Stories from the Job Site

“I arrived at the borrowed machine with a half a case of ether, prepared to fight with the Deere. But when she started right up, I was astounded! A few days later, I got stuck in a ditch. Here I was stranded in a loader with rock tires and no chains, and I started wondering whom to call…tow truck? Helicopter? Then, I threw the 644 into reverse, and it leapt out of that icy ditch. At that moment, I promised myself to only run Deere loaders. Right now we own five and rent three. In my line of work, I find them to be indispensable tools.”

…And the temperature at the airport is -18º F so Tabb takes us to chill at Ted Stevens International Airport, the busiest cargo hub in the U.S. and the second busiest in the world. Tabb is responsible for keeping the tarmac clear of pesky flakes so a major shipping company can move some 5,000 packages per hour in and out of their facility.  “I’m responsible for keeping two million- square feet of tarmac free of snow,” explains Tabb. “If we delay a cargo plane one minute, we’ll be fined $10,000. But I have complete faith in my fleet — specially the Deere loaders.”

Helping a brother out. Tabb introduces us to his brother, mechanic and operator Todd Thoms, a Deere fan from way back. “I used to run and maintain this brand for the State of Alaska. They’re way easier and more comfortable to operate than a Cat. Plowing snow, you’ll run a machine 30 hours straight. With the controls on the Deere, I can do that with no problem, where a Cat will wear me out in 18 hours. And, the Deere's fuel economy is twice as good.  I’ll go 18 hours without refueling a Deere, where the Cat drinks up 60 gallons in 8 hours.” 

Todd continues talking up the machines in such a captivating way, we almost forget our noses are frozen. “The auto brake is great…every vehicle on this tarmac is chocked so they can’t roll into a plane. Everything, that is, except our loaders. Shut them off and the parking brake kicks in…an essential safety feature.”

 Not to be outdone, Tabb talks visibility. “The J-Series’ new lighting package is impressive — 6 lights up front is perfect! In the dead of an Alaskan winter when you only have a few hours of sunlight, those lights keep us rolling. We used to pay the dealer to add lights, but now we don’t have to.”

Tabb’s fabs. All Alaska Snow Removal’s buckets are fabricated by Tabb and brother Todd, and are 20 feet long instead of the customary 10. “The loaders handle these big buckets full of snow with ease,” says Todd. “Our old Cats needed a running start at the pile, but the Deere will plow right in — the low-end torque is amazing."

 Tabb likes the Js’ controls. “They’re so easy to operate, it makes it easy to turn a new operator into a great operator. Other loaders like the Volvo, for instance, have three separate levers that the Deere incorporates into one single pilot control. You shift and move the loader and boom without changing sticks. We also move these machines down airport access roads, and that ride control is sweet. You can cruise at 25 mph, and it handles the bumps nicely.” 

So the next winter day a big brown truck pulls up right on schedule, you can thank the shipping company and Alaska Snow Removal for keeping it moving come sleet, snow, or dark of night.

Tom and Harold Stobbe are big fans of John Deere loaders. “Visibility is one of the key things we look for when purchasing equipment,” says Tom, now owner of the business. He explains that 360-degree visibility is an important safety issue as machines operate around one another. He also talks about the importance of the operators being able to easily see the forks as they move and place raw materials and finished product.

Not a blast. The company uses no explosives during the quarrying process to yield the highest quality product. It recently added a John Deere 844J to its fleet and uses it to extract slabs from its Owen Sound quarry.  “The rock was formed in layers,” says Tom Stobbe. “There are veins or cracks in the rock. We use the loader’s forks to penetrate these cracks and break out slabs of rock.” He goes on to explain that often the operators must ram the forks into the cracks several times to get enough penetration to break out the material. “This is very hard on equipment,” he says. “The John Deere stands up real well.”

The right choice. Ledgerock has several brands of loaders in its fleet. “Now we have standardized on Deere and Cat,” says Stobbe. “We won’t deal with any that can’t provide product support.”  “Most of our operators prefer the John Deere machines,” he says as he goes on to tell about one of his operators who, when offered a new Cat loader, chose to keep his older John Deere. “The Deere loaders are nicer to operate,” he says. “They are operator friendly, smooth to run.”  “Smooth to run” is important when spending ten hours a day in the seat of a loader. The 844J’s unique PowerShift™ torque-converter transmission continuously evaluates speed and load conditions, and adjusts clutch-pack engagement to suit the application. Smooth shifts on the quarry floor, particularly when carrying large slabs of rock, increase production noticeably. Ride control is another option on Ledgerock’s 844J that smoothes out the ride. This feature cushions the loader cylinders, dampening the effect that rough surfaces can have on the stability of the ride.

What an honor. Quality products catch the attention of quality suppliers. Just as John Deere loaders caught Tom Stobbe’s attention, his products have caught he attention of quality builders and architects. The Building Stone Institute’s prestigious Tucker Design Award recognizes those who achieve excellence in concept, design, construction, and the use of natural stone. In May of 2006 his firm of Hariri Pontarini Architects won the Tucker Design Award of the Art Collectors’ Residence in Toronto, Ontario. You guessed it…they were using stone produced by Owen Sound Ledgerock. We congratulate Owen Sound Ledgerock for their wise choice in loaders and for the quality products they produce.

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