Renfroe Grading
Well-Known Member
G's are in auctions often but not that cheap
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California big dirt scraper operators
- Thread starter Gavin84w
- Start date
Sweet Pics! I was on that job next to the water for a few months, I was running A35 & A40 Volvo's that Sukut rents from us. That was a pretty sweet gig...me and a few of the other operators would often meet for an early morning surf session in Dana Point before heading to the jobsite! An awesome company, I know a lot of the big dawgs over there.
Stice Co is another great company I work with on occasion. They have a pretty gnarly fleet (a lot of it sitting at the moment) I work with them closely over the past few years.
Keiwit
Granite
Yeager/Skanska
All good size companies I work with.
Last edited by a moderator:
Wolf
Senior Member
That is so awesome that you got to surf before going to work on the site. What time did you start? and what time did you get out to hit the surf? Must have been pretty early AM, no?
Start times on jobsite were always 7am. We'd meet in the water (or parking lot above water) at 5:30 am...ish and have about an hour session. We were only 5 minutes from the site so it was always easy. Totally vibrant...AWAKE and ready for the day!
Wolf
Senior Member
you got any surfing pictures. would love to try it sometime.
Burnout: "Hey... has there been a Ritchie Brothers auction in California lately? Or has some big land scraper company done some shuffling around of equipment?"
Pinnick Inc. (formerly Signs & Pinnick) recently turned back the order for 8 657G's that were originally placed on order in early 2007. It's more than likely the machines that were meant for them are the same ones that ended up at Sureway.
Pinnick Inc. (formerly Signs & Pinnick) recently turned back the order for 8 657G's that were originally placed on order in early 2007. It's more than likely the machines that were meant for them are the same ones that ended up at Sureway.
Mass x would it be fair to say that the top scraper guys in SoCal would be Sukut, Independent & ACI??
Followed by the Pinnicks, PCI McCoys etc??
We are hearing down here that if you place an order for scrapers at the moment they will be shipped the next day as the factory had a lot of orders cancelled and now have stock machines ready to go. Heaps of scoop work down under at the moment
Followed by the Pinnicks, PCI McCoys etc??
We are hearing down here that if you place an order for scrapers at the moment they will be shipped the next day as the factory had a lot of orders cancelled and now have stock machines ready to go. Heaps of scoop work down under at the moment
Gavin: Mass x would it be fair to say that the top scraper guys in SoCal would be Sukut, Independent & ACI??
Followed by the Pinnicks, PCI McCoys etc??
I would say that depends on what you mean by top? Who is the biggest? Who is the best? With “best” being defined by most efficient and profitable?
If by largest, than yes, but add Desilva Gates Construction to the list of big guys because when I was working in California 4-5 years ago, they had a big fleet of scrapers, a lot of nice iron at that.
If by best, most efficient and profitable, than I would (in my opinion) place Signs & Pinnick Inc., now Pinnick Inc, at the top of my list. That could simply be due to the jobs I saw them do, but as far as scraper contractor goes, I’ve never seen anyone run scrapers like they do when it comes to efficiency and productivity.
We are hearing down here that if you place an order for scrapers at the moment they will be shipped the next day as the factory had a lot of orders cancelled and now have stock machines ready to go.
I’ve heard that CAT has machines in Peoria sitting and waiting, so I’m sure that’s true. From what I understand, in 2005 and 2006, getting new scrapers required getting on a waiting list. Sometime in 2007 (with the early pull-back of American home-builders due to subprime mortgage concerns) contractors on the waiting list either got what they wanted, or cancelled orders.
Heaps of scoop work down under at the moment
Is it largely mining work or is there still a lot of residential housing work taking place in Australia?
I know right now, that the big scraper jobs taking off in the next year to year and a half are all transportation, infrastructure and mining work. With ore and coal prices where they’re at, there’s becoming a tremendous amount of scraper work in those markets.
I’d like to see an updated statistic as to where the scrapers have gone. All through the 1990’s, 80% of CAT’s scrapers were in California. Watching all the auctions lately, I know a lot of those machines have moved out, to China, the middle-east, Australia and to mines all over the US. Be interesting to see where a lot of them have ended up.
Followed by the Pinnicks, PCI McCoys etc??
I would say that depends on what you mean by top? Who is the biggest? Who is the best? With “best” being defined by most efficient and profitable?
If by largest, than yes, but add Desilva Gates Construction to the list of big guys because when I was working in California 4-5 years ago, they had a big fleet of scrapers, a lot of nice iron at that.
If by best, most efficient and profitable, than I would (in my opinion) place Signs & Pinnick Inc., now Pinnick Inc, at the top of my list. That could simply be due to the jobs I saw them do, but as far as scraper contractor goes, I’ve never seen anyone run scrapers like they do when it comes to efficiency and productivity.
We are hearing down here that if you place an order for scrapers at the moment they will be shipped the next day as the factory had a lot of orders cancelled and now have stock machines ready to go.
I’ve heard that CAT has machines in Peoria sitting and waiting, so I’m sure that’s true. From what I understand, in 2005 and 2006, getting new scrapers required getting on a waiting list. Sometime in 2007 (with the early pull-back of American home-builders due to subprime mortgage concerns) contractors on the waiting list either got what they wanted, or cancelled orders.
Heaps of scoop work down under at the moment
Is it largely mining work or is there still a lot of residential housing work taking place in Australia?
I know right now, that the big scraper jobs taking off in the next year to year and a half are all transportation, infrastructure and mining work. With ore and coal prices where they’re at, there’s becoming a tremendous amount of scraper work in those markets.
I’d like to see an updated statistic as to where the scrapers have gone. All through the 1990’s, 80% of CAT’s scrapers were in California. Watching all the auctions lately, I know a lot of those machines have moved out, to China, the middle-east, Australia and to mines all over the US. Be interesting to see where a lot of them have ended up.
idk
Member
Hi guys I'm new here. I'm local 12 I worked for Sukut for a few years and before that I was with Ebenseiner up untill they closed there doors. I would have to agree Sukut and ACI are the largest rite now. Sukut has aprox. 150 scapers 80-90 51's, 20 37's and the rest 57's.
Roger
Roger
Mass x sorry for the slow reply, been busy fixin scraper customers, from a dealer perspective (where i work) i look after the biggest scraper operator in NSW, they currently have 47 scrapers and all are working, they predominately do roadworks and there biggest job now has 16 x 651E and 8 x 637G on the job.
Lots of roadworks keep the scoops busy and if you take a look at
http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/construct...egional/southwest/hume_duplication/index.html you will see some of the works.
We had the no 1 scraper guy from Decatur and the senior eng. down here a couple of weeks ago and there is a very big push from Cat to introduce and reintroduce the scraper so great news for scraper fans with big improvements in technology. They are looking at load cells via the lift cylinders, wet brakes and adding technology for load counts,cycle times etc and operator comfort is high on the list also. Kunming airport job in china is 180 million bcm job and they are getting scrapers into that along with a big road job somewhere that has taken any old scrapers they can find to get it done. Might be time to reintroduce a big 3 axle!!
Lots of roadworks keep the scoops busy and if you take a look at
http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/construct...egional/southwest/hume_duplication/index.html you will see some of the works.
We had the no 1 scraper guy from Decatur and the senior eng. down here a couple of weeks ago and there is a very big push from Cat to introduce and reintroduce the scraper so great news for scraper fans with big improvements in technology. They are looking at load cells via the lift cylinders, wet brakes and adding technology for load counts,cycle times etc and operator comfort is high on the list also. Kunming airport job in china is 180 million bcm job and they are getting scrapers into that along with a big road job somewhere that has taken any old scrapers they can find to get it done. Might be time to reintroduce a big 3 axle!!
ConstSite
Well-Known Member
That is great news indeed Gavin! While at ConExpo they were saying the 637G and 657G were scheduled to be upgraded and re-released in 2010 (but who knows for sure). I am glad to hear that Caterpillar feels that scrapers are still important enough to continue upgrading. Here are a couple of photos of the new 613G cab.
- Chris
BTW: This is still one of the best threads in a long time in my eyes.
- Chris
BTW: This is still one of the best threads in a long time in my eyes.
Attachments
Buckethead
Senior Member
It looks like Cat went back to the 3-lever controls in scrapers.
I spoke with the CAT scraper rep at ConExpo quite a bit regarding scrapers and one of the things I asked was about the 3-lever control in the 613G. She said due to the large number of changes made to the 613 to update it and the 615 (now discontinued) from the C series to the G series, they simply didn’t get the controls changed in time for ConExpo. She said it’s likely that there will be 613G’s with the single joystick control introduced shortly after the debut of the machine shown there.
Scrapers
Ok...thanks squizzy for helping with my post. I can see that there are a lot of big scraper operators on here. I am just a farmer. I bought a scraper to move dirt while building a pond and for building waterways. The thing is probably ancient. I'm just trying to find out some information about it. Did there used to be a company called Murray? It says Murray Billings - Sacramento. I can't find any information on-line about a company called Murray.
Thanks for any help anyone can give to a little guy. My dirt moving equipment can't compare to yours. Perhaps you would like to see a picture of my combine?????
Ok...thanks squizzy for helping with my post. I can see that there are a lot of big scraper operators on here. I am just a farmer. I bought a scraper to move dirt while building a pond and for building waterways. The thing is probably ancient. I'm just trying to find out some information about it. Did there used to be a company called Murray? It says Murray Billings - Sacramento. I can't find any information on-line about a company called Murray.
Thanks for any help anyone can give to a little guy. My dirt moving equipment can't compare to yours. Perhaps you would like to see a picture of my combine?????
Deere9670
Senior Member
hello DFARM, good to see another illinois farmer on the forum! And yes, lots of combine pics please! What part of illinois are you from?
Deere9670 -
I'm from central IL. What part are you from? We use Deere equipment also. I can't find any information about my scraper though.
Deere9670
Senior Member
Im from north-central Illinois. We farm around 2000 acres up here. Sorry im not a scraper guy, so I cant help you out there, but if you post some pics of it in a new thread, I'm sure someone will be able to help ya out! Lets see some pics of that equipment if you dont mind!
Dug Overburden
Well-Known Member
Ebenstiener Co. (Ca. scrapers)
At thier peak Ebenstiner Co. had over One Hundred (100) Cat 651-B scrapers, allong with a large amount of support equipment. They had many large projects with large amounts of rental machines,sometimes running over 200 scrapers on all combined jobs. Paul Ebenstiener passed away in 2001 and his wife continued the company for a while. Stephen Passy & Assoc auctioneers bought all the equipment outright and sold off quite a few pieces in private sales. I saw a few machines on Sukut Jobs with Ebenstiner decals & Sukut Equipment numbers.The rest of the equipment was sold at auction in April 2004 & by that time they listed (46) 651B's at a Stephen Passy & assoc auction in Riverside CA. (I still have the color brochure)
Here is Pauls Obituarary:usa
Paul Ebensteiner, 69, wealthy engineering contractor and philanthropist who aided hospices. Ebensteiner, born in Cold Spring, Minn., served in the Marines during the Korean War. He earned a Bronze Star and Purple Heart for delivering supplies to front-line troops despite severe wounds from enemy fire and a land mine. Settling in Southern California after the war, he worked 20 years for contractor J.A. Thompson Co., rising to general manager. In 1971, Ebensteiner formed Ebensteiner Co., which prepared sites for several Southern California freeways, golf courses and the Getty Center, among other projects. He was named contractor of the year in 1999 by the Southern California Contractors Assn. Ebensteiner was a lifetime governor of the National Hospice Foundation, and worked extensively with the June Ebensteiner Hospice Foundation established by his wife in Calabasas. Ebensteiner was a major contributor to the building fund for the Catholic cathedral of Los Angeles. On Sunday in Los Angeles.
At thier peak Ebenstiner Co. had over One Hundred (100) Cat 651-B scrapers, allong with a large amount of support equipment. They had many large projects with large amounts of rental machines,sometimes running over 200 scrapers on all combined jobs. Paul Ebenstiener passed away in 2001 and his wife continued the company for a while. Stephen Passy & Assoc auctioneers bought all the equipment outright and sold off quite a few pieces in private sales. I saw a few machines on Sukut Jobs with Ebenstiner decals & Sukut Equipment numbers.The rest of the equipment was sold at auction in April 2004 & by that time they listed (46) 651B's at a Stephen Passy & assoc auction in Riverside CA. (I still have the color brochure)
Here is Pauls Obituarary:usa
Paul Ebensteiner, 69, wealthy engineering contractor and philanthropist who aided hospices. Ebensteiner, born in Cold Spring, Minn., served in the Marines during the Korean War. He earned a Bronze Star and Purple Heart for delivering supplies to front-line troops despite severe wounds from enemy fire and a land mine. Settling in Southern California after the war, he worked 20 years for contractor J.A. Thompson Co., rising to general manager. In 1971, Ebensteiner formed Ebensteiner Co., which prepared sites for several Southern California freeways, golf courses and the Getty Center, among other projects. He was named contractor of the year in 1999 by the Southern California Contractors Assn. Ebensteiner was a lifetime governor of the National Hospice Foundation, and worked extensively with the June Ebensteiner Hospice Foundation established by his wife in Calabasas. Ebensteiner was a major contributor to the building fund for the Catholic cathedral of Los Angeles. On Sunday in Los Angeles.
657bsplitter
Member
I had a partner name jimmy that worked for ebensteiner we worked for cobra before they went under he told me the dissapointing story that his wife was getting taken advantage of.
Hoppy
Member
You CA guys have it made!
Great thread with lots of terrific photos! Sure does make me jealous of you guys out in California though. I'm stuck here in boring old New Jersey and can't even remember the last time I saw a decent dirt moving job. There's very little in the way of open land around here and what there is will probably never be developed. About the only scraper action out here is when I stumble across an old 621 rotting away in the back of some guy's yard. Haven't gotten to see any pans in action for ten years or more, and never anything bigger than a '37. So please keep the great pictures coming, guys. And do your best to stay away from New Jersey!
Great thread with lots of terrific photos! Sure does make me jealous of you guys out in California though. I'm stuck here in boring old New Jersey and can't even remember the last time I saw a decent dirt moving job. There's very little in the way of open land around here and what there is will probably never be developed. About the only scraper action out here is when I stumble across an old 621 rotting away in the back of some guy's yard. Haven't gotten to see any pans in action for ten years or more, and never anything bigger than a '37. So please keep the great pictures coming, guys. And do your best to stay away from New Jersey!