EARTHWORKS GRADING & CONCRETE - TEC Tractor Times

Komatsu machines help Bullard stay on schedule
. . . continued
James Bullard,
Safety Coordinator
and Dispatcher
Teddy Watts,
Superintendent
TEC Sales Representative Grant
Adams (left) and Montgomery
Branch Manager Joe Patton
(right) meet with Bullard
Excavating’s Don Bullard.
A D65 dozer was the first
piece of Komatsu equipment
Bullard Excavating purchased
in the late 1970s. Since then,
the company has continued
to add more Komatsu pieces,
including this D65PX, used
to push dirt on the County
Road 4 project.
The Bullards also give their Komatsu
equipment rave reviews. Bullard Excavating
has been sold on Komatsu since the late 1970s,
when it purchased one of the first D65 dozers in
southern Alabama. More recently, the Bullards
have worked with Tractor & Equipment
Company Sales Representative Grant Adams and
V.P./Sales Manager - South AL & FL Chuck Tullos
to acquire additional dozers as well as excavators,
wheel loaders and articulated dump trucks.
“That first D65 was fantastic, and we’ve
increasingly bought Komatsu equipment
because it’s durable,” said Don, who employs
a WA450-6 wheel loader to charge the hopper
at the Opp plant and a WA480-5 for the same
task at the River Falls plant. “If a loader goes
down at one of those places, it could hold up 20
or more trucks that need to get material to a job.
That’s a lot of lost time. We used to keep a spare
loader around. Since we started using Komatsu,
we don’t need the spare because we are
confident they’re not going to cost us significant
downtime.”
To move dirt quickly on the County
Road 4 job, Bullard Excavating turned to
its HM300 dump truck, which was loaded
by two PC300LC-7 excavators. A Komatsu
D65PX dozer put the material in place. The
company also owns a PC138USLC-3 and a
PC228USLC-3 excavator and a D41PX dozer.
“The trucks and excavators kept up the
pace very well and are a good match for
each other,” Don observed. “We were able to
move a lot of dirt fairly quickly, even in some
adverse conditions. Both the excavators and
trucks maintained their power through each
cycle and were fuel-efficient. That’s extremely
important right now with fuel prices so high.
“We’ve found the same attributes in the
PC138 and PC228,” he continued. “In addition,
with the short tail swing, they’re very valuable
on highway jobs and other places where space
is tight. We don’t have to worry about the
counterweight swinging into traffic. They have
a lot of power for their size.”
The Bullards credit TEC’s service as
another reason they’ve stayed with Komatsu
equipment. “Dealer support is critical, no
matter how good the equipment is,” Eva
emphasized. “If we ever need anything, all
we have to do is call Chuck, Grant or Joe and
we know they will meet that need. That’s why
we’ve been loyal to TEC. When a company
stands beside us, we’ll stand beside them.”
Keeping their word
Bullard Excavating has also been standing
by its own work for nearly 50 years, and the
Bullard family said that tradition will continue
into the future. However, they’re not planning
to continue growing at a rapid rate.
“We’re about the size I want the business
to be,” Don commented. “It’s grown to a
point where it’s still manageable and we can
take care of our work and our customers. I’m
confident that when I tell a customer we’re
going to do a job, we’ll be there when we
say we will. If we grow more, we may lose
that personal touch, and I don’t want that
to happen. Keeping our word is much more
important to me than growth.” n