Some construction companies strive to offer a wide variety of services to their customers. Others prefer to specialize. Southern Clearing Inc. of Charlotte, NC, is a niche company that cuts a broad swath in the right of way clearing business because of the cutter system it uses on its excavators.

“We work all over the Southeast,” said David Bonheimer, owner and former salesman with JW Burress Inc.

“Water, sewer, natural gas, electric power — that’s our kind of specialty, whether it’s alongside the road or out in the woods. Our jobs range from two days to two months,” he said.

Forsaking tub grinders, Southern Clearing equips its excavators with Shinn’s SC-Lite Systems. The Shinn factory in Salisbury, NC, custom-modifies the units with a special rotary cutting head that uses replaceable teeth. An auxiliary diesel engine and hydraulic pump are mounted in place of the counterweight. The whole system is controlled by a pistol-grip joystick mounted in the cab.

The result is an aggressive, one-person tree-grinding operation. The 48-in. (122 cm) cutting head mounted on the Zaxis 200 is placed against a standing tree. A slight downward pressure shears the tree in half and then grinds it from top to bottom, leaving nothing but chips. It can clear between 1 to 2 acres (.4 ha to .8 ha) of woods a day and can be used to grind piled stumps and debris. The Zaxis 200 is easy to transport and nimble in the woods as well as in wet or rocky areas.

“My equipment philosophy is simple,” explained Bonheimer. “Run high-production, late-model machines to minimize equipment downtime and to keep a competitive edge in productivity. The beauty of our system lies in the reduced manpower and simplified field logistics. It’s done a real good job for us.”

Southern Clearing Inc. is serviced by J.W. Burress Inc., Charlotte, NC.

(This article appears courtesy of “BreakOut.”)

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