Company Finds Niche in Seawall Business
Precise Excavating uses a Bobcat compact track loader and Zero House Swing excavator to repair a seawall.
From the time he was a young man helping his uncle repair compact equipment, David Wright's appreciation for equipment has grown, so much so that now he uses a Bobcat® T250 compact track loader and 442 compact excavator to make a living along the Maryland coast.
Wright, who has years of experience operating equipment, and his business partner Gary Napier, own Precise excavating, Inc., a specialty construction company that has found a niche building and repairing seawalls. With the help of their Bobcat equipment, they have grown their company into a very successful business.
Wright and his partner were skeptical at first when their dealer Metro Bobcat Sales, Forestville, Md., brought a T250 to do a product demonstration at a seawall project where Wright was working. But it didn’t take long for Wright to see the logic in using the agile machine.
“They brought the T250 out and I put in about 60 ft. of seawall in less than two hours,” Wright says. Soon afterwards, he called his partner and said they needed to find a way to pay for the machine because he wasn’t giving it back. Since then, the owners have replaced their T250 every year at approximately 500 to 700 hours— not because there was anything wrong with the machine—but because of the rigorous demands they place on the loader.
“We found the T250 is the key to making money,” Wright says. “Being able to get in and out of wet conditions and moving loads of rocks—that T250 is like nothing else I’ve ever run.
“The rubber track machine has absolutely blown me away with its capabilities,” Wright continues. “The versatility of the T250 is incredible. There are so many different things you can do with it. If you can’t find work for it, then you aren’t trying.”
David Wright.
And it’s already saved Precise Excavating time and money with its 4.1 psi of ground pressure. “We find that we can get in and out of the jobsite without damaging as much area, so that's less cleanup for us.” And, according to Wright, that enables him to move onto the next job quicker
and put more linear footage in. “The less time you have to spend cleaning up, the faster you can move onto the next
job and make more money.”
As you might imagine, residents along the shore of the St. Mary’s River and in the Chesapeake Bay area have beautiful and expensive properties. Wright says using his Bobcat equipment puts them at ease because they see how well it does without damaging property.
“Our customers are particular about their properties because they’ve worked hard to get them,” Wright explains. “They don’t want to see them abused. They’re amazed at the speed of the T250 and what the machine can do.”
The newest addition to the company is a Bobcat 442 ecavator, which features exceptionally low ground pressure—just 4.4 psi—for a machine of its size.
Although Precise Excavating owns a larger excavator, they rely on the 442 because of its compact size, long reach for lifting seawall rock and impressive power.
The seawall business is a unique way to earn a living. With the T250 and 442 Wright and his business partner have found an excellent system for profitability.