Thompson Tractor Company held a three-day site prep demo at its Opelika, Ala., location on Nov. 8, 9 and 10. Representatives from Thompson Tractor were joined by representatives from MTS (Mobile Track Solutions) and Sitech South for a few days of hands-on site-prep "clinics".

Tim Kirchner of MTS said if you're getting paid by the material yard, the MTS machines that his company builds "are like having an ATM at your job site". Quick cycle time with incredible production is achieved with MTS machines, he added. One machine was set up for "short runs" and another for "long distance" and both can be pushed with up to a D10 sized machine. Pull scrapers are interchangeable from artic truck to tractor.

MTS is owned by the Moyna family, which also owns C.J. Moyna & Sons Construction based in Elkader, Iowa, and has been in business for 75 years. They move 10 to 12 million yards of material a year.

What makes MTS unique is that the products it sells through the Cat dealer network are the products it uses within its own company on a daily basis.

"It's not just a bunch of engineers drawing something up, we actually use these products for a living. Essentially, it was the earthmoving machines needed by the construction company that brought on the production of the quality earthmoving machines built by MTS," the company said.

Sitech South's Mike Henderson was part of the demo and said he was enjoying the opportunity to showcase the Sitech technology offerings.

Sitech South representatives came to the site before the demo days and were flying drones for scanning the site to gain topo map for making the design for the overall demo layout. During the days in which the demo was held, Sitech South periodically flew drones overhead to see the progress and to verify grade. Building the demo site was actually part of the overall experience and the whole site was operating off of a cell network. A base station was not necessary for this site and was there for back up only.

The Cat D3 dozer on the site was running Trimble Earthworks with components installed by Sitech South, working through the pre-installed Cat system in the cab. The components are virtually plug and play with a secondary screen in the cab and receivers on the top. Accuracy is achieved to less than a tenth of a foot. These products are now available for quick install through Sitech South.

Sitech South also had its communication vendor, CrewPlex, onsite. CrewPlex makes for better communication on the job site and has a wireless full duplex system, which, according to Dan Franklin, CrewPlex business development manager, "puts everyone on the job site in a scenario similar to a conference call where no one has to actually push a button to communicate with another team member. It's all very fluid and the technology actually eliminates the noise of the machinery. It's all about keeping everyone communicating properly and safely on the job site to ultimately increase productivity," said Franklin. CEG

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