Komatsu D71i-24 Dozer
New iMC 2.0 D71i-24 dozer allows earthmoving contractor to ‘move a lot of dirt and maintain accuracy’ in higher gears
In the early 1980s, Steve Brown founded Linco Construction Co. Inc. — named after his father, Lindbergh, and his daughter, Lindy. The company began as a concrete contractor, but Brown quickly realized he needed to expand the firm to better control scheduling and the quality of the prep work before pours could be done.
“We would get ready to set forms and realize the grade of the dirt work was way off, so we got into earthwork to alleviate that problem,” recalled Brown.
He has always believed that having the right tools to move dirt is essential. In 2000, Brown made a notable change to his earthmoving equipment fleet by adding GPS grade control to his dozers. Productivity and efficiency increased significantly, and operators were able to move dirt faster and more accurately with less staking and surveying costs.
One machine doing the work of two
Brown said costs were further reduced when Linco Construction started using Komatsu intelligent Machine Control (iMC) dozers with factory-integrated GPS grade control. The dozers require no masts or cables that could potentially be damaged. Linco Construction has run D51i and D61i dozers for several years. Its latest addition is a 51,000-pound-plus D71PXi-24 — Komatsu’s largest hydrostatic transmission dozer with iMC 2.0.
“We do a lot of jobs that involve importing dirt; sometimes we’re putting down 300 to 400 truck loads a day,” Brown explained. “Typically, we would use two smaller dozers, but the D71i allows us to do the work with one. It will get ahold of a 22-yard trailer load and push it with no problem at all. With its wider and taller blade, you can move a lot of dirt and maintain accuracy even in second and third gear. That allows us to put the D51s and D61s on other tasks.”
