Taking on difficult and unique projects is nothing new to DMD Services, out of Chicago. In this case, the company had to tackle the legendary Schwinn Bicycle Plant, which was slated for a complete demolition to make way for a new high school.

The job consisted of demolition of the main buildings and site prep for the new Kelvyn Park High School.

On the 7-acre (2.8 ha) site, crews had to remove 65,000 yds. (59,436 m) of steel, brick, concrete and contaminated soils.

DMD needed attachments that not only provided excellent productivity, it also wanted the flexibility to change attachments in a hurry to avoid expensive downtime and associated costs and headaches with driving pins out.

“We never could have been as profitable on this job by using conventional pin-on only attachments. We’ve used LaBounty attachments for years so we know what to expect from them productivity wise,” said Dominick Disilvio, DMD’s general manager.

“However, previously, we required several machines, each with a specific attachment mounted to them and an operator for each. Depending upon which phase of a job we were in, we may have had several instances where a machine and operator had to sit idle, waiting for another to finish a certain phase. In this business, idle time means additional cost. It used to take us a minimum of 15 to 30 minutes of back-breaking work using at least two guys to change out attachments, and that was if the conditions were perfect. With the new Rapid Tach-II system, it now only takes three to four minutes and we can do it with only one person,” he noted.

In February 2002, Rob Murray, LaBounty’s North Central regional manager, along with Bob beck, of Steve’s Equipment Service, approached DMD with a possible solution. In the past, LaBounty would not approve a coupler with most of its attachments due to the severe applications they were put under. However, with the advent of the Rapid Tach-II coupler, quick coupling LaBounty attachments is no longer a problem.

The proposal included two RT 100 couples, both with RT 100 mounting pads; a 160 HDR grapples; and a CP 100 concrete pulverizer. DMD accepted the proposal and the attachments were delivered in April 2002.

The LaBounty RT 100 coupler with the CP 100 concrete pulverizer was mounted on a 100,000-lb. (45,359 kg) excavator. DMD also used the 160 HDR grapple, along with several track and wheel loaders for the project.

“Over the course of the job, we saved huge amounts of downtime and moving expenses using the LaBounty Rapid Tach-II system. With operators costs at $30/hour, labor costs at $25/hour and trucking costs on a constant climb, it really starts adding up. We are extremely pleased with the whole set up,” Disilvio said.

For more information, call800/522-5059 or visit www.stanleyworks.com.

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