, and clients are the big winner.”

Cat distinguishes itself by focusing on local needs. “Weoperate on a regional model,” says Hoyer. “Unlike some com-panies that offer the same equipment country-wide, we un-derstand the requirements of clients in B.C. and Alberta andtailor our inventory and rental contracts accordingly.”

In most cases, a rental costs more for a particular job thanif the machine was owned. However, when the cost of alljobs are added together at the end of the year, the renter typi-cally finds he has spent less money compared to the ownerbecause he hasn’t had to deal with maintenance, storage orother equipment costs. A basic rule of thumb is that equip-ment must be in use for at least 70% of its life span in orderto justify the cost of ownership; if not, then it is cheaper torent (see sidebar).

What construction equipment is rented the most? The on-line provider of rental quotes, Rentmaker, says earthmovingmachines clearly lead the way. Hydraulic excavators comefirst, followed by backhoes, dozers, skid-steer loaders andwheeled loaders. Even smaller equipment like compact exca-vators is being sought. “There is an amazing latitude of ma-chines to choose from, virtually no job that a rental companycan’t provide for,” says Hoyer.

Although the rental industry is still highly fragmented, withseveral small and medium players mixed in with larger,national companies, most experts believe consolidation willcontinue for the next decade, providing customers even moreselection. “We plan to open several new Cat Rental Storesevery year for at least the next few years,” says Hoyer. “We willcontinue to focus on providing the right tools to the right cus-tomer accompanied by the right financial package.” P

HO

TOG

RA

PH

Y B

Y B

ILL

TIC

E


To Rent or Not to Rent?rguments for renting are compelling. For example,you can write off 100% of the rental cost in the

year the expense is acquired (as opposed to purchas-ing and then depreciating the equipment over severalyears). You also save on the cost of equipment mainte-nance, storage and insurance. To top it off, you operatenew equipment that’s unlikely to break down on the job.

But you can get a better idea about whether or not you should rent by asking yourself three basicquestions:

1. What is the likelihood you will use a specific pieceof equipment on a regular or near-regular basis? Themore the equipment is likely to be used, the more senseit makes to purchase it outright.

2. How competitive is the rental market in your region? How aggressive are the dealerships likely to be for your business? Equipment manufacturers likeCaterpillar offer favourable rent-to-own or low-financingpurchase options.

3. How seasonal is your business? In general, itmakes no sense to purchase equipment that will sit in a yard for more than a few months in the year, as bothmaintenance and insurance costs are being incurred on a non-performing asset.

The chart below helps determine if renting or buying, and in what condition, best fits your needs.For example, if you need a piece of iron for less than100 days/year and intend to use it for less than 1,200hours, renting is likely the best option for you.

A

USED SEMI-NEW

NEW

THE BEST SOLUTION(New – Semi-New – Used – Rental)

300

200

100

500 1000 1500 2000USE (hours/year)

PR

ES

EN

CE

(day

s/ye

ar)

2 hrs/day 4 hrs/day 6 hrs/day

8 hrs/day

10 hrs/day

20 hrs/dayRENTAL

www.finning.ca

PH

OTO

GR

AP

HY

BY

DU

STI

N D

ELF

S


UANE LEPTICH, OWNER OF EDMONTON-BASED MAXIM EXCAVAT-

ing, is a mid-sized contractor whose access to rentalequipment has enabled him to survive tough economictimes. “I’ve been renting ever since I launched my com-pany 10 years ago and avoided all the problems associatedwith owning a large inventory,” he says. “I’ve never need-ed to spend hordes of cash on maintenance, I’ve mini-mized my losses when machines sit idle, and I’ve been

able to use my cash flow to ride out economic downturns,” he says.But firms with large inventories benefit equally well from renting. Randy

Orydzuk, general foreman for the North American Construction Group, is cur-rently supervising 80 workers on the Syncrude UE-1 project 480 km north of Ed-monton. “We’re doing heavy earth moving for Syncrude using our own ma-chines, but we decided to rent power generators for areas up here that have noland lines,” he says. “We’re renting 30 units from the Cat Rental Store alone.”

Because rental outlets are abundantly stocked with specialty as well as main-stream items, the business has evolved from merely dispensing equipment tosolving problems for clients. Even in the farthest-flung outlet, store managershelp clients determine how rentals fit into their overall business plan and selectthe most useful machine for a specific task. Harry Hoyer, general manager of theCat Rental Store network, notes: “If ownership makes sense, we won’t pushrentals. If rentals make sense, we take the extra effort to learn what kind of workthe client is doing and what he wants to be involved in down the road.”

People like Hoyer go so far as to determine the preferences of a client’s opera-

From the smallest to thelargest contractor, rentingequipment can be thesolution to any of anumber of problems orchallenges. Threecustomers explain howrenting helps them.

B Y R O B I N B R U N E T

It Is for Everyone

SPECIAL REPORT

EQUIPMENT RENTALS

D

Maxim Excavating’s Kevin Leptich, operates a rented Cat TH 83 with a zoom boom at a construction site in Edmonton.


tors. “You don’t want someone accustomed to using a two-lever wobble stick operating something that has a three-leverfoot-swing control, because it will reduce productivity. Andon-site productivity is our mutual objective.”

The North American Construction Group already has thewherewithal to complete a project as complex as SyncrudeUE-1 efficiently and effectively but the company relies onrentals to eliminate potential headaches not directly associat-ed with the job. “We’ve been working on this site for threeyears now, and it’s enough of a challenge for us to maintainour fleet for the earth moving, underground piping and pil-ings driving that we perform daily,” says Orydzuk. “By rent-

ing power generators for our basic living needs, we don’tneed to employ additional mechanics. It’s just one morething we don’t have to worry about.”

Maxim Excavating’s Leptich says independent contractorsentering the market spend most of their time scrambling tobuild a client base and can’t afford a big hit on their bottomline. He credits the rental trade for helping establish his busi-ness in 1994: “Even though there were no Cat (Rental) Storesback then, I rented from anybody I could and gradually madea name for myself.” Today, Leptich owns a small but reliablefleet including a 950 Cat loader and two Cat skid steers, andhis specialty is performing environmental clean-ups on dis-

SPECIAL REPORT

EQUIPMENT RENTALS

A small fleet of rented equipment, including from left to right a Cat 262, a 303.5 and a TH 83, enables Maxim Excavating to do the excavation workrequired before landscaping the VentaCare seniors home in Edmonton.


SPECIAL REPORT

EQUIPMENT RENTALS

used gas stations - an adjunct to the culvert and bridge exca-vation he routinely undertakes.

The rental trade has allowed many contractors withoutdeep pockets to diversify their project range and/or expandtheir volume of work as is the case with Maxim. “I’ve beensteadily expanding the volume of my work since 1994,which is remarkable given the market downturns we’ve suf-fered,” says Leptich. “If any job requires small machinery, Iautomatically rent – I don’t even consider purchasing. Lastsummer I rented a mini-hoe from Cat in order to excavate fora seniors’ facility. I used the machine for five months, andwhen the job was done the unit was out of my yard rightaway instead of gathering dust. That alone was an enormouscost-savings.” Cost-savings are also achieved prior to a job:The Cat Rental Store doesn’t deliver equipment until a pro-ject commences, which is vital in situations where startingdates continuously change.

The regular upgrading of rental fleets and the intensemaintenance performed on them is especially important toDave Redgate, general manager of Slave Lake-based SeguinConstruction, a medium-sized firm that handles everythingfrom oil field to large road construction. “We’ve been rentingfrom Cat ever since it opened its first store and we rely on itsinventory being in tip-top shape, because if a single piece ofrental equipment breaks down in a road building ‘train’, forexample, then at least six other machines working in tandemwith that unit sit idle as well,” he says.

Like Orydzuk, Redgate rents specialty machines so he candevote his energy towards his 45-piece inventory of Catscrapers, dozers, excavators and other units. “Renting en-ables us to focus on the maintenance of our own stuff, whichis an on-going challenge cost-wise because we have our fairshare of off-seasons that impact our bottom line,” he says.

Even though Redgate has been in the construction tradefor only eight years, he marvels at the selection of machineryavailable today compared to 1996. “We borrow everythingfrom smooth-drum rollers to packers and heating equipmentfor tank pads,” he says. “The size and nature of our projectschange at a drop of a hat: one minute we’ll be doing sitereclamation, the next we’ll be working on airport roads. Sothe range of inventory provided by rental outlets is especiallyattractive to us. And, like I said, each item is new and trouble-free.”

Leptich boasts that nothing he has rented from The CatRental Store has ever broken down. “But if something did gowrong, the company would be right there with a replacement

unit and little time would be lost. Their servicing policies arejust as good as those for purchased equipment.” He adds thatcost control is easy with rentals because when equipment isreturned undamaged, the amount shown on the invoice isthe only accountable cost figure you pay. “I can’t imaginedoing business without them.”

Hoyer concludes: “The market is booming because we de-velop relationships with customers and offer solutions to ahost of problems. That goes for all levels of contractors, nomatter their size or the work they do.”

“If any job requires small machinery, I automatically rent. I rented a mini-hoe fromCat...used (it) for 5 months. That alone was an enormous cost-savings.”

– Duane Leptich, Maxim Excavating

Maxim Excavating’s Duane Leptich says renting equipment has enabledhim to survive the toughter times he’s seen in the 10 years he’s ownedand operated his business.

PH

OTO

GR

AP

HY

BY

DU

STI

N D

ELF

S

come with modified radiators to in-crease cooling capacity. We find this isneeded as the tractors run with theirgovernors open 98% of the time on thelonger hauls.”

What makes this all possible isCaterpillar’s flexible undercarriage andelevated sprocket design. This, coupledwith long-life sealed and lubricatedtrack, propels the crawler tractor tohigher speeds, and new levels of pro-ductivity and reliability not possible inthe era when the old tractors trundledslowly along with their high-mainte-nance cable scrapers.

lished a factory in Peoria, close toCaterpillar’s own.

Actually, the pull-type scraper neverwent away. The agricultural industryhas continued to use them for decadesto reshape land, redistribute topsoil andbuild levees. As new high-speed,high-horsepower farm tractorscame on the scene, new brands ofhydraulically-operated scrapersappeared, and they came with in-creased capacity to match the bigtractors.

Iowa-based McAninch Corpo-ration recently took the pull-typescraper concept a step further totake advantage of the high travel-ing speeds offered by modern-daycrawler tractors. They convertedthe scraper section from oldermotor scrapers to pull-types andattached them to Caterpillar’slargest crawler tractors. This firmnow runs a fleet of 40 CaterpillarD9Rs with converted Caterpillar631 scrapers, five CaterpillarD10Rs matched to 641 scrapers,and five D11Rs pulling 651 scrap-ers. At 44 heaped yards, the 651sare some of the largest pull-typescrapers ever used in the industry.

Dwayne McAninch, company presi-dent, says, “We gain many advantagesfrom using pull-type scrapers. We cyclefour to six minutes on hauls averaging1,000 feet, and 10 minutes on ourlongest hauls of 2,000 feet. We canwork in softer material than motorscrapers can. Another bonus is wedon’t need graders to maintain our haulroads and we can eliminate the pushtractor in the cut.” McAninch ordersnew tractors from Caterpillar, tailor-made for pulling his big self-modifiedscrapers. He continues, “They are or-dered without blades of course, but also

THE DEATH OF PULL-TYPE SCRAPERS HAS BEEN GREATLY EXAGGER-ATED. KEITH HADDOCK EXPLAINS HOW ONE COMPANY TOOK THECONCEPT TO A HIGHER LEVEL, SAVING TIME AND MONEY.

Back to theFuture

Yesterday/Today

PH

OTO

GR

AP

HY

SU

PP

LIE

D B

Y K

EIT

H H

AD

DO

CK

JUST WHEN WE thought the pull-typescraper was obsolete, contractors aretaking another look at this age-oldmethod of pulling scrapers withcrawler tractors. Why? After all, Cater-pillar discontinued its pull-typescraper line 30 years ago as contractorsswitched into more cost-effective toolsfor moving dirt on short and mediumhauls. Motor scrapers and latterly, ex-cavators in conjunction with articulat-ed dump trucks, have taken over therole of the pull-type scraper. The oldtractor and scraper outfits did the jobin their day, but their slow speed andhigh undercarriage wear caused themto take a back seat to the high-speedrubber-tired units that became popularin the 1960s.

The history of the scraper goes farback to the time when man first usedanimals to undertake earthmovingtasks. The original scrapers were pulledby horses and mules, and their earliestform consisted of a small scoop withhandles, maneuvered by a man walkingbehind. R. G. LeTourneau is creditedwith inventing the modern scraper. Hebuilt his first in 1922. Then in 1928 hepioneered the cable control unit so thatscrapers could be controlled from adouble drum winch on the tractor.Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, LeTourneau developed a vast array ofpull-type scrapers in various sizes, allof different designs. In 1934 he enteredinto an agreement with Caterpillar Trac-tor Co. in Peoria, Illinois, to sell hisproducts through Caterpillar dealers.This alliance was strengthened the fol-lowing year when LeTourneau estab-

TOP: The old way. A D9 tractor pulls a Cater-pillar 25 yard 436 scraper. In the 1940s and1950s, millions of yards of earth weremoved, slowly but surely, by this method.BOTTOM: The modern way. The largest trac-tors ever to pull a scraper are the CaterpillarD11R’s owned by McAninch Corporation ofDes Moines, Iowa. The new tractors, orderedfor the purpose, are coupled to convertedCaterpillar 44-yard 651 scrapers.


www.finning.ca

words & photography by Bill Tice

Meeting the Challenge

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Bruce Macdonald maneuvers his 320Bon a steep slope job in West Vancouver; the massive bucket on

the 320B efficiently removes soil from the excavation site;Macdonald focuses on the job at hand; the Cat 320B

completes final scaling to remove any loose soiland rocks, making the job site safer.


Bruce Macdonald and his crew of eight work on someof the steepest terrain in North and West Vancouver.“We are recognized for being able to get the job done,no matter what conditions we face, and that includesthe steep slopes on the North Shore,” he explains.“Working on steep slopes means weather and groundconditions play a bigger factor in the job. When theslope is extremely steep and it is raining, we can bedealing with unknown variables, but we still have tofinish the work on schedule.” Macdonald relies on hisfleet of Cat equipment from Finning to help him getthe job done. This includes five excavators – a 303.5, a304.5, a 307B, a 315C, and a 320B. He also has a 226skid steer. The 320B will be returned to Finning in thenear future as a trade in, when Macdonald takes deliv-ery of a brand new 320C Utility Excavator. “All of ourCat equipment gives us the power and flexibility weneed, but the new 320C Utility has a shorter tailswing, which offers a tighter turning radius and allowsus to work in tighter spots,” explains Macdonald.




PH

OTO

GR

AP

HY

BY

CA

RL

PATZ

EL

Brothers Ed Tatum and David Laboucane, co-owners of Consun Contracting,by a Cat D9R dozer being used to clear land for a drilling pad on the

ConocoPhillips lease southeast of Fort McMurray.



T’S 5:30 P.M. AND David Laboucane is hard at work inhis gravel pit. While most people are kicking back andrelaxing after a long day, he relishes the chance to fi-nally focus on work without any interruptions. Yet onthis night, his phone is still ringing and people arestill distracting him from the job at hand. “The phone

drives me crazy sometimes. There’s always someone thatneeds something done. It usually stops about 5 p.m. andthat’s when I can get some work done,” says Laboucane,who runs Consun Contracting with his brother Ed Tatum inFort McMurray.

The amount of time Laboucane spends on the cellphone has been following the same trajectory as Consun’sgrowth. As the business thrives, so do the demands on histime. “There was a time when we would get a call everymonth or so from people looking to get some work done.The rest of the time we were bidding on jobs. Now we havepeople calling us every day because they know we’ll getthe job done right for them.”

Although Consun is always juggling big jobs, one of thebiggest is a contract with ConocoPhillips, a Houston-basedoil company with a 43.5% stake in a $1.1 billion oil sandsproject at Surmont, a site about 90 km southeast of FortMcMurray on Secondary Highway 881. When the plant isfully operational by 2012, it will produce 100,000 barrels ofoil per day. Although the area contains an underground oilformation that’s 10 storeys deep with more than 5 billionbarrels of recoverable oil, right now there’s little more thanuntamed bush to contend with.

That’s where Consun Contracting comes in. Before

When Consun Contracting needed help to win a big contract, Finning was there B Y J I M V E E N B A A S

IConocoPhillips could even begin thinking about produc-tion, which is slated to start in 2006 with 25,000 barrels perday, the giant oil company needed a reliable company toprepare the site. Consun Construction was at the top of itsshortlist. It got the nod because ConocoPhillips was im-pressed with the work it had already done in the area.Laboucane and Tatum have been working at Surmont since1995, when Gulf Canada initially started exploring thearea’s potential for oil sands production.

“ConocoPhillips wants to hire local people wheneverpossible and we hire as many as we can that are qualifiedto do the work. We’re an aboriginal company, but more im-portantly, we get the job done,” says Tatum.

Consun is doing the brushing and burning at the plantsite, clearing land for two drill pads and building somenew roads into the site. They’re making it possible for othercontractors to come in and start building the massive infra-structure needed to support the ConocoPhillips project.

Although the Surmont job is big, the most challenginghurdle was the amount of heavy equipment needed on thejob site. In fact, to get the contract, the brothers had toprove to ConocoPhillips that they could line up the appro-priate equipment and have it in good running order. Thefirst thing they did was approach the Finning dealership inFort McMurray. Consun bought its first Finning product in1994 – a grader that’s still running – and the company hasbeen dealing with the reliable machines ever since. “Up-time is critical for us. Downtime can be fatal for a smallcompany because you don’t have other machinery to re-place the equipment that breaks down. If you want a reli-

GROWTHSPURT


C O M P A N Y P R O F I L EGROWTH SPURT

PH

OTO

GR

AP

HY

BY

CA

RL

PATZ

EL

able machine with the parts and ser-vice to go with, that’s the place to go,”says Tatum.

Finning guaranteed the brothersthe equipment and set them up. Theimpressive list of machinery includestwo Cat D7R tractors, a Cat D8R, a CatD6N, a Cat D9R, as well as a Cat 345and a Cat 325 excavator, to name onlya few of the 14 pieces of iron thebrothers bought or rented for the job.“We’ve known Kelly (Black, their

Finning sales representative) since1990. When I call him, he gives me astraight answer. There’s no beatingaround the bush. We knew he couldhelp us out with the ConocoPhillipsjob and he did,” says Laboucane.“That’s the biggest thing for us – hav-ing a good relationship with our deal-er. If we ever have any trouble with anold machine, we phone Kelly and heknows exactly what we need. We likethe Finning equipment, but we’re

working with Finning because wehave such a good relationship withKelly.”

Consun is serious about making agood impression with ConocoPhillips.The company hired another 30 people– for this job and a major paving jobon Secondary Highway 881 – andstarted working on the project early,double shifting its crews in March toget a jump on the project before thespring thaw in April.

That unwavering commitment tocustomer service has fuelled Consun’sgrowth since Tatum established it in1982 with some old machinery and astrong work ethic. Tatum created thecompany back in his hometown ofJavier, a Métis settlement south of FortMcMurray. He started with a munici-

Consun Contracting’s Paul Herman operatesa Cat D9R to clear away brush and rock on asloping, muddy terrain on which a drilling padwill eventually be built for lease-holderConocoPhillips. The work is part of the oilgiant’s preparations to develop the oil sandsin the area which it hopes will produce100,000 barrels of oil a day by 2012.



hen Ed Tatum started his contracting company in1982, his fleet of equipment consisted of a used

tractor and loader he borrowed from the family’s cattleranch in Javier.

That fleet has now grown to more than 20 pieces ofFinning heavy equipment that is pushed to the limit work-ing jobs throughout the Fort McMurray area. “I was justdoing some small jobs to start out, some labour jobs,”says Tatum, who owns Consun Contracting with his brother Dave Laboucane.

“One thing led to another and we started getting biggerand bigger. I bought my first grader in 1986.” Since then,the company has landed major contracts with some of theheaviest hitters in the oil sands including Canadian NaturalResources, Enbridge Pipelines and Suncor, to name a few.

Over the years, Consun has developed a sterling repu-tation for getting the job done on time with excellent re-sults. That reputation has earned them steady growth overthe years, but it also earned them the 2001 Entrepreneurof the Year Award from the Northern Alberta AboriginalBusiness Association (NAABA).

Tatum and Laboucane play an important part in the or-ganization and they’re considered role models for otheraboriginal people starting their own business. “They’vehad phenomenal growth over the last five or six years andthey’ve obviously worked hard to achieve that growth.Lots of people in our association look up to these guys,”says Jeff Pardee, general manager of NAABA.

He adds that revenue generated by aboriginal businessin the Wood Buffalo region has jumped from about $20million 15 years ago to more than $350 million today. “Thatgrowth will be even stronger in the future,” predictsPardee. “The biggest challenge for aboriginal business isaccess to capital and education. Aboriginals are catchingup when it comes to education and kids are being encour-aged to graduate from high school. There’s also been a lotof joint venture projects that are giving these businessesaccess to much-needed capital.”

Brothers Are Also Role Models

W

pal maintenance contract that he kept for 12 years. As thecompany evolved, it found itself spending more andmore time in Fort McMurray.

Although they have different names, Laboucane andTatum are brothers in a family with 14 siblings. There’s a10-year age gap between the pair but Tatum knew his kidbrother would be a perfect fit for the business. Laboucanejoined Consun in 1990, taking over the shares of Tatum’sformer partner. They’ve been working side by side eversince. “He phoned me two or three dozen times to comeup and join him because I had a lot of experience work-ing for Prairie Road Builders. I didn’t really want to atfirst, but I ended up changing my mind and it’s workedout great ever since,” says Laboucane.

Finning’s Black isn’t surprised Consun has enjoyedsuch strong growth over the last few years. The companyhas approached growth with its eyes wide open, not tak-ing unwarranted risks or investing in equipment it couldnot afford. “They’re really growing now and they havethe capability to grow even more. It’s their work ethicthey put in and they’ve hired so many good people. Theyknow how to run the equipment; they know what needsto be done.”

Foreman Dave Tymchuk checks the landscape as he directs theoperator of the D9R clearing the land.

Looking for a used Cat® machine that you can count on? Look no further than Caterpillar® CertifiedUsed Equipment.

Caterpillar Certified Used Equipment gives you unmatched buying confidence with:• Machines that have passed the Caterpillar Certified Used Equipment inspection• Strict age and hour requirements by size class • Cat Dealer approved maintenance since new• Extended coverage options• Available only from Cat Dealers

And to make your search easier, many of these machines are available at CatUsed.com®…the official online source for Caterpillar Certified Used Equipment. For full details of the Caterpillar Certified Used Equipment Program, contact us or visit CatUsed.com.

KNOW WHAT YOU’RE GETTING

READY TO WORK

© Caterpillar 2003

1.888.FINNING (346.6464)www.finning.ca

Cash Flow is King

ILLU

STR

ATI

ON

BY

ALI

NE

GA

UTH

IER

IT’S ALL WELL AND GOOD TO STRIKE OUT ON YOUR OWN BUT ASLISA GRÉGOIRE WRITES, YOU NEED A PLAN TO PREPARE FOR THELEAN TIMES WHEN YOUR REVENUES COULD SLOW TO A TRICKLE.

market and know your target clients;and, be prepared for crises becausesometimes, you won’t get paid as muchas you expected – if at all. “When yourun into a small bump in the road be-cause someone won’t pay you for 60days, you can run into serious trouble,”says Halwa. That means if you ignoretip number one, tip number three couldkill you.

Scott Hawkings knows what makesor breaks a small business. As an

accountant for Hawkings Epp Dumont,he spends a lot of time advising youngstart-ups. His primary warning dovetailsinto what the three wise men above saidright off the bat: first learn the meaningof something called cash flow.

“If you go out on your own, you eatwhat you kill and lots of guys like that,”Hawkings says. “The downside is, if theeconomy gets tight, you don’t work asmuch. The most common mistake I see

is not understanding cash flow.”Small business owners must under-

stand that what comes into the businessmust regularly exceed what goes out inexpenses, loan payments, maintenance,insurance, supplies, and so forth. It’sprudent to have a financial buffer andlive lean for a while until you build upyour bank account for emergencies.

If something happens to you, yourmachine, the weather, the law or your

biggest clients, your rev-enue stream couldslow to a trickle. Butthe bank needs toget paid no matter

how deep your down-turn.

If you’re seriousabout starting yourown business andyou have a spouseand children, educate

them on the demandsof the job, Hawkingssays. Ask yourself if it’sright for you. And beforeyou step into the fray, doplenty of research tomake sure there’s enoughwork available.

If it’s a go, then it’stime to visit the bank.But, before you do, devisea business plan which in-

cludes your vision of the com-pany, the research you’ve done to provea revenue source, a summary of howyou plan to earn a living and a reason-able, working budget. A practical busi-ness plan is as much an asset to you asit is to a lender.

If all else fails, be cautious, says Ver-denhalven. “Try to do this as cheaply aspossible in the first year at least. Keepyour costs down. Don’t go into debt toget out of debt.”

CRAIG TOPILKO WAS only 16 when hestarted working for Edmonton’s GibsonContracting, driving a skid steer loaderfor residential grading. Within a coupleof years, he’d bought his own machinewith the help of his parents who co-signed the loan. Suddenly he was hisown boss, contracting work fromGibson.

Trevor Halwa and DeanVerdenhalven were alsoowner-operators who didresidential grading andsnow removal on contractfor Gibson. If you want tomake money as a one-man-one-machine opera-tion, they say, you have topay attention to your cashflow, you have to knowthe business inside outand you have to be pre-pared to work long days.In other words, there’s abig learning curve, saysHalwa.

Topilko, Halwa andVerdenhalven crested thatcurve last year and decid-ed to expand their op-tions by joining with RyanGibson as four partners in thenewly named Gibson Grading. Theywere working together unofficially lastyear to see how a partnership would fittogether. Perfectly, as it turns out. Theychurned up about $1.5 million in sales,Halwa says, and made the partnershipofficial in January.

The three men offered sage advicerecently for those starting out in heavyequipment contracting: don’t over-ex-tend yourself financially; research the

Business 101


FIELDTEST


Getting the Job DoneB Y J I M S T E R L I N G

Able to rotate 360˚, 535B’s extended grapple is one of many new features

HAT CALVIN MARSOLAIS has cometo appreciate in his Cat 535B skid-der is that it’s not a one-dimensionalmachine. “We’ve given it a verygood test during its first 500 hourson the clock. We’ve found it to be an

all around skidder,” says Marsolais. “We’ve worked itfrom steep ground – 40% to 45% – on down to flatareas, skidded uphill and downhill and helped by itslow centre of gravity, the machine’s got the job done.”

Marsolais and his brother Karrey as well as their fa-ther Martin are the principals in Martin Marsolais &Sons Ltd., a log harvesting contracting business locatedin Prince George, B.C. What really caught the company’seye when it wrote up its shopping list of requirementsfor a new skidder was the 535B’s expanded grapple with360 degrees of rotation. “This is a new model for Cat andwe wanted to see if it met or exceeded the standards ofcompetitive machines. And it has,” continues Marsolais.

The 535B brings with it a few additional benefits.“This is the first machine I canthink of where you just buyand go. No other options or ad-ditions or even extra lightingwere necessary. We put fourchains on it and it went outthe door. Cat’s done a verygood job with it,” commentsan appreciative Marsolais. “It’salso a more user-friendly ma-chine than the others with agood, well laid out workingarea and awesome visibility.”

Operator comfort and con-venience cannot be over-esti-mated when the overall per-formance of the machine isassessed, he adds. Marsolaissays the B’s usual operator hadsome experience with the firstgeneration of 525s and soon

felt at home in the new machine. He also commented onthe seating in the cab and the ability to turn it to anyangle to counteract any “whipping” action during themachine’s operation, says Marsolais.

The 535B’s ability to adapt successfully to a variety ofskidding assignments fits well with the other equipmentin the company’s fleet. A Cat D6R with a swing boomgrapple is one example. The machine’s used for road-building chores and its weight makes it a good candidatefor skidding steep ground. “It’s multi-faceted,” summa-rizes Marsolais. And that’s a welcome feature.

The company’s Cat 325B is another example. It has aquick change coupling capability on the boom end toswitch from a bucket to a butt-n-top for log loading. Theversatility and multi-tasking advantage is accentuatedwhen harvesting in the mountain pine beetle infestedstands all too prevalent through the B.C. interior. Li-cencees direct their contractors to harvest the green at-tack wood first as a method of slowing down the infesta-tion’s rate of spread. Frequently that translates into

W

Marsolais & Sons’ 535B picks up logs in the Carp Lake area, about 60 km northeast of Prince Georgein late March. The skidder was one of two machines taking harvested logs and bringing them to theroadside. NEXT PAGE: The 535B enters the forest.


accessing and then logging small patches of wood.Multi-faceted machines can more than pay their way inthose types of situations.

Martin Marsolais & Sons is a well-respected institu-tion in the Prince George area. Patriarch Martin Marso-lais launched the contracting business in 1966. His twosons, Calvin and Karrey, bought into the company ap-proximately eight years ago. For many years the Marso-lais’ have logged for Lakeland Mills Ltd. of PrinceGeorge. “We have an average volume of 175,000 m3 onevergreen contracts a year and we’re fortunate to usuallypick up additional volumes to push us above the200,000 m3 mark,” explains Marsolais. “We’ve got agood working relationship with Lakeland.”

The Marsolais family has never been reluctant to fieldtest promising new forest machines or to investigate newtwists on old themes. “I think we’ve developed an abilityto look at things to see how a piece of equipment can beused to make the operation work better,” explains Mar-solais. The Cat 535B is a case in point. The machine con-tributes to the operation’s overall efficiency, he says.

Marsolais adds the 535B is also a good fit because it’sa new machine and the company is renewing its equip-ment lines. “We’re doing it in little steps and downsizingat the same time,” he says. Other recent equipment ac-quisitions include a Cat 325 with Lim-mit delimber anda TK 1051 feller buncher.

Marsolais also looks to Finning to maximize the bangfor the equipment buck. The company has a very largefleet of used equipment. Some of it was made availablethrough Finning’s successful Power by the Hour equip-ment-leasing program. “It gives us the ability to look atnewer pieces of equipment at the right price.”

If It Looks Different,It’s Because It Is

aterpillar has transformed the entire back end of the 535B skidder, says Gord Norn,

customer service representative with Finning inPrince George, B.C. As a result, the machine offers new performance enhancing features tocomplement its re-configured profile in the bush.

“They’ve changed the whole arch, boom andgrapple by going from fabricated to cast,” explains Norn. “The grapple can now rotate 360 degrees and the snubber’s been changed to a disc and plate style.”

The changes are purpose-driven. Caterpillarsays the upper arch casting on the skidder in-creases strength and allows greater visibility to the grapple. The re-designed boom has the continuous rotation capability built in to the end.The rotator is design-built for skidding. Increasingrotator torque allows more grapple control whilean hydraulic swivel provides protection for grapplehoses. Servicing is easy because the rotator simply bolts into the boom end.

Caterpillar has incorporated a multi-disc clutch-pad snubber on the 535B. Advantages there include longer working life from the multiplefriction plates. The amount of snubbing can be adjusted by adding or removing shims.

The grapple itself has a new look shape and geometry. The single piece cast housing incorporates an I-beam cross section that Catsays increases tong strength and resists bending.Extending the pivot pin spacing allows the tongs to get around logs and make bundling easier.The tongs also have a wider face that reducesdamage to the logs while they’re being handled.

C

Count On Us

www.finning.ca

June 1965: A Cat 824 bulldozerat work at a fertilizer plant in Kimberley, British Columbia.


Introducing the Challenger MT200 Series...

The tough little brothers of the legendaryChallenger tracked tractors from Caterpillar. These machines are part of the new lineup

of track type and wheeled tractors now available from Finning.

www.finning.ca

1-888-FINNING

YES. WE RENT MORETHAN CAT MACHINES.

CALL TOLL-FREE 1-866-285-5550

RIGHT TOOLS. RIGHT PLACE. RIGHT NOW.

Dwayne Carson Coastland Wood Industries Flame Paintersurmont.ca/uploads/2004Summer1.pdfBleeding Cat...

Documents

Transcript of Dwayne Carson Coastland Wood Industries Flame Paintersurmont.ca/uploads/2004Summer1.pdfBleeding Cat...