Coast Range Construction, located in the southernmost end of the Alaskan Highway, specializes in setting foundations for lodges and cabins and house-site development. Ray Clapp, owner of Coast Range Construction for the past 16 years, was in search of a flexible attachment for his Hitachi excavator to give him the edge over his competitors.
Coast Range faced several challenges that had to carefully considered when deciding which attachment to purchase. The Alaskan terrain where the company works ranges from sea level up to 1,400 ft. in elevation, and drainage issues are common since there’s very little flat ground.
The contractor also needed a tool that could work in tight spaces, since it’s difficult to move a machine around the jobsite. Even moving a machine around several times could slow a project down and lose the company money. Coast Range also has to transport its equipment onto barges and ferries, since most of the work sites can only be reached by water.
Previously, Coast Range used a small dozer and other specialty equipment for grading, drainage projects and cutting angles into slopes. It also had to move the machine several times during the day to get the exact angle to cut into a slope.
When Coast Range discovered PowerTilt, a tilt attachment manufactured by Helac Corp., the company immediately realized how the coupler would help it overcome its work site challenges. Coast Range is now able to easily work in tight spaces without moving the machine.
“Switching to the Helac PowerTilt has increased our productivity by 30% and eliminated our small dozer on the jobsite,” says Ray Clapp, owner, Coast Range Construction. “The PowerTilt is my secret weapon and has increased the quality of our finished work by artistically cutting through slopes.”
With the PowerTilt’s 180° side to side tilt, Coast Range can wield the Hitachi with surgical precision, cutting all the slopes and angles with one machine. “We eliminated our small dozer from our fleet and are finishing projects one to two days faster with PowerTilt than before,” says Clapp.
Coast Range uses the PowerTilt for a variety of tasks, such as sloping, grading and dock building and for drainage work. It attaches standard and narrow buckets or a River Teeth attachment to the coupler depending on the type of project the company is working on. The coupler easily works in tight spaces since it can be used at several different angles without having to frequently reposition the machine.
Drainage Site Work: Whether Coast Range is creating a drainage system for a commercial or residential site or digging out dirt for a septic system, PowerTilt always creates the same quality appearance.
Site Development: With 180 degrees of rotation, they can easily work on cutting through slopes and swales without frequently moving the machine.
Dock Building: PowerTilt is used as a pile driver to more effectively push the pilings of the dock down into the ground under the water at an angle.
Rock Ripping: When using a River Teeth attachment with PowerTilt, Coast Range can rip through rocks at an angle on a slope or in a ditch.
After 10 years of using PowerTilt, Coast Range has not had any maintenance issues or downtime with PowerTilt. Coast Range has the confidence that PowerTilt will go to work every day and never breakdown.
