Remove stubborn stumps from a safe distance with the new SCL/RCU55 and SCL/RCU75 stump cutters for FAE’s remote-control tracked carriers. FAE says the new stump cutters bring added versatility to the dedicated forestry mulchers that are already capable of shredding branches and wood pieces up to 6 inches in diameter and grass and small shrubs up to 3 inches in diameter. Able to climb slopes up to 55 degrees, the SCL/RCU is ideal for removing stumps in forests and parks, on roadsides, by riverbanks or in agricultural settings. The operator can control the carrier from as far away as 500 feet wi ..read more

Sam Descutner has been operating vintage cable shovels since he was 8 years old. In eighth grade, he began his first restoration project, a 1960 Bucyrus Erie 22-B, which he finished at age 15. Now at 31, the mechanical engineer in McDonald, Pennsylvania, still maintains his love of vintage construction equipment as a hobby. He especially likes the friction cable cranes, the predecessors to the hydraulic excavator. “They have a neat feel to them,” he says. “They just sort of flow. I feel like every machine has its own rhythm, and once you're in that rhythm, you're not fighting the machine. You ..read more

Two years after relocating its headquarters from Deerfield, Illinois, to Irving, Texas, Caterpillar is expanding its presence in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. The Dallas Morning News reported on April 10 that the company plans to add 50,000 square feet of space to its offices at Williams Square. The company will renovate the sixth and seventh floors of the building, along with a partial floor, at a projected cost of $10 million. Work on the project is expected to start this month and conclude in May 2025, according to a Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation filing. The world’s largest con ..read more

A California construction company is facing proposed penalties totaling $371,100 following the death of one of its workers in a trench collapse. The fatal collapse occurred less than three weeks after the company had been cited for trenching violations on another job. Javier Romero, 24, of Alameda County was working in an 8-foot-deep trench in San Francisco on September 28 hand digging on a job to replace sewer parts, according to Cal/OSHA. An un-shored section of the trench underneath a sidewalk collapsed, burying Romero under sandy, granular dirt and concrete debris. There was shoring and sh ..read more

The used construction equipment market has experienced an unusual few years amid the Covid-induced manufacturing shutdowns, skyrocketing prices and interest rates, and now, rebounds in new equipment and rental fleet availability. More than 75,000 (75,214) pieces of used equipment were financed in the United States in 2023, according to Fusable’s latest EDA finance data, an 8.8% decline from the previous year (82,450). Meanwhile, new financed equipment sales saw a 2.7% increase in 2023. [Related Content: Best-Selling New Construction Equipment by State of 2023] Texas buyers were at the forefron ..read more

Unicontrol has teamed up with Level Best to offer an automatic grade control solution for grading attachments. The automatic grade control system supports six-way blade control and automatic side shift control. Unicontrol says the technology lets operators focus on maneuvering the machine while the 3D machine control handles the precision grading. [Watch: Unicontrol Offers Simple, Cost-Effective Machine Control for Small Contractors] “Teaming up with Unicontrol allows us to enhance the capabilities of our precision equipment,” said Bart Townsend, general manager of Level Best. “Integrated ..read more

A jury has ordered Caterpillar to pay $100 million to International Construction Products over a terminated agreement for direct online sales of Chinese construction equipment in the U.S. ICP sued Caterpillar in 2015 after IronPlanet terminated its agreement to set up a designated “storefront” on its website for sale of construction equipment at lower prices imported by ICP from China-based Lonking. ICP, based in North Carolina, claimed Caterpillar and some of its dealers pressured IronPlanet to kill the deal a month after the site went live in March 2014. Volvo Construction Equipment, Komatsu ..read more

The former owner of a Massachusetts construction company pleaded guilty to a tax scheme and making false statements at an Occupational Safety and Health Administration hearing. Mauricio Baiense is scheduled to be sentenced July 25 and faces a maximum of more than 45 years in federal prison. He was facing seven counts of willful failure to collect or pay over employment taxes, and individual counts of conspiring to defraud the United States, aiding and assisting in the preparation of a false tax return, and making a false statement at an OSHA hearing. As owner of Contract Framing Buil ..read more

Volvo Construction Equipment reported sales in the first quarter of 2024 were either negative or flat, depending on the region. Compared to the strong sales in Q1 2023, the company says market demand is softening, with lower deliveries and order intake in Europe and North America compensated only slightly by stronger performance in Asia. According to Volvo CE’s Q1 report, net sales dipped by 9% to $2.09 billion (22,877 M SEK) from $2.29 billion (25,109 M SEK) in 2023.  Compared with Q1, 2023, a negative brand and market mix was partly offset by price realization and lower material costs ..read more

The first thing you notice about Bob Dietz & Sons is bright red, shiny trucks and spotless yellow iron with no scratches or dents. As you delve deeper into the second-generation, family-owned excavation contractor in New Paltz, New York, you realize that the philosophy behind their gleaming jobsite presence guides every facet of the company – from the boots-on-the-ground laborer to the top leadership. It all boils down to one simple statement: “Our goal is to be above industry standards for everything.” Brian and Tony Dietz have carried forward that guiding principle learned from their fat ..read more