Stories from the Job Site

John Deere D-Series Excavator in a harsh environment

Deere excavators thrive in a dusty environment.  "If you want a machine to die, you bring it in here," says Mark Lyons, an equipment operator at New England Recycling (NER) in Taunton, Massachusetts.

Harsh words, but then you have to experience the conditions in NER's facility to truly appreciate the strain they put on excavators, particularly the cooling systems. A mechanic's final assessment might double as a coroner's report: Victim choked to death as a result of dust, moisture, and heat — a classic case of a clogged cooling system.

"Our excavators work 10- to 12-hour shifts in extremely difficult environments, with lots of dust and moisture," says Gil Lopes, vice president of G. Lopes Construction, Inc., which he and his brother Gary co-own with NER.

"We had a lot of cooling-system problems with our old excavators, stopping every hour or so to clean the cooling systems, and replacing air filters every other day," Gil says. "Our current John Deere D-Series Excavators work really well in severe environments. We don’t have to stop working. We haven't had any problems, mostly due to their standard cooling package that prescreens the air. We'd have to special order a cooling package like that from other manufacturers."

Choking conditions
Just what’s in the air at NER?  The Taunton operation sees an average of 450 tons of construction and demolition waste dumped daily for sorting by two hydraulic John Deere 200D LC Excavators outfitted with Geith grapples. The waste is housed in a steel building that sees temperatures reach a stifling 110 degrees on the pile.

Because the dust is so severe, NER has a misting system on the ceiling and a worker armed with a hose to try to keep the particles down. While this reduces some of the dust clouds, the water helps transform the dust into a dirt coating that can stick to surfaces — and excavators. And it forms a sticky mess on radiators.

Some radiators, that is.

Deere D-Series deals with dirt
John Deere D-Series Excavators have radiator doors that feature side-by-side perforated shields with tiny three-micron holes to keep dirt out. Any dirt that does get in is handled by the hydraulically driven, cool-on-demand, variable-speed fan, at the ideal temperature. Swing-open coolers reveal easy-clean cores that operators have to wipe off only once or twice a day if the dust is especially severe. An optional reversing fan automatically blows debris out of the cooling cores, reducing build-up and increasing uptime, something that is very important to Gil Lopes.

John Deere D-Series Excavators and Gil Lopes, Vice-President of G.Lopes Construction

"The cooling system's been great," Gil says. "As far as downtime needed for service, there hasn't really been any. With Deere, our needs have been very minimal. Our operators really like the Deere machines, too. They're faster, more comfortable, and more powerful than what we used to run."

A family tradition
Gil and Gary Lopes learned the construction business from their father, Gil, Sr., who started G. Lopes Construction in 1964. Gil, Jr. started as an equipment operator and a mechanic in 1976, positions that taught him the value of performance. Now that he's out of the operator's seat and in the "big chair," he has a different view of what constitutes a good piece of iron.

"We do focus a lot on product uptime and reliability," Gil explains. "But we also look at resale value. I have to look at all the factors and balance them now. When it's time to unload a piece of equipment, we've got to get a decent price for it. I also think about my mechanics: Can we get parts fast and not pay too much? There are a multitude of things we think about."

Gary Lopes oversees the construction side of the business and is a fan of the 200D LC's cab. "The comfort in the operator's compartment and the visibility are excellent," Gary says. "In the recycling environment, we find out very fast what works and what doesn't work, and John Deere has given us a far better air-filtration package."

Operator Mark Lyons notices a difference when working the pile as well. "The John Deere machines cycle faster. They're quicker with the boom and grapple when you have to multi-function. The pump doesn't go out on you, and they’re quieter and more efficient. The precision is there."

"The 200D puts up with a lot of abuse. It definitely makes coming to work a lot easer," Mark says.

Two successful businesses
G. Lopes Construction’s operations are evenly split between site excavation and sand and gravel production. The company also provides crushed stone and recycled aggregates to paving/concrete companies. NER has found a regional niche recycling construction debris and other materials. Some 20 NER trucks pick up waste from towns as far away as Nantucket, bound for the Taunton operation or an asphalt, brick, and concrete operation in Raynham, Massachusetts. The trucks transport the sorted materials for recycle markets as well.

New England Recycling started in 1986 with the purchase of stump grinders. The operation evolved into handling C&D waste in the early 1990s. "Half of the materials are from our own roll-off business, and the rest comes from outside customers," Gil says.

According to Lopes, NER's business is fairly steady and not adversely affected by construction or housing market fluctuations. "If we're not seeing newer materials coming in, we're seeing old materials from refurbishing coming in — there is always a waste factor. The material we're seeing now is completely different than what we saw two years ago. We're not seeing a lot of new construction waste."

Together, the two divisions have achieved $60 million in sales and employ 275 people, including a couple of very happy excavator operators in the Taunton facility.

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