Show and Tell

If a dog is man’s best friend, consider the excavator a utility contractor’s closest confidante. This hard-working piece of equipment helps crews dig into a project and complete their to-do lists with ease and confidence. Last month, Utility Contractor asked its readers to share their favorite machines and why they like them. Here’s a sampling of the entries we received and we thank the companies who participated!

John Walsh from Walsh Contracting Corp. in Attleboro, Mass., shared this photo of his father John G. Walsh III and grandfather John G. Walsh Jr. in front of the company’s . The company — which was founded in 1948 and is currently on its fourth generation of leadership — bought the machine brand-new in January 2013 from Milton Cat in Milford, Mass. Walsh loves the Cat 390DL excavator because of its versatility and  says it’s his favorite because “there’s not much we can’t do having it.”

John Klabacka of Associated Training Services (ATS), a private vocational school dedicated to teaching heavy equipment operation, mobile crane operation and truck driving, sent in a photo of Chief Instructor Jay Schmuhl and his favorite excavator — the John Deere 120C. Schmuhl appreciates the medium-sized machine’s power and ability. ATS, who has been a NUCA member for a few years now, bought the excavator from Brooks Tractor in Prairie, Wis., seven
years ago.

Joe Patalak, Vice President of Doli Construction Corp., stands proudly with his son Owen (a future utility contractor, perhaps?) and his company’s Komatsu PC 600LC-8 excavator. According to Patalak, the 130,000-lb machine dominates the red shale rock he and his crews encounter while installing sewer and water lines in Southeastern Pennsylvania. The Chalfont, Pa.-based company (and proud NUCA member since 1996) added the Komatsu PC 600LC-8 to its fleet in 2011 and purchased it through Mid-Atlantic Machinery in Hatfield, Pa. 

Pam Kleineke is the Associate Editor of Utility Contractor.