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California big dirt scraper operators

BrianHay

Senior Member
Joined
Jun 21, 2007
Messages
514
Location
Nanaimo B.C
Hey Burnout we likely know a lot of the same people. I have not worked for Sureway myself but know several people who do/have worked for them. Alberta has some big dirt eh, there are quite a few huge contractors based there.
 

Burnout

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 20, 2008
Messages
1,448
Location
Edmonton AB
Occupation
Operator at Sureway Construction
Yeah there are. When I moved out here last year a 330 was a mainline hoe to me. My first day they had a 375L on site and I thought "wow this company is huge". Within 3 days they had 2 385's there and a couple days after that they floated in a Hitachi 1100EX.
 

fensoncont.

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 2, 2007
Messages
286
Location
Midwest
Wow, 375 + 2 385's + EX 1100 - that is not messing around at all, within days of each other. Must be a very impressive company! Any other info on the job or company?
 

BrianHay

Senior Member
Joined
Jun 21, 2007
Messages
514
Location
Nanaimo B.C
Here is a link to ther website
http://www.surewaygroup.ca/

It has been a while since I have been on a big dirt job, often miss it. I had to take a trip out to Alberta the other day and was going to stop in on a freinds jobsite in Calgary to take a 57 for burn but I passed through to late.
 

Burnout

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 20, 2008
Messages
1,448
Location
Edmonton AB
Occupation
Operator at Sureway Construction
Sureway is one of canada's largest earthmoving companies. I work for the Underground division, but we have some sweet equipment. Our division has over 40 hoes, 16 of them are 385's. We also have 30 or so track loader, most of them are 973's.

The Dirt division is where the real equipment is though, 40+ 657's, 40 627's, 40 ADT's, a couple 385's, a Komatsu 475, I think a D11, a few D10's, D9's,8's,7's, the Hitachi 1100EX and a 2006 Komatsu PC1250. They also have a ton of graders, fram tractors with discs and blades, and packers including an 836F. One of the foremen told me at the xmas party that their lookin for a 24H grader to try out for haul roads. The owner of Sureway is an equipment buff and loves owning the biggest of everything he can.

The job with all the big equipment was our big subdivision of the year. They stripped 400acres of topsoil, piles it, dig a couple huge ponds and did sub grade for everything, just so we could come in a service 800 lots.
 

ConstSite

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 1, 2007
Messages
96
Location
Minnesota
Occupation
Construction
Hello Burnout. Hey, does Sureway have a D11 pusher or is that Kidco Construction?

- Chris
 
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Burnout

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 20, 2008
Messages
1,448
Location
Edmonton AB
Occupation
Operator at Sureway Construction
I don't know how much we moved in Windermere but it was the jobsite of the year. As for the 11 pusher, I don't know. Like I said I have heard we have an 11 but I have never seen it. I am in the underground division so I don't see a lot of the equipment rolling around.
 

ConstSite

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 1, 2007
Messages
96
Location
Minnesota
Occupation
Construction
Thanks for the reply. Sounds like you folks have quite a fleet.

- Chris
 

Burnout

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 20, 2008
Messages
1,448
Location
Edmonton AB
Occupation
Operator at Sureway Construction
Yep and it's gettin bigger... tons of new junk for us sitting at Finning in Edmonton. I'll head over there sunday and snap some pics for you fine people... as well as our shop to see whats kickin around there. And I have to find out where this super secret gravel pit is where we keep all our equipment in the winter.
 

Kenny R

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 7, 2007
Messages
67
Location
So.Cal.
Here's a cool article I had scanned and saved onto my computer from the Orange County Register about a year ago, I had totally forgot about it till I was going through my pictures...I'm sorry for the poor quality... Hopefully it will come out clear enough for you to read:( Gives a good overview of just how much earth moving is going on and all the projects happening down here in Orange county alone... If you look at the first page Sukut states "Eighty Percent of the world's scrapers are in Southern California." I don't know how true that is but for awhile it sure seemed true there were scrapers everywhere:dizzy
 

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surfer-joe

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 25, 2007
Messages
1,403
Location
Arizona
It's cute how the paper is calling the Cat rubber-tired dozer a "front-end loader."

At least they didn't fall back to the old newsman's standard of calling it a "steam roller."
 

Mass-X

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 18, 2006
Messages
167
Location
CA
Interesting article Kenny R, thanks for posting.

For almost a year now, I've had a mechanic (who owns his own truck) working as a sub on the project I'm on, maintaining my scrapers. He's spent the last nine years working for Rentrac, Sukut, Signs & Pinnick, Desilva Gates, etc. He also told me about the 80% of the world population of scrapers were in California. He may have gotten that statistic from the article.

I know I was blown away when he was telling me the number of scrapers some of the California contractors own. The fleet of 150 that Sukut has (or at least had at one point). The tremendous number of 657's that Pinnick and Desilva Gates run, etc.

On an interesting note, I'm curious to see how that's going to change in the upcoming future though. With the tremendous growth in China, and the overall hilly topography of much of that country, its going to be interesting to watch Chinese mass grading contractors figure out the big dirt game.

I know that China Communications Construction Co. www.ccccltd.com has a pretty decent spread, and I'm sure that will only grow in the near future.

One of the best equipment managers I ever worked with took a job a couple years ago for an oil drilling company that has him working in Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Iran. He told me that KBR has been importing scrapers from all over the world for the last couple years for their infrastructure projects and new highway development projects they're doing. They've built up a fleet that's numbering around 300 according to his estimates. They're mostly E's, but they've also got D's and G's in the fleet.

He said that one of KBR's current highway projects in Afghanistan is doing a new stretch of highway, 600 miles in length that has over 125 scrapers on it.

I'd sure like to be on a project like that. Just like the good old days, to be moving dirt like that. Minus the safe place to go home and sleep at every night.
 

surfer-joe

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 25, 2007
Messages
1,403
Location
Arizona
That's the trouble with big scraper jobs these days. They are all in developing countries , some of which have dubious health and safety records for American personnel. But, you're right, a 600 mile long scraper job would be about as much fun as I could have with my clothes on or off.

Once you have scrapers and push cats in your blood, all other occupations pale in comparison........
 

72V

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 25, 2007
Messages
121
Location
Oregon
Occupation
grader, cat, excavator hack
It's cute how the paper is calling the Cat rubber-tired dozer a "front-end loader."

At least they didn't fall back to the old newsman's standard of calling it a "steam roller."

Yes, but all other heavy equipment is still known as a "bulldozer".
 

calhusker

Member
Joined
Jan 15, 2008
Messages
16
Location
so cal
More fleets

Inaddition to who you listed here in So Cal you have:

Varner Construction -637,657
Dennis Post - 637
Chino Grading -657
Shelton Construction - 641,651
Titan Engineering -637
Mckenna/Grade Pros - TS24
ECM- Earth, Construction, & Mining - 641.651
Reed Thomas - 637
FM Construction - 637

and Rental Fleets you have
Cobra(just sold all their equipment)
Tony Crissali - 637, 657
LD Anderson - 637
Coburn - 637, 657
Jagur Tractor - 637,657
 

637slayer

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 22, 2007
Messages
486
Location
wyo
Occupation
scraper hand
That's the trouble with big scraper jobs these days. They are all in developing countries , some of which have dubious health and safety records for American personnel. But, you're right, a 600 mile long scraper job would be about as much fun as I could have with my clothes on or off.

Once you have scrapers and push cats in your blood, all other occupations pale in comparison........

i totally agree. one winter being layed off, my third year on a scraper i stopped in at the local bar the old super and his foremen were in having a "gouge" so i stopped in, many beers and stories later along with some tips about dirt, since i was only 21 i mostly just listened, but i worked up the nerve to ask when he thought we could be back to work, he just smiled and said "once you get this business in your blood you will never be the same", and it was true.
 
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