Wylie Attributes Success to Willingness to Branch Out, Partnership With Ohio CAT
From a small landscaping business started 30 years ago by Tom Wylie, Wylie and Sons Landscaping, LLC has grown and evolved into a limestone quarry and trucking company supplying materials to construction sites within a 50 mi. (80.5 m) radius of its Perrysburg, Ohio operation.
With a current roster of 47 employees, the company attributes its growth in large part to Wylie’s willingness to branch into other, yet related business ventures while remaining dedicated to his core business and customers.
Early on, Wylie purchased dump trucks to deliver materials to his own jobs and soon found that the trucking aspect of his operations could be a lucrative business on its own. Over time, his fleet of dump trucks expanded and at one point numbered 100 trucks.
As his business grew, Wylie purchased a property for the business from which he could also quarry sand. Over time, the company became increasingly involved with selling sand and trucking other materials to road and commercial construction jobs. Eventually, changes to zoning laws at the company’s original location forced a move and Wylie purchased the 16 acre property where Wylie and Sons Landscaping is now located.
To help land contracts, the company opened a dump site for concrete and asphalt which in turn led to the startup of a recycling operation, producing materials for use in commercial site construction. The company’s relationship with Ohio CAT began when it first purchased a Screen Machine Industries portable track crusher and screening plant to recycle concrete. The company also purchased a Screen Machine Industries 612T trommel screen to process topsoil. Then, a few years ago, while stripping dirt at his facility for the ODOT I-475 project, Wylie recognized that the site would be ideal for a limestone quarry.
After a two year process to acquire all of the required permits for the quarry, Tom called in Ned Herald from Ohio CAT’s Con/Agg Division to analyze his needs and recommend the machines needed for the quarry. According to Wylie, based on his experience and relationship with Ohio CAT, the dealership was his first and ultimately only choice to properly equip the quarry.
Ohio CAT combines outstanding equipment backed by a sales and service team that is exceptionally responsive as well as easy access to Caterpillar Financial Services Corporation, all focused on helping his business, said Wylie.
In January, Ohio CAT delivered and set up an IROCK RDS-20 mobile crushing plant and an IROCK TS-522 TD (triple deck) heavy-duty screener along with several conveyors. The machines were initially set up on a demo basis, but after seeing the machines in action, Wylie was convinced that a purchase was his best option.
Key features of the IROCK RDS-20 and the IROCK TS522 TD that appealed to Wylie were the ease with which they could be moved and set up where needed, their ease of operation, and the machines’ production speeds and efficiency.
The IROCK RDS-20 features a 5- by 16-ft. (1.5 by 4.8 m), double-deck screen and can crush, screen and separate up to three different material sizes. Built with heavy-duty components, the closed circuit design and high-performance four-bar impactor can handle a variety of materials including quarry rock, demolition and recycled materials as well as base rock while producing consistently high quality product. The RDS-20 is powered by a 440-hp Caterpillar C-13 ACERT Tier III diesel engine and can crush, screen and separate up to three different sized materials at rates of up to 500 tons (453.5 t) per hour (TPH).
Employed at Wylie and Sons Landscaping, as part of the RDS-20 crusher circuit, IROCK’s TS-522 TD screener is capable of producing up to four finished products at the quarry.
The TS-522 TD features a 14-ft. (4.2 m)-wide hopper feeder rated at 12 cu. yds. (9.12 cu m) and is designed and built for high productivity. The screener is powered by a 129-hp Caterpillar C-4.4 diesel engine and processes materials at rates of up to 670 tph (608 t). The interchangeable decks include two 22 by 5-ft. (6.7 by 1.5 m) decks and a 20 by 5-ft. (6 by 1.5 m) bottom deck for a total screening area of 320 sq. ft. (30 sq m). To keep up with the machine’s production rate, hydraulically folding conveyors can stack materials at heights of 16 ft. 8 in. (5 m) on the sides and 16 ft. 2 in. (4.9 m) at the tail of the machine.
The installation by Ohio CAT and IROCK, the Ohio-based manufacturer, went very smoothly according to Wylie. With Ohio CAT’s Ned Herald and Service Specialist, Kyle Bodkin, reviewing operations and procedures, Wylie was able to start producing materials in a short period of time.
Since the January install, Wylie and Sons Landscaping’s team of Quarry Operators, consisting of Tom’s son, Nick Wylie, Jarrod Mandly and Quarry Supervisor, Darris Sherman, have been busy producing approximately 20,000 tons (18,143.7 t) of #6, #304, #4 and #8 limestone.
According to Wylie, the operation at this point is meeting and even exceeding his expectations, and he’s already seeing strong demand for his product. With the company’s fleet of 40 trucks, Wylie and Sons Excavating enjoys the unique advantage of not only being able to make and sell a variety of products but also being able to reliably deliver materials to its customers.
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