Total Landscape Care Digital Magazine
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/132471
equipment matters Grow Your Compact Excavator BY LAUREN HEARTSILL DOWDLE W hether it's the need to fit through a gate or minimize ground disturbance, small equipment like compact excavators continue to have a well-deserved place in landscapers' fleets. But these machines aren't resting on their portable size to win over the industry. In the past five years, the market has seen an increase in the variety of compact excavators available, says Katie Pullen, marketing manager, Case Construction Equipment. "Originally, compact excavators were mainly used with a bucket for trenching and digging," Pullen says. "However, that has changed." This expanded applications list has created a stronger demand for extended features. "Some of our customers who use large excavators want compact excavators that work the same way," says Mark Wall, product marketing manager for excavators, Hitachi and John Deere Construction & Forestry. "Features we saw only in larger excavators are now going to the smaller ones. Landscape contractors are expecting that level of productivity and up time." Landscapers can fill in trenches, move dirt around, transport materials and load trucks with these excavators. "Compact excavators' popularity will continue to grow with contractors as they learn what all they can do with them," Wall says. J U N E 2013 TLC0613_EquipMatters3.indd 53 TotalLa nd s ca p e C a re . c o m 53 5/23/13 3:05 PM