Equipment report

Epiroc opening new service center for Northeast customers

Epiroc, a manufacturer of mining and infrastructure equipment based in Broomfield, Colorado, is opening a new regional service center to support customers in the Northeast region of the U.S. The center, located in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, will be up and running by Oct. 15, the company says.

Epiroc says the new regional service center is part of its commitment to becoming a stronger customer partner. The center will feature a state-of-the-art service shop for Epiroc mining and construction equipment, and it will serve as a home base for field service technicians. Staff at the center will also be available to support customers and provide additional local resources, the company says.

“We are committed to being a partner for our customers, not just a manufacturer,” says Jon Torpy, general manager and president of Epiroc USA LLC. “We look forward to improving and expanding our service support offerings to our valued customers in the Northeast region.”

Until the new regional service center in Harrisburg is fully operational later in the year, existing service centers will continue to support customers in the region. Some functions from those service centers will begin to transfer to Harrisburg over the coming months, the company says.

In addition to the new service center, Epiroc is further investing in its local distribution center in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. The location currently houses Epiroc rock drilling tools and is now expected to stock a robust inventory of spare parts by the end of 2019. The additional in-stock parts will enhance support for customers in the region by allowing them faster access and reduced equipment downtime.

Metso completes acquisition of McCloskey International

Metso Corp., Helsinki, has announced that its acquisition of McCloskey International, a mobile crushing and screening equipment manufacturer based in Ontario, has been successfully completed. With this acquisition, Metso says it expands its offering in the aggregates industry globally and strengthens its customer reach, specifically in the general contractor segment. The acquisition was completed on Oct. 1.

“This acquisition is an excellent strategic fit for Metso because it strengthens our aggregates business and balances our traditionally mining-focused minerals portfolio. With McCloskey as part of Metso, we are also able to better take part in the attractive long-term growth of the mobile equipment market within the aggregates industry,” says Pekka Vauramo, president and CEO of Metso.

“This acquisition expands our offering to new customer segments and application areas. McCloskey’s capabilities and technical solutions strengthen our ability to address diverse customer needs through complementary channels and offerings. We are confident that McCloskey will align well with Metso, and we are excited to welcome new colleagues to the Metso family,” says Markku Simula, president of the aggregates equipment business area of Metso.

The acquisition was announced in June 2019. The acquisition was funded, as previously announced, by a term loan of approximately $330 million. McCloskey will be reported in Metso’s minerals segment as of the fourth financial quarter of 2019.

Genesis Attachments promotes North American sales director

Genesis Attachments, Superior, Wisconsin, has announced that Justin Palvere has been promoted to North American sales director at the company. In this role, Palvere will manage sales and channel strategy, as well as the Genesis regional managers and sales territories in the U.S. and Canada.

Genesis Attachments reports that Palvere began his career with the company in manufacturing 12 years ago and has since held positions that include Southeast regional sales manager, Midwest regional sales manager and, most recently, national account manager for demolition.

Genesis Attachments, an NPK Company, is a global designer and manufacturer of shears, grapples, concrete processors and specialty attachments for scrap processing, demolition, material handling and offshore decommissioning industries.

Morbark acquired by Alamo Group Inc.

Stellex Capital Management, a middle-market private equity firm with offices in New York and London, has announced it has entered into an agreement to sell Morbark LLC to Seguin, Texas-based Alamo Group Inc. for $352 million.

Founded in 1957 and based in Winn, Michigan, with subsidiary operations in Wooster, Ohio, and Roxton Falls, Québec, Morbark has been a manufacturer of equipment and aftermarket parts for forestry, tree maintenance, biomass, land management and recycling applications for more than six decades. Morbark’s family of companies manufactures mobile equipment and aftermarket parts used for clearing, grinding/chipping and converting trees, wood and related organic waste in maintenance and recycling applications. The company and its affiliate brands produce a full line of brush chippers, stump cutters, mini skid steers, forestry mulchers, aerial trimmers, whole tree and biomass chippers, flails, horizontal and tub grinders, sawmill equipment, material handling systems and mulcher head attachments for excavators, backhoes and skid steers.

“Our investment in Morbark demonstrates our ability to rapidly transform family-run industrial equipment businesses into best-in-class providers within their industry,” says David Waxman, the managing director at Stellex Capital. “We would like to thank the Morbark team for their strategic vision, dedication and execution over these past 3 1/2 years. We are very proud to have worked alongside them transforming Morbark into a leading provider of mobile industrial equipment and believe the company is well-positioned to continue to capitalize on the strong market tailwinds within biomass recycling and tree care maintenance.”

Since Stellex’s acquisition in 2016, Morbark has increased its headcount by over 200 employees, revenue has nearly doubled and EBITDA has increased over 200 percent, the company says. Morbark also completed two recent add-on acquisitions. In October 2017, Morbark acquired Rayco Manufacturing, a Wooster-based manufacturer of stump cutters, crawler trucks, forestry mulchers, multi-tool carriers, brush chipper and aerial trimmers. In December 2018, Morbark acquired Denis Cimaf, a Roxton Falls-based manufacturer of industrial brush cutters and mulchers.

Rotochopper hosts 9th annual Demo Day event

Rotochopper hosted over 200 customers and prospects from around the world Sept. 19 at its ninth annual Demo Day event at the company’s headquarters in St. Martin, Minnesota. The event, organized around the theme “Partnership Through Innovation,” included machine demos, factory tours and networking.

The day began with tours of Rotochopper’s manufacturing facility, providing attendees with the opportunity to see the process behind the manufacturing of grinders, including cutting, final inspection and testing. The facility tours provided guests the opportunity to meet the on-site teams who design, build and support their Rotochopper equipment.

Rotochopper President and CEO Tosh Brinkerhoff made opening remarks and announced a new partnership between Rotochopper and Lindner Recycling, based in Austria, to sell and service low-speed, high-torque shredders.

The demonstrations kicked off with Rotochopper’s B-66 L-Series track and dolly grinder, demonstrating the versatility of the Rotochopper Gen II Track & Dolly system. Once tracked to the demo location, the B-66 L-Series grinder worked through green waste, logs, cutoffs and brush with ease, Rotochopper says.

The FP-66 B-Series grinder, enhanced with new features and design updates, demonstrated its use for those who need a full-feature grinder for high volume, mid-horsepower applications.

The afternoon was filled with additional demos and educational sessions on RotoLink, a remote monitoring system that brings technology and predictive maintenance to Rotochopper’s grinders to improve performance and reduce downtime.

The 75DK shredder from Lindner and the MC-266 horizontal grinder took the stage mid-afternoon, turning stumps and mixed construction and demolition (C&D) into coarse fiber. The day ended with a grind-off between the B-66L and FP-66.