GRADING CONTRACTORS
K&L Grading — Brian Lennon Oviedo, Fla.
Brian Lennon, owner of K&L Grading, Oviedo, Fla., knows all too well how the Great Recession impacted his grading business when homebuilding slowed dramatically in central Florida. Lennon started his company 14 years ago, specializing in grading for new residential construction. His fi rst compact equipment purchase was a Bobcat 753 skid-steer loader, a machine that Lennon still owns today. “It’s a good machine, and it was my fi rst, so I kept it,” he says.
During the homebuilding peak of the previous decade, Lennon said he employed about 30 individuals. When homebuilding slowed during the recession — starting in 2007, the longest recessionary period since the Great Depression of the 1930s — Lennon was forced to cut back on staff, but today he says his business is on the rebound and he has 19 employees. He says things are turning around in central Florida, and housing start statistics certainly support his feedback.
“I’m very blessed that we’ve been working,” he says. “Prior to the recession, it was my goal to be debt-free. That’s what helped me survive — getting my equipment paid for. And now we’ve been extremely busy for the last eight months, very steady, working six days a week. There are a lot of things taking off, and we’re getting opportunities to bid on new jobs, so it’s going well.”
From left to right: Brian Lennon, president; Dylan Lennon, operator; and Josh Chaudoin, operator.
BOBCAT LOADERS CUT FINAL GRADES Long before the fi nal grading occurs, Lennon and his crews operate heavy equipment to clear a site for development, making way for a new residential subdivision to be built. When site development is complete and ready for the grading, they call upon Lennon again, except this time it’s a team of Bobcat compact track loaders that get the assignment. Lennon owns four compact track loaders, from the T140 to the M-Series T650, using low-profi le buckets to prepare the soil before the landscape contractor does his installation.
Due to the sandy soil conditions in central Florida, Lennon says the compact track loaders perform very well, quickly completing fi nal grades.
“I bought the very fi rst Bobcat compact track loader model, the 864, and it sped up my process immediately,” he says. “When the guys are in the sugar sand, when they’re turning and pushing, the tracks perform very well. It’s much less stressful for the operator; he just turns and rolls his dirt. The loader cuts right through it when it’s turning.”
Lennon’s T590 performs exceptionally well in Florida’s soft and sandy soil conditions, improving his overall productivity.
20 WORKSAVER FALL 2013
Bobcat introduced its fi rst model 864 compact track loader in 1999. Fourteen years later the company has eight different models to suit customer needs, in terms of size and performance.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40