“Being outside, planting things, mowing … it’s been a part of what I’ve always wanted to do long-term,” Maurer says. “One of the fi rst things I did after arriving at Clemson was work my way onto the university grounds crew as a summer job. After graduation I felt obligated to pursue something related to my business degree, but every spring I would sit in my offi ce, looking out the windows, dreaming about how much I really wanted to be outside.”
Maurer moved to Charleston in 2004 and has been in his current position for three years. Piedmont Landscape is based in Chamblee, Ga. (an Atlanta suburb), and has locations in nearby Smyrna, as well as Savannah, in addition to the North Charleston offi ce. Maurer manages the day-to-day operations of the coastal division, an area that encompasses both the Savannah and North Charleston branches. He is responsible for supervising the work of more than 65 staffers, as well as a number of additional responsibilities including bid preparation, resource allocation, business development and equipment. Both Maurer and Piedmont have long been big Bobcat® equipment enthusiasts.
“We operate a gamut of Bobcat models here, including T190 and T300 compact track loaders, MT55 mini track loaders and several compact excavator models,” Maurer says. “Our relationship with Bobcat of Charleston is something we value a great deal. Their mechanic is just a phone call away and they have actually come out and rescued us when we have had a breakdown. Having said that, however, I can also tell you that one of the things we like most about running Bobcat equipment is durability. We have a compact track loader with more than 5,000 hard hours on it and still going strong. It’s also a machine that has probably seen upwards of 20 different operators. And as any contractor will likely admit, multiple operators using one piece of equipment can eventually take a toll.”
We’re tracking with ya
Piedmont Landscape puts its fl eet of Bobcat equipment to the test in a variety of specialized functions every day, including grading, sod installation, landscape planting and irrigation systems. According to Maurer, the T190 excels in the often diffi cult tasks encountered frequently in landscaping applications: lifting, carrying materials and tough digging.
One crucial element of what the company does to prepare landscape sites is drainage work, a scenario ideally suited for both the T190 and MT55. Low ground pressure and outstanding fl otation enable the T190 to tackle a variety of quickly changing soil types, including the soft, sandy and muddy conditions encountered by Maurer’s crews in the coastal regions of the South.
“Our Bobcat loaders are invaluable in completing the prep work that is often required to accurately grade a site for proper draining,” Maurer says. “This requires a machine that is both profi cient in grading accuracy and capable of effectively
OPPOSITE: Piedmont Landscapes district manager Matt Maurer appears next to one of the fi rst Bobcat loaders the company purchased. Today it has more than 4,000 hours on it and still runs smoothly. TOP: With a trencher attachment, this Bobcat mini track loader operator easily cuts through the soil to prepare for an irrigation installation.
navigating and adapting to a variety of soil conditions with ease. The rubber track undercarriage distributes the machine weight evenly to provide better traction in the marshy, less-than-fi rm conditions we face down here.”
Maneuverable labor savers
Piedmont is strictly a commercial landscape contractor focused primarily on new construction sites for real estate and multi-family (i.e., townhome and apartment complex) developments. This type of work involves what Maurer refers to as tight general contracting, meaning maneuverability is a big requirement of the equipment he runs. The machine also needs to have the capabilities to perform several functions, eliminating the need for multiple pieces of equipment on one site.
“If we are landscaping an apartment complex or similar development, our crews need a machine that can fi t in confi ned spaces and do all the jobs,” Maurer says. “The T190 is the perfect solution. It can grade in tight areas and lift pallets of sod and tree plantings. We like to call it the small machine with big power.”
Labor is also a challenge for Piedmont and Maurer; an increasing frustration for most landscape contractors that has motivated Maurer to add a number of new attachments to his equipment fl eet. He recently purchased a soil conditioner, an attachment he attributes to increasing productivity.
“With the soil conditioner, I can have one guy get 99 percent of an acre fi eld ready for sod in half a day, as opposed to a crew of six guys out there to prep it for an entire day,” Maurer says. “This frees the guys up to do other things. We own the soil conditioner, augers, grapples, buckets, forks and trencher attachments and have found all to be a more effi cient way to get jobs done that previously required manual labor. It doesn’t take long for an attachment investment to pay off.”
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Visit
www.MyWorkSaver.com/Piedmont to read about Matt Maurer and Piedmont Landscapes’ involvement in the organization called PLANET.
FALL 2011 | WorkSaver 17
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