XT850EXCAVATOR-TOOL CARRIER

stopimg title="keepCool_img1" style="padding-right: 20px;" align="left" style="BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px solid; BORDER-LEFT: 0px solid; WIDTH: 260px; PADDING-RIGHT: 10px; HEIGHT: 195px; BORDER-TOP: 0px solid; align: left" alt="keepCool_img1" src="/uploadedImages/Left_Nav/Press_Room/Job_Related_List/1_KeepCool_260x195(1).jpg" border="0" />Catastrophic tornadoes and floods have grabbed recent headlines, but each year one weather phenomenon kills more people than tornadoes, floods, hurricanes, and lightning combined: heat.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), an average of more than 1,500 people in the U.S. die each year from excessive heat—yet it is the most preventable of weather-related deaths.

If you work in construction, summer is one of your busiest times of the year because it’s typically the driest season and offers the most hours of daylight. But the sun providing all that productive daylight can be the biggest jobsite hazard you face all year. No matter how tough you are or how used to the heat you think you are, excessive heat can bring down anyone who doesn’t take the necessary precautions.

The following information applies to anyone who is employed in an outdoor profession—construction workers in particular—but also applies to those who work in hot factories and anyone who spends time outdoors exercising, gardening, or laboring in any capacity during the summer months. (This is general information. More specific information can be found in the sources cited below.)

Know Your Chemistry

Our bodies dissipate heat by varying the rate and depth of blood circulation, and by expelling water through the skin and sweat glands. When we reach the danger zone, when our blood is heated above 98.6 degrees, we begin to pant—we’re literally “working like a dog.”

Sweating alone does little to cool the body, unless the sweat is removed by evaporation. But high relative humidity inhibits evaporation. When you’re checking the forecast for tomorrow, pay close attention to the heat index: the combination of relative humidity and air temperature. For example, if the air temperature is 96° F and the relative humidity is 65 percent, the heat index is 121° F. This is the heat your body really feels.

Heat disorders involve a reduction or collapse of our bodies’ ability to shed heat by circulatory changes and sweating, or a chemical (salt) imbalance caused by too much sweating. When heat gain exceeds the level the body can remove, or when the body cannot compensate for fluids and salt lost through perspiration, the temperature of the body's inner core begins to rise, bringing on various degrees of heat-related illnesses.

stopimg title="keepCool_img2" style="padding-left: 20px;" align="right" style="BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px solid; BORDER-LEFT: 0px solid; WIDTH: 260px; PADDING-RIGHT: 10px; HEIGHT: 195px; BORDER-TOP: 0px solid; align: right" alt="keepCool_img2" src="/uploadedImages/Left_Nav/Press_Room/Job_Related_List/2_KeepCool_260x195.jpg" border="0" />Ranking Heat Disorders

The severity of heat disorders is relative to a person’s age, weight, fitness, medical condition, and degree of acclimatization to the heat. For example, heat cramps in a 17-year-old may translate as heat exhaustion in someone who is 40, and heat stroke in a person over 60. Common heat disorders include:

• Sunburn. Along with being painful and irritating, sunburn can significantly retard the skin’s ability to shed excess heat. The best solution for sunburn is prevention, by applying sunscreen throughout the day.
• Heat cramps. Symptoms are painful spasms, usually in the muscles of the legs and abdomen, often preceded by profuse sweating.
• Heat rash. Also known as prickly heat, heat rash can occur in hot, humid environments where sweat is not easily removed from the surface of the skin by evaporation. Serious heat rash can be so uncomfortable that it inhibits sleep and impedes a worker’s performance.
• Heat exhaustion. Symptoms include heavy sweating, weakness, headache, fainting, vomiting, and skin that is cold, pale and clammy. It is possible to have a normal temperature with heat exhaustion.
• Heat stroke or sunstroke. This is the most serious health problem for workers in hot environments. Heat stroke occurs when sweating stops and the body can no longer rid itself of excess heat. Symptoms include an excessively high body temperature (106° F or higher); mental confusion or delirium; convulsions; hot, dry skin; strong and rapid pulse; and possible unconsciousness. Make no mistake: heat stroke can be fatal, and victims need immediate medical attention.

Prevention: The Best Solution

The number one method of avoiding heat disorders: avoiding heat. But for construction workers in the summer, this is simply not possible. So, here are some tips for staying cool and staying alive, beginning with the most obvious:

• Drink plenty of fluids. Your body needs water to keep cool. Drink water even if you don't feel thirsty. Proper hydration actually begins the day before a long, strenuous day in the sun. Before increasing your fluid consumption, consult a physician if you (1) have epilepsy or heart, kidney, or liver disease; (2) are on a fluid-restrictive diet; or (3) have a problem with fluid retention.
• Do not drink alcoholic beverages. Alcohol dehydrates your body. Enough said.
• Limit caffeine intake.
• Do not take salt tablets unless specified by a physician.
• Put less fuel on your inner fires. Foods that are heavy in protein increase metabolic heat production and also increase water loss.
• Dress as lightly as possible. You need protective clothing, of course, but consider light-colored fabrics, such as cotton, that breathe.
• When possible, take longer breaks than normal in a cool, shaded area. A rested worker is a more productive worker.
• Know the symptoms of heat illnesses. Use a buddy system to keep tabs on your fellow workers.
• Acclimate yourself to the heat. You can “get used to” the heat, to some degree. Workers, especially those who follow the advice above, can eventually develop some degree of tolerance. However, new employees and workers returning from an absence of two weeks or more should have a five-day period of acclimatization: 50 percent of the normal workload and time exposure the first day, gradually building up to 100 percent on the fifth day.

stopimg title="keepCool_img3" style="padding-left: 20px;" align="right" style="BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px solid; BORDER-LEFT: 0px solid; WIDTH: 260px; PADDING-LEFT: 10px; HEIGHT: 195px; BORDER-TOP: 0px solid; align: left" alt="keepCool_img3" src="/uploadedImages/Left_Nav/Press_Room/Job_Related_List/3_KeepCool_260x195.jpg" border="0" />Supervisor Obligations

There are precautions every employer should take when temperatures are high and the job involves physical work.

• Understand the signs of heat stress and permit workers to interrupt their work if they are extremely uncomfortable.
• Provide training about the hazards leading to heat stress and how to prevent them.
• If possible, schedule the heaviest workload for the coolest part of the day: early morning or late evening, when the sun is less intense.
• Make sure your workers have easy access to cool water—a minimum of one quart of water per hour, per worker.
• Schedule frequent rest periods with water breaks in shaded or air- conditioned areas.
• Routinely check on workers who are at risk of heat stress due to protective clothing and high temperature. Pay close attention to those who are at risk because of age and physical condition (including obesity and diabetes).

When A Fellow Worker Is Ill From The Heat

• Call a supervisor for help. If the supervisor is not available, call 911.
• Have someone stay with the worker until help arrives.
• Move the worker to a cooler/shaded area.
• Remove outer clothing.
• Fan and mist the worker with water; apply ice (ice bags or ice towels).
• Provide cool drinking water, if the worker is able to drink.

For more information about preventing and treating heat-related illness, consult these articles:

• “Heat Wave: A Major Summer Killer,” [http://www.noaawatch.gov/themes/heat.php] by the NOAA
• “Protecting Workers From Heat Stress,” [http://www.osha.gov/Publications/osha3154.pdf] by OSHA
• “Protecting Workers In Hot Environments,” [http://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=FACT_SHEETS&p_id=167] by OSHA

Sources for this article:

• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (noaawatch.gov)
• Occupational and Safety Health Administration (osha.gov)

For residents of Munfordville and Rowletts and those living in the country around these two small Kentucky towns, the Quality Landscaping and Garden Center is the place to go for flowers, shrubs, trees, garden tools, and most any landscape and gardening need.
stopimg style="padding-right: 20px;" align="left" title="qualityImproves_1" alt="qualityImproves_1" src="/uploadedImages/Left_Nav/Press_Room/Job_Related_List/qualityImproves_1stopimg4Customers plant their purchases themselves, have a crew from the center do the preparation and planting, or have owner Gary Puckett create a landscape design and have company personnel construct the perfect custom landscape.

Quality Landscape ended 2008 with its best year ever, and Puckett looks forward to continued growth in 2009.

Puckett and his wife, Tina, started their business after Puckett discovered he had a passion for landscaping.

In 1994, the Pucketts bought a new home, and the grounds around it needed to be landscaped.

Puckett, who was working in a manufacturing plant, had no experience in establishing a lawn or making plants grow, but he decided he would do the job himself.

"I went to the library and gathered all the books I could find on landscaping, got a table, and started reading," he remembers. "The next thing I knew, I was being asked to leave—it was closing time."

Puckett continued to read about plants and landscape designing and proceeded to landscape the half-acre of land around his family's new home, putting in the lawn, planting shade and flowering trees, and beds with flowers and shrubbery around the house.

The Pucketts were pleased with the result, and friends complimented them on their landscaping.

One day after work, Tina mentioned she had seen several cars stopped in front of their house with the occupants appearing to be looking at their home.

"That happened several more times," says Puckett. "Different cars, but everyone seemed to be looking at the house. My wife was concerned. Were we being targeted for a robbery?"

Puckett was home one day, and he spotted a car parked with people looking toward the house.

"I went out and asked the people if I could help them," he says. "And the driver said: 'Oh, we're just admiring your lawn and the way it's been done. We wish ours looked so good.'"

And Gary Puckett realized that he wanted to start a landscaping business.

stopimg style="padding-left: 20px;" align="right" title="qualityImproves_2" alt="qualityImproves_2" src="/uploadedImages/Left_Nav/Press_Room/Job_Related_List/qualityImproves_2stopimg4"I went to a yard sale and bought $20 worth of 'equipment,'" he continues. "I got a wheel barrow, shovel, rake, and post hole digger. I'm a farm boy, and I thought anything that needed to go in the ground, you just dug a hole and put the plant in it. I still had a lot to learn."

But Puckett's landscape business was born.

"It started just with me in 1995 working out of our house," he says. "I stayed on my regular job and did landscape work on days off and weekends."

As demand for his services grew, Puckett added an employee, then another. But all their tree and shrub planting continued to be done by hand, and it was hard, slow work. Puckett continued to work his factory job as demands of his landscaping business increased, and it became difficult to find enough time to serve his customers.

"One day Tina showed me a three-page list of people who had called wanting to schedule work. 'How are you going to get all this done?' she asked. There was no way."

So the Pucketts made the decision to devote all their time to landscaping.

In 2000, the Pucketts purchased four acres of land, and began doing business from the new location, offering flowers, shrubs, and trees in addition to landscaping services.

"The business had grown, says Puckett. "There was now me and three employees, but we still were doing everything by hand, and it became clear we were going to have to invest in equipment in order to keep up with our workload and grow."

The first piece of power equipment purchased was a Ditch Witch SK650 mini skid-steer loader. The machine can be equipped with work attachments to fit specific needs, and with a loader bucket and auger attachment, Puckett's crews could move material around work sites and dig holes to plant shrubs and trees.

"The first week we had the new machine, we set out 52 four-inch autumn blaze maples, and did it in four hours," says Puckett.

Next, Puckett purchased a Ditch Witch XT850 tool carrier, a machine that has the ability to dig in any position within a 260-degree arch with the excavator end, plus the ability to utilize the same attachments as the skid-steer machine on the tool carrier end of the machine. A feature that sets the XT850 apart from conventional backhoes is its ability to operate in confined spaces, specializing in offset digging next to buildings, fences, drives, and other surface improvements.

"These two machines have made our company more profitable and are taking us to new levels of productivity," explains Puckett. "For example, it takes 30 minutes to an hour to hand-dig a hole to plant a four-inch tree. Using either machine with an auger attachment, we dig it in 30 to 35 seconds. Utilizing these two pieces of equipment has enabled us to double our income."

Puckett is passionate about the Ditch Witch organization. "I really think they're the Cadillac," he says about the Ditch Witch equipment line.

stopimg style="padding-right: 20px;" align="left" title="qualityImproves_3" alt="qualityImproves_3" src="/uploadedImages/Left_Nav/Press_Room/Job_Related_List/qualityImproves_3stopimg4The compact SK650 is small enough to go through yard gates and moves over varied terrain and paved surfaces on rubber tracks. The operator stands on a platform at the rear of the machine. It is powered by a 31-horsepower liquid-cooled diesel engine. The machine weighs 2,630 pounds and its width, including tracks, is 42 inches; in the narrow configuration, the width, including tracks, is 36. Operating capacity is 650.

Puckett says the XT850 tool carrier is unlike any other machine on the market.

This rubber-track model is about the same size as popular mini-excavator models, with the excavator boom and bucket extending from the rear of the machine. Twin lift arms extend from the tool-carrier end where interchangeable attachments can be mounted to do specialized tasks.

What sets XT equipment apart from other equipment is a dual-pivot design that enables offset excavating. As with mini-excavators, the boom's pivot point is at the front of the machine where the boom is connected to the tractor, allowing the boom to be positioned offset left or right of center. A second pivot is near the center of the machine beneath the floor of the operator's station which rotates the boom assembly, including the boom swing pivot, for the maximum combined excavator swing of 260 degrees while the cab remains stationary.

To offset dig, the assembly is rotated in one direction by the center pivot, and the boom is swung at the front pivot point in the opposite direction. This ability allows users a number of positions to dig and remove spoils without ever having to move the machine.

The XT850 is powered by a liquid-cooled diesel engine rated at 26 gross horsepower. Maximum digging depth of the excavator is 83 inches with a loading height of 72 inches. Reach from the swing post is 103 inches.

Dual attachment arms have an operating height of 104 inches. Reach at grade is 34 inches. Equipped with a standard loader bucket, dump height is 69 inches, dump angle is 25 degrees, and reach with a fully raised bucket is 21 inches.

There are more than 70 attachments available that fit both the SK650 and XT850.

Quality Landscaping has several augers in different sizes for digging holes for fence posts, shrubs, and trees. The 30-inch auger is most often used for tree planting. Other attachments include a power rake, buckets, and pallet forks.

The company also invested in a Ditch Witch trailer that can transport either machine and has compartments to store attachments.

Puckett has expanded his knowledge in the landscape design program at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, has been certified as a Kentucky Master Gardener through the University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Services, and is completing requirements for certification by the Association of Professional Landscape Designers (APLD).

With 10 employees, the retail center is thriving and Quality crews are busy on residential, commercial, and industrial landscaping projects. A recent commercial project included planting more than 200 trees and 300 shrubs.

In addition to putting in lawns and flower beds and planting shrubs and trees, Quality crews build patios, outdoor kitchens, retaining walls, and stone drives and walkways. The two Ditch Witch machines speed distribution of sand, dirt, turf, gravel, and rock to where the materials are needed on work locations.

The company also donates its services to community and charity projects.

"Munfordville is a historic Civil War town, and after a tornado destroyed many of the city's trees, we replaced more than 100 in the downtown area," Puckett says. "Every one of these trees was planted with our SK650."

One of the fund-raising programs of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis is the St. Jude Dream Home Giveaway, in which participants purchase tickets to win a house valued between $300,000 and $700,000. In 2008, Puckett's company did landscaping for a dream home in Bowling Green.

The business still is located on the four acres purchased in 2000, but the nursery has been moved to a different part of the property and the garden center expanded.

"We also added a public garden," says Puckett. "This area has a rich Civil War history, and the garden has become very popular with visitors."

Reflecting on his company's success and growth, Puckett says a key has been the commitment to build long-lasting relationships.

"Customer satisfaction is the top priority," Puckett says. "When we finish a project, we don't look at it as being the end of a job—we want every customer to call us back for years to come.

"My first customer is still our customer," he adds proudly. "We planted a shrub for her the other day. And that shrub was just as important as a large commercial project. If you do a good job and treat people right, business will thrive."

stopimg title="xt850_1" style="padding-right: 20px;" align="left" alt="xt850_1" src="/uploadedImages/Left_Nav/Press_Room/Job_Related_List/xt850_1stopimg4Serving most of Northern Illinois (except Chicago), Nicor Gas is one of the nation's largest gas-distribution companies, supplying natural gas to more than two million customers in 643 communities.

Nicor Gas customers are connected to the company's 34,000-mile distribution system that interconnects with Nicor's storage facilities. Maintaining this distribution system is vital to providing safe natural gas year-round for Nicor's residential and commercial customers. Proper maintenance requires trained construction and maintenance crews and a variety of equipment, much of it highly specialized.

Any time construction or maintenance is performed, the goal is always to safely limit disruption of normal activities and minimize the risk of damaging surface improvements made by property owners. But in many residential areas, work is made more complicated when it must be done in areas with limited access.

In such conditions, Nicor commonly uses compact, walk-along vibratory plows with a small backhoe attachment, according to Arnold Hartley, fleet management supervisor for Nicor Gas. Vibratory plowing permits direct burial of small-diameter pipe without trenching and can reduce the amount of restoration necessary. The small backhoe can be used for a variety of excavation tasks at the meter and also at the main if requirements are within the range of the backhoe's depth capabilities.

stopimg title="xt850_2" style="padding-left: 20px;" align="right" alt="xt850_2" src="/uploadedImages/Left_Nav/Press_Room/Job_Related_List/xt850_2stopimg4Two years ago, Nicor Gas decided to try a new type of machine that had just been introduced: the "excavator-tool carrier", a compact, track-mounted machine with a backhoe on the rear. Dual attachment arms on the front of the excavator-tool carrier can accommodate more than 70 specialized attachments. The operator's station provides a clear view of all front work operations, and the seat pivots to the rear for backhoe work.

What sets excavator-tool carrier equipment apart from other equipment is a dual-pivot design that enables the backhoe to make offset excavations along a drive or walk, building, or fence—a task that is impossible for a conventional backhoe or the small backhoe attachments on the compact walk-along machines previously used by the company. The boom has one pivot point at the front of the machine where the boom is connected to the tractor. A second pivot near the center of the machine and beneath the floor of the operator's station rotates the boom assembly, including the boom swing pivot, while the cab remains stationary.

To offset dig, the assembly is rotated in one direction by the center pivot, and the boom is swung at the front pivot point in the opposite direction. The maximum excavator range from side to side is 260 degrees.

stopimg title="xt850_3" style="padding-right: 20px;" align="left" alt="xt850_3" src="/uploadedImages/Left_Nav/Press_Room/Job_Related_List/xt850_3stopimg4"The design of the machine and the variety of changeable attachments available were definitely the two main factors in the decision to try it," says Hartley. "As far as we know, these are the only machines with these features. Since purchasing the first unit—a Ditch Witch XT850—we have added 15 more to our fleet. We also recently purchased a larger one, the XT1600."

Hartley said the machines are primarily used to install service lines of half-inch-diameter HDPE pipe. The compact size is important, he adds, because machines must go through gates to work in fenced back yards and in courtyards of multiunit housing.

"The [excavator-tool carriers] give us far more versatility than a machine with limited functions," he says. "The primary attachments we use are a trencher unit, vibratory plow, and hydraulic breaker. With one basic machine we can dig a trench, load dirt, do vibratory plowing, and connect a hydraulic breaker for concrete, asphalt, or frozen ground. Attachments for the XT850 do not fit both models. The XT1600 utilizes a common industry standard mount that most skid-steer-type attachments fit."

The excavator-tool carriers have changed the makeup of the Nicor Gas equipment fleet.

"The XTs," Hartley continues, "have predominantly replaced the walk-behind machines and, in some cases, enabled us to downsize from large, 90-horsepower, rubber-tire trenchers, allowing us to reduce fuel and replacement costs, and to use smaller trucks and trailers to transport them."

Each machine is transported on a special trailer with special mounts to hold attachments and accessories, so the crew has everything needed for a job.

Another benefit of the XTs has been extending the work season.

stopimg title="xt850_4" style="padding-left: 20px;" align="right" alt="xt850_4" src="/uploadedImages/Left_Nav/Press_Room/Job_Related_List/xt850_4stopimg4"The walk-behind models were considered nine-month-a-year machines," says Hartley. "During the winter months they couldn't be used. We first thought of the new machines in the same way, but we've discovered that even though we can't trench or plow in deep frost, we are able to work more in the colder months of the year and use the breaker attachment to cut through frost for tap holes and other types of gas line maintenance."

Based in Naperville, Ill., Nicor Gas is owned by Nicor Inc. (NYSE: GAS), a holding company. Nicor Gas has provided safe and reliable natural gas services for more than 50 years.

Basic Specifications of XT850 and XT1600
XT850
Weight    3,980 pounds
Overall length (excavator stowed)    120 inches
Width    50 inches
Power    24.5 net hp liquid-cooled diesel engine
Ground drive speed    4.2 mph
      
XT1600
Weight    9,420 pounds
Overall length (excavator stowed)    179 inches
Width    69 inches
Power    53 net hp liquid-cooled diesel engine
Ground drive speed - 2 speeds    3.5 mph & 6.8 mph

If your machine's hydraulic system isn't working, neither are you. Here are some common causes of hydraulic system breakdown and steps you can take to avoid them.

stopimg title="SK650_1" style="padding-right: 20px;" align="left" alt="SK650_1" src="/uploadedImages/Left_Nav/Press_Room/Job_Related_List/SK650_1stopimg4Contamination

An estimated 75 percent of all hydraulic system failure is due to contamination, so change filters regularly. If filters become dirty too frequently, examine them. Metal shavings can indicate that a pump, motor, or other upstream component may be failing. Resin or sludge—type material usually means oxidation of the fluid, often caused by low fluid levels or damaged seals.

Use clean tools and equipment, and always thoroughly clean hydraulic components before you remove, repair, or reinstall them. When you disconnect a hydraulic line, cap the end to keep contamination out while you're servicing the system. When you put the system back together, always install a new filter.

stopimg title="SK650_2" style="padding-left: 20px;" align="right" alt="SK650_2" src="/uploadedImages/Left_Nav/Press_Room/Job_Related_List/SK650_2stopimg4Low or Dirty Fluid

Low fluid levels can cause everything from sluggish cylinder operation to catastrophic pump cavitation, so check the fluid regularly (with the engine off and the fluid cool) and maintain the proper level. Always use the right fuel for your system.

Murky or cloudy fluid usually indicates water or air in the system. Water can come from condensation, and excess air can be a result of low fluid levels, a damaged seal, or a crack in a suction hose.

Other System Components

Sometimes the obvious causes of hydraulic system trouble get overlooked. Try these preliminary checks:stopimg title="SK650_3" style="padding-right: 20px;" align="left" alt="SK650_3" src="/uploadedImages/Left_Nav/Press_Room/Job_Related_List/SK650_3stopimg4

•  Check the hydraulic fluid level with the engine off and the fluid cool.
•  With the engine stopped, check for leaks around seals, castings, and hydraulic connections.    
•  Check for kinks in hydraulic lines.
•  Check for a plugged or damaged fluid cooler or fluid filter.
•  Check the electrical connections to solenoid valves. The problem may not be hydraulic after all.

When in doubt, you can always find factory—trained technicians at your Ditch Witch dealership, professionals whose only business is keeping Ditch Witch equipment healthy.

THE 420SX VIBRATORY PLOW CAN PLOW IN PRODUCT FASTER THAN ANY OTHER UNIT IN ITS CLASS.

stopimg title="49a" style="padding-right: 20px;" align="left" alt="49a" src="/uploadedImages/Left_Nav/Press_Room/Job_Related_List/49astopimg4The new Ditch Witch 420sx vibratory plow expands the company’s popular compact vibratory plow product offering and adds riding capability, greater horsepower (41 hp/30.5 kW), and several features that other vibratory plows in its class do not have.

The machine’s exclusive dual-speed attachment drive enables the operator to quickly adapt to changing ground conditions. The patent-pending plow design of the 420sx allows it to closely follow the contour of the ground, which helps the plow maintain a constant cover depth on uneven terrain. Besides a standard vibratory plow, the 420sx can also run a Roto Witch drilling attachment and a trencher.

“We’ve designed the head shaft of the trencher attachment to incorporate a large, heavy-duty auger,” says Brent Bolay, product manager for the 420sx. “The productivity and spoils handling of this attachment make the 420sx a true production trencher.”

As with other Ditch Witch products, the 420sx was designed with comfort and safety in mind. It is designed so the operator’s console moves with the operator when the machine’s frame articulates; the articulating joint is positioned under the floor of the operator’s station. The 420sx also minimizes vibration transmitted to the operator’s station, so the operator can work longer with greater comfort. The plow’s skid shoes keep plow pins and other components off the ground, which also saves wear and tear on the machine.

Another exclusive feature of the 420sx is the fold-down ROPS (roll-over protective structure), which enables the unit to operate under tree limbs, eaves, and other low-hanging obstacles. The fold-down ROPS reduces the unit’s overall height by 20 inches. This feature makes the 420sx highly maneuverable in and around jobsites.

PIERCE AIRROW II PIERCING TOOLS CAN TAKE A POUNDING—AND ARE, POUND FOR POUND, THE BEST OVERALL VALUE.

stopimg title="49c" style="padding-left: 20px;" align="right" alt="49c" src="/uploadedImages/Left_Nav/Press_Room/Job_Related_List/49cstopimg4New from the Ditch Witch organization are seven pneumatic piercing tools designed to perform short- to medium-range compaction boring projects, pipe ramming and pushing, and pipe pulling. The models range from 2.25" to 4.25" (57-108 mm) outside diameter, with or without threaded heads.

Strength and simplicity are the main characteristics that make Ditch Witch piercing tools so productive. Their bodies are made of single-piece, aircraft-quality steel, which contains high amounts of nickel and is heat-treated to be extremely durable. With fewer moving parts than the competition, Pierce Airrow II piercing tools are very low-maintenance units that promise years of reliable service.

Everything about these tools is designed for outstanding efficiency. Their unique striker design enables the tools to continue operation when they encounter a buried obstacle, so you can avoid costly downtime. The highly machined tool does not require wear rings that would require the tool to be disassembled more often for maintenance. These and other design features help Pierce Airrow II piercing tools give you more blows per minute than the competition—in some cases, as many as 100 more blows—so you can work faster and get more accomplished.

Utility companies, utility contractors, and municipalities will want to take advantage of the many benefits of these tools. Pierce Airrow II piercing tools are also ideal for Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) contractors looking for a fast, low-cost, trenchless solution.

THE NEW DITCH WITCH HT220 TRENCHER IS BIG ON SIZE AND ROCK-DIGGING POWER.

stopimg title="49b" style="padding-right: 20px;" align="left" alt="49b" src="/uploadedImages/Left_Nav/Press_Room/Job_Related_List/49bstopimg4The Ditch Witch line of trenchers just got bigger—a lot bigger. The HT220 is not the typical compact machine you’re used to seeing come out of the Ditch Witch factory in Perry, Oklahoma. But it still typifies everything you’ve come to expect from the Ditch Witch organization: quality, productivity, and extreme durability.

Optimized for digging in rock but also extremely effective in dirt, the HT220 is a hydrostatic trencher with 220 horsepower (164 kW). Designed for large installations—12 to 24 inches (305 - 610 mm) wide and 4 to 8 feet (1.2 - 2.4 m) deep—this machine has an exclusive flywheel gearbox that’s designed to deliver a tremendous amount of horsepower to the attachment—on demand—while protecting the hydraulic system and other components from shock loads. Plus, the operator vibration is further minimized by trencher stabilizers, standard on the machine, that isolate vibration when digging in rock.

Working in harsh conditions demands equipment that is extraordinarily durable and sturdy, and the HT220 does not disappoint. From the rugged undercarriage to the reliable analog controls to the forged, heat-treated, high-alloy steel head shafts that are guaranteed for life, everything on this machine is designed to endure the particularly rugged conditions of rock-laden jobsites.

Gas and oil, wind farms, rural water districts, and housing development contractors are just a few of the markets that will benefit from the HT220.

Published in the Spring 2007 issue of The Underground.

stopimg style="padding-right: 20px;" align="left" src="/uploadedImages/Left_Nav/Press_Room/Job_Related_List/2a.jpg" alt="2a" title="2a" />Bland Landscaping, Inc. is one of the busiest and most respected landscaping specialists in North Carolina.

Located in the pleasant small town of Apex just outside Raleigh, Bland Landscaping’s service area includes North Carolina’s prestigious Research Triangle anchored by Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill and major research centers of North Carolina State University, Duke University, and the University of North Carolina.

Established by Tom and Nancy Bland in 1976, the family-owned company has grown to one of the area’s largest residential and commercial landscape contracting companies, providing a full range of landscape management and installation services for private homeowners and commercial clients. Kurt Bland is general manager, and brother, Matt Bland is financial controller.

The installation division uses the highest quality plants suited to the climate and soils of the region, and personnel are trained in the correct methods of installing plant materials and constructing stone walls, water features, patios, and formal gardens.

Bland crews are well equipped with the best tools and machines essential for landscape construction and maintenance, including conventional skid steer loaders, mini skid steer loaders, backhoes, wheel tractors and implements, mowers, snow plows, blowers and edgers, and other specialized tools.

Bland recently added a new machine that combines the benefits of a skid steer loader and mini excavator. The Ditch Witch® XT850 has a digging boom and bucket on one end and tool carrier component on the other. The tool carrier can be equipped with many types of interchangeable attachments, making the machine a multi-purpose product that can excavate and perform multiple special jobs.

The machine’s dual-pivot design also sets the XT850 apart from other construction equipment and permits offset excavating adjacent to streets, fences, buildings, and other surface improvements. One excavator boom pivot point is at the front of the machine where the boom connects to the tractor. A second pivot point is beneath the floor of the operator’s station, under the seat. It rotates the entire boom assembly, including the boom-swing pivot. To offset dig, the assembly is rotated in one direction from the center pivot, and the boom is swung at the front pivot point in the opposite direction. The system provides maximum excavator sweep of 260 degrees. With a loader bucket, the machine is a compact loader-backhoe on tracks.

The rubber track-mounted XT850’s compact size—it’s only 52 inches wide—allows the machine to work in small areas, making it ideally suited for landscape work.

Kurt Bland, general manager, says the machine is used for a wide range of enhancements and improvements to landscaping on properties the company maintains.

“When we want to beautify a portion of an area, the machine’s small size and light weight allows us to traverse sensitive soil areas, over walks and parking lots, and across terrain with varying grades with as little disruption as possible,” Bland explains.

One of the important features of the XT850, he continues, is its ability to accommodate attachments.

“The quick-couple mounting plate permits us to use attachments we already owned,” he said. “We regularly use a tiller, a seedbed preparation attachment, and a pig stick, a boom for moving balled and burlap-wrapped trees. We also have a trenching attachment and sometimes use the machine for site preparation.”

Bland says compactness was a key consideration in choosing to purchase this model.

“It came to a choice between it and a mini excavator or small tractor,” he elaborates. “We determined the XT850 is the most versatile in its class and the strongest machine of anything of its size to perform the kinds of applications we require, including operating a variety of special implements. It functions very well and can do everything we need it to do and do it very adeptly.”

In addition to the excavator-tool carrier, Bland also operates two Ditch Witch trenchers: a 10-horsepower 1030 walk-along model and a 37-horsepower model 3700 riding trencher and hydraulic drilling attachment.

“The compact model usually is transported on a small trailer pulled by our irrigation service van, and our technicians use it for system add-ons or renovation work that requires a trencher,” Bland says. “We dig trench for both residential and commercial new system installations with the larger machine.”

Over the years, Bland Landscaping has won more than 80 state and national awards for landscape excellence and environmental improvement.

Currently the company employs more than 130 landscape professionals, including landscape designers, floriculturists, turf grass and horticulture managers, and chemical technicians. On staff is one landscape architect, one certified landscape contractor, five of the 12 irrigation auditors in the state, and four landscape professionals and 10 landscape technicians certified by the Professional Landcare Network (PLANET). Bland Landscaping is licensed by the state of North Carolina both as a landscape contractor and general contractor.

Ditch Witch equipment is widely used in the landscape industry. Ditch Witch products are manufactured by The Charles Machine Works, Inc. in Perry, Oklahoma, and include trenchers, vibratory plows, compact skid steer loaders and excavators, vacuum excavation equipment, horizontal directional drilling (HDD) equipment and electronic guidance systems, pipe and cable locators, and related underground construction products

stopimg title="20a" style="padding-right: 20px;" align="left" style="WIDTH: 260px; HEIGHT: 195px" alt="20a" src="/uploadedImages/Left_Nav/Press_Room/Job_Related_List/20astopimg4Stienstra Electric Corp., Goshen, New York, provides residential electrical services, including wiring for new homes and service upgrades to existing structures, outdoor lighting, and power and lights for in-ground and above-ground swimming pools and spas. Many projects require installation of underground power cable, and Stienstra Electric handles that task with its own equipment and personnel.

The company’s president, Gregory J. Stienstra, is experienced in excavation work and sees no need to turn it over to a subcontractor.

“I operated an excavating company for a time, but determined that I could be more profitable specializing in electrical work which permits the use of much smaller, less-costly excavation equipment,” he explains.

In the summer of 2000, Stienstra purchased a used walk-along trencher and a compact 18-horsepower tractor-mounted loader-backhoe. However, the loader-backhoe proved to be unsatisfactory.

“I never should have bought it,” says Stienstra. “It was always breaking down. The tractor was okay as a lawn tractor, but it lacked the power and ruggedness to do the digging in the rocky soils often encountered in our area.”

In 2003, he replaced the used trencher with a new Ditch Witch® 1330 walk-along trencher. When the engine of the loader-backhoe failed in the summer of 2004, Stienstra purchased a new Ditch Witch XT850 excavator-tool carrier, a unique new product that is an excavator on one end, and extending from the other end are twin lift arms for mounting interchangeable attachments for scores of specialized applications. In fact, it was the first of the new models to arrive at the Ditch Witch dealership serving his area, Ditch Witch of the Hudson Valley.

“Our loader (TLB) went down on a Friday,” recalls Stienstra. “I went to the dealership and the XT850 had just come in that day. I wrote a deposit check on the spot and picked up the machine the next day.”

The XT850 is the pride of Stienstra's equipment fleet.

“The XT850 is the best machine I have ever owned,” Stienstra says. “It is small enough to get into tight places, and you can dig parallel trench beside the tracks. And you can dig two trenches at 45-degree angles, join them into a single trench, and keep on digging.”

Much of this open-trencher work is for wiring in-ground and above-ground swimming pools and spas which currently comprise a large part of Stienstra Electric’s workload. Both the XT850 and 1330 trencher get plenty of work.

For above-ground pools, Stienstra usually installs a filter pump circuit controlled by a weatherproof timer in a PVC enclosure and a circuit for one weather proof GFI receptacle located 10 to 20 feet from the pool. Bonding of pool frame and wall to pump uses No. 8 solid copper wire with green insulation. Trenches usually are 40 to 60 feet, and are dug with the 1330 unless the ground is rocky.

“For in-ground pools,” Stienstra explains, “we install an eight circuit rain-tight main lug panel mounted on 3/4-inch thick 24-by-32 inch pressure-treated plywood stained gray to match the electrical equipment. The plywood is fastened to two 1-1/2-inch galvanized posts. We core drill a 3-inch hole in the concrete pad and cement the post in place.”

One-inch diameter PVC conduit is buried from the house panel to the pool equipment with 80-amp copper conductors to supply 120/240 power to the panel. Some customers also have a heat pump installed, requiring a 40- to 50-amp circuit.

Continues Stienstra: “We install two weatherproof GFI receptacles—one next to the panel and one 10 to 20 feet from the pool. Most have lighting in the pool. Usually fiber-optic cable to pool with 3 to 5 lights supplied from one control box. But some have 12-volt, 300-watt lights. Both are located about 18 inches below the water line.”

On most jobs, the XT850 digs trench from the house to the location of the pool equipment and the 1330 unit trenches to receptacles and pool lights. The XT850 backfills trench and when necessary, moves soil or other material around the site. Average trench per job is 150 feet.

“We also use the XT850 to trench for underground electric services,” Stienstra adds. “Because the XT850 can trench outside of the tracks it can be used to excavate along the perimeters of existing buildings to install or repair footing drains.”

The XT850 is alone in its class with no other comparable equipment on the market. It excavates like a mini excavator, including offset digging, and can do a second task with the tool carrier components. More than 70 quick-change attachments are available.

Offset excavating is accomplished with a patent-pending dual-pivot arrangement. The excavator boom’s pivot point is at the front of the machine where the boom connects to the tractor. The second pivot is near the center of the machine beneath the floor of the operator’s station, under the seat. It rotates the boom assembly, including the boom swing pivot. To offset dig, the assembly is rotated in one direction from the center pivot, and the boom is swung at the front pivot point in the opposite direction. Maximum excavator sweep as 260 degrees. The operator’s seat rotates to front- and rear-facing positions, depending on which component is being used.

The Ditch Witch XT850 is 89 inches wide, overall length with excavator in stowed position is 120 inches, and it weighs 3980 pounds, including standard excavator bucket. The machine travels on turf-friendly rubber tracks or optional aggressive rubber tracks for unimproved terrain. It has only four-psi ground pressure. The unit has a zero-turning radius and can move around jobsites at speeds to four mph in either forward or reverse. Power is provided by a liquid-cooled diesel engine rated at 26 gross horsepower. The XT850, selected attachments, and Ditch Witch trailer is less than 10,000 pounds, permitting the machine and selected attachments to be pulled by a driver not required to have a commercial license.

The Ditch Witch 1330 trencher is powered by a 13-horsepower gasoline engine. It has a hydraulic digging chain drive and can trench to depths of 36 inches. The machine is fully self-propelled, and the digging boom is raised and lowered hydraulically. Its compact size permits it to easily slip through a 36-inch yard gate. Color-coded controls are easy to identify and use.

Stienstra is planning to increase the efficiency of his underground construction operations with the addition of several attachments for the XT850.

“In 2005, we want to add a 6-way blade, 15-inch auger, and 6-inch-wide trenching attachment,” he says. “We will continue to use the 1330 for digging short trenches and working in tight spots.”

Stienstra also plans to purchase a five-ton Ditch Witch trailer which can transport the XT850 and attachments, the 1330, and hand tools. With the addition of racks, the same trailer also can carry conduit.

For the 2005 spring season, Stienstra plans to use the XT850 for installations of approximately 100 above-ground pools. Most pool work is for Royal Pools and Spas, New Hampton, New York.