Getting to grade faster
Komatsu Intelligent Machine Control equipment has helped speed up project completion for Hook Construction LLC
When Kyle Kopp decided to start his own business six years ago, he wasn’t sure what to call it.
“My wife and I were trying to come up with a name, and we wanted something short and sweet,” recalled Kopp, Director of Operations. “I love to fish, so my wife suggested Hook. It just stuck.”
Hook Construction LLC has been reeling in business ever since by providing turnkey civil construction services. Most of Hook Construction’s projects involve complete site preparation, including clearing and stripping, mass earthwork, underground utility installation, fine grading, subbase placement and maintaining erosion control. The company also performs structural concrete work such as drainage flumes, meter boxes and retaining walls.
Customer snapshot
- Company: Hook Construction LLC
- Employees: 30
- Established: 2018
- Area of expertise: Turnkey civil construction
- Komatsu equipment: D51EXi-24 and D51PXi-24 IMC dozers, PC210LCi-11 IMC excavator
Adding IMC equipment
Kopp’s business partner Bill Estell, Director of Estimating, has a long history with Komatsu equipment, including Intelligent Machine Control (IMC) dozers and excavators equipped with factory-integrated GPS grade control. He knew Hook Construction would benefit from using Komatsu IMC equipment, so he and Kopp added D51EXi-24 and D51PXi-24 dozers. Kopp said they paid off right away and continue to provide savings, as does the Komatsu PC210LCi-11 IMC excavator the company has since acquired.
“The ability to sit in the machine and have little to no reliance on staking and surveying or someone constantly monitoring grade saves so much time and expense,” stated Kopp. “The machines always know where they are in relation to the final elevation. Once you hit the target elevation, the IMC excavator won’t let you dig any further, so there is no overcutting. It eliminates unnecessary cutting and filling, so you save on fuel by not having to redo anything. There are no masts or cable to replace, so that expense is eliminated.”
Estell builds models that are uploaded to the machines.
“Once they are uploaded, it’s a matter of letting the machines do the work,” commented Estell. “They have definitely sped up our projects. I would say, on average, we are 25% to 35% faster than using traditional methods.”
Kopp concluded, “We haven’t had any issues at all with the machines. For us, they perform perfectly.”
*The opinions expressed here are from the end user as quoted. The results described herein are those of these end users under certain conditions. Individual results may vary.
