The Real World Impact of Machine Control-Part VI

Written by Paul F. Hahn

Created on Saturday, 03 September 2011 23:04

A mid-sized general contractor in Middle River, Minnesota, Spruce Valley Corporation first adopted machine control systems in 2007.  Spruce Valley Corp. was established in 1993 and now employs around twenty-five people on a full-time basis and owns fifty pieces of heavy equipment.  Their main focus is on grading and excavating with underground utilities work comprising about 50% of their workload.  Spruce Valley Corp. specializes in flood control projects for primarily public-sector customers.  They also do work on road re-construction projects. Like many of their fellow contractors; they do very little residential work these days.

I recently spoke with owner Louie Cater  about Spruce Valley’s investment in machine control.  During that conversation Louie pointed out that many of the projects they have won recently are around water- not surprising, being located in the “Land of 10,000 Lakes” and often in or around the Red River Valley.

Spruce Valley’s first investment in machine control was the automation of one of their Komatsu D61 dozers with a Topcon machine control system.  After adding machine control to a second D61, they equipped a Deere high-speed dozer to increase the accuracy and efficiency of their grading work.  At first, Spruce Valley hoped to see a 50% increase in productivity, but Louie feels it comes closer to a 100% increase on their finish work.  Then, one year ago, they decided to buy a Leica PowerDigger 3D machine control system for their 2008 Komatsu PC 600 excavator.  They purchased the system from Titan Machinery in Crookston, MN.  This decision has proven to provide an excellent return on investment. Operators picked up the system quickly and experienced no problems early on.  Initially, the Leica PowerDigger system is being used for ditches and river bank work, including the placement of rip rap. Prior to implementing the Leica excavator system the river bank work would have required boats and grade checkers for cutting the slopes and placing the rip rap. With the position of the tip of the bucket displayed in the cab of the excavator, the operator doesn’t need outside assistance to reach the correct 3D position, including the proper elevations and slopes while cutting slopes for the rip rap.  “Now the bucket is our grade rod” Louie says.  Louie states the difference “is like night and day” in terms of production, and with the operator guidance in the cab, the system can work night and day, another benefit of the PowerDigger system.

As Spruce Valley’s first implementations of machine control were the Topcon systems for their dozers; Louie was happy to learn that the Leica systems could run off the same base station.  This eliminated the costs and hassles of operating a second GNSS base station. (The topic of running multiple machine control systems, of different brands, off of a common GNSS base station was discussed by Machine Control Online’s Randy Noland’s in the recent article “GNSS Interoperability - Mixing Receiver Brands on the Same Job Site “ and can be found on Machine control Online or via this link: GNSS Interoperability - Mixing Receiver Brands on the Same Job Site “. 

Spruce Valley Corp. has decided to handle machine control data preparation in-house.  They have had very few problems, partially because they have been able to obtain digital files from the engineers once they had been awarded the project.  Louie believes that owners would benefit if the files were released to all bidders prior to award.  “It’s much easier to get a feel for the whole job when you see it up on the display.  You get better estimates and that would lower the bids” Cater said.  Spruce Valley is located in a very progressive part of the country, with lots of support for machine control coming from the public sector.  The Minnesota Department of Transportation is one of the strongest supporters of machine control and is working towards providing 3D digital files pre-award.  Since adopting GPS machine control; Spruce Valley has only won one job where digital files were not available post-award. This has streamlined their data preparation tasks, saving time and money.

There are several approaches to implementing machine control into an organization for the first time.  Some believe it is better to get some experience with GPS surveying gear and software first and then migrating to machine control. Spruce Valley decided to jump in with both feet and purchased their first system with no prior GPS experience.  They have done well with their approach. 

Looking back, Cater feels GPS machine control has radically changed the way Spruce Valley Corporation operates today. Their bids are now more competitive and they are winning more jobs.  Louie is now looking for more jobs with lots of excavator work, as he knows they can be profitable doing them.  Louie’s opinion of the technology was summed up when he said “I wouldn’t want to be in the grading business right now if wasn’t for GPS.”   According to Louie, machine control technology is becoming more and more common in his area. On the larger jobs they almost always compete with other companies who have also adopted machine control. “I don’t see how you can compete without it” Cater said.

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