DOING IT RIGHT— AND DOING IT WELL


BY MIKE CHALMERS


Hydra-Slide Hydraulic Skidding Systems. You get a lot from a name. And in this case, the name certainly tells you what you need to know—at least in the practical sense. But like so many companies in the construction, rigging, and material-moving industries, there’s a much bigger story lurking just behind that logo.


Based in Rockwood, Ontario, Canada, Hydra-Slide was officially incorporated in 2011—though the first skidding systems and power units that serve as the company’s foundation were developed more than 30 years ago. Don Mahnke, P. Eng., is president and co-owner of


Hydra-Slide Ltd. and its affiliate, Westport Canada Ltd. (www.westportcanada.com). Mahnke has been involved with heavy rigging and transportation for over three decades—most recently retiring in 2005 as senior vice president, Special Projects, at Mammoet Canada Ltd. He didn’t exactly stop working; he more or less just


pivoted towards a passion that was decades in the making. Te journey goes back to 1977, when Mahnke graduated from the University of Waterloo with a degree in mechanical engineering and started working full-time at Lackie Bros. Ltd. as a project engineer in the Heavy Transport and Rigging Division—based in Kitchener, Ontario. In 1979, at the age of 27, he took over as head of the division, which was later incorporated as a separate operating company called Lackie Transportation


An HT500 heavy track skidding system. 24 MAY–JUNE 2017 WIRE ROPE EXCHANGE


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