Tracks and Treads - Finning Canada

a little tLc today could help put
the sparkle back in your scraper
and avoid a world of pain
Story by KaThERINE FawcETT
photogrAphy by KELLy REdINGER
MIX IT UP: Terry Mix, left, and Robert Knoll
check out Mixcor’s 980G before they get the
day’s work underway
E
veryone at work knows that if you drive Robert
knoll’s 980G loader, or his new 980H, you’d better
use the boot-cleaning brush mounted to the steps of the
ladder before you get in. and don’t forget to sweep it out
when you’re done. You could almost eat off the floor of his
machines. “Not that I’d want to,” jokes the veteran operator.
“But you could.”
Meticulous about the care and maintenance of all the equipment
he uses, the cat 980G has been knoll’s baby since the winter
of 1996. “Baby” recently celebrated 25,000 hours of use, loading
pit run and crushed gravel into trucks. that’s almost three full years
worth of hours – a mighty feat, even for a cat.
knoll has been a loader-operator with Leduc-based Mixcor aggregates
Inc., a second-generation aggregate sand and gravel company,
for 17 years. Mixcor supplies materials for roads and commercial developments
in edmonton and throughout central alberta. the family-run
company recently wrapped up a large project that involved
providing half a million tons of gravel for the expansion of the edmonton
International airport.
Mixcor president terry Mix says that guys like knoll – conscientious
and detail-oriented – allow the company to get the most out of
its machines and finish its jobs on time and without incident.
“He’s very observant,” says Mix. “He’ll notice if you touch a tire.
robert has the reputation of being the fussiest, keeping the cleanest
loader and accurately loading the most material in a day.”
www.finning.ca Fall 2008 • tracks & treads 23