Ben Flynn and Rick Weemhoff were working for a contractor when they decided to take a chance and branch out on their own. Together they started Deer Creek Excavating in Belleville, Ohio.
Within five years, the pair has built an impressive fleet, primarily consisting of Cat equipment. At the beginning of their venture, Flynn and Weemhoff emphasized residential work but, with an eye toward maximizing their opportunities, they changed their focus so that 90 percent of their work is now in the commercial field. Deer Creek also performs small-to-large site packages, which include earthwork and utilities.
While they don’t rule out traveling outside of their local area, Flynn and Weemhoff mostly work around Mansfield, Ohio. This keeps them busy enough to require a crew of 31 employees.
To complement their excavating and demolition business, Flynn and Weemhoff also are involved with trucking and a slinger service. And last year, a job they were doing and the equipment they needed for it inspired them to collaborate on another business.
IROCK RDS-15
Last summer while doing excavating work for Gorman Rupp just north of Mansfield, Flynn and Weemhoff found a runway buried under the excavation site. The runway needed to be removed and Flynn and Weemhoff felt that if they had a crusher, they could produce a usable product with the material they removed from the site.
They already had a strong relationship with Ohio CAT’s Con/Agg Division (Ohio CAT), so calling on them for their crusher needs was an obvious choice. Ohio CAT Con/Agg division has a complete line of crushing and screening equipment.
At the time, their interest was in renting a machine to tackle the job at hand. What they were looking for was a closed circuit machine that was easy to transport and set up.
Ohio CAT had an IROCK RDS-15 that fit the bill perfectly. The RDS-15 combines versatility and power in a compact crushing and screening system that was immediately attractive to Flynn and Weemhoff. The machine is capable of handling a wide range of materials from quarry rock, demolition debris and recyclable materials with production rates up to 350 tph. (317.5 t).
When they completed the job for Gorman Rupp, they moved the IROCK RDS-15 to a location south of Mansfield to do a job for Cement Products. Weemhoff was impressed that an operator could set the machine up and be ready to start work in a day.
According to Ohio CAT aggregate division sales representative, Ned Herald, the long-standing relationship between Deer Creek Excavating and Ohio CAT provided a level of understanding that enabled Ohio CAT to perfectly match Deer Creek’s needs with the right equipment for the job.
Both Flynn and Weemhoff agree that the machine’s mobility and dependability were the two big factors that convinced them that the IROCK RDS-15 was the machine they wanted. Their experience with Ohio CAT’s strong record of product support made the decision to buy it that much easier.
Expanding Horizons
Flynn and Weemhoff’s recent experience with the IROCK RDS-15 at those two job sites, convinced the men to purchase a six-acre property in Mansfield that had a stockpile of material from local contractors to be recycled. They started up another business, Buckeye Crushing.
The property will be set up as Buckeye Crushing’s processing and recycling center. The facility will employ three full-time employees. Flynn and Weemhoff plan to add a set of scales and will process 304 materials and No. 2’s for sale.
The property is bordered by a railroad line so they plan to bring in limestone by rail for processing as well.
For more information, visit www.irockcrushers.com.
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