Wed May 18, 2022 - Northeast Edition #11 CEG

T & T Landscape and Masonry Inc. was founded in 2005 by Tim Kachnovich as a lawn care and soft landscaping service.

In 2021, Tim's son, Tyler, took over the company as president and in the ensuing years, the company has grown from its lawn care roots and expanded into hardscape: retaining walls, patios, walkways and other masonry projects.

Tim oversees the landscape and maintenance operations, and Tyler oversees masonry, hardscape, material sales and excavation projects. Winter weather finds the crews busy with snow removal for their customers, which are strictly commercial.

T & T Landscape and Masonry specializes in all phases of masonry construction (brick, block and stone) and hardscape construction (patios, walkways, retaining walls, fireplaces and outdoor living). The company also provides chimney construction, repair and cleaning, and all phases of excavation and trucking, including gas lines, drainage, loam and gravel work.

Over the past several years, T & T has made a significant investment in JCB equipment purchased from Alta Equipment Company, including skid steers, compact tract loaders and wheel loaders.

"We currently have four pieces of JCB equipment," said Tyler. "One of our most prized JCB machines is our JCB Teleskid. The extending boom is ideal for unloading pallets. With the boom feature of the Teleskid, reaching the last pallet is no longer a problem.

"The boom also gives us some grading flexibility that a traditional skid steer does not offer. Safety is very important to us and the visibility of the JCB is so dramatically better than any other machine we know that our operators are in a much better position to operate safely."

T & T also owns a JCB 260T track loader, a JCB 215 skid steer as well as a JCB 427 3-yd. 179 hp wheel loader. The wheel loader is used primarily as a snow removal machine for 30-acres of property at a hospital, which has zero tolerance for ice or snow areas. In the non-winter months, it is used for loading mulch at T & T's material yard.

"We have made quite an investment in JCB equipment, but when we invest in equipment, it's not really the brand name we are investing in; it's the dealership that sells the equipment. We've had a very good experience with Alta Equipment and that's why we stick with JCB.

"We are experts at what we do — hardscape and landscape. We are not experts at servicing and maintaining construction equipment, so we rely heavily on Alta Equipment to do that for us."

"With supply chain disruptions, getting almost anything—parts in particular—has been a real nightmare for everyone. But we have not really run into that with JCB and Alta Equipment. The people at Alta Equipment are great to work with. Our sales rep, Richard Loabe, has been a real asset. He is easy to get in touch with and keeps us well informed."

Another key part of T & T's relationship with Alta Equipment is matching the right attachments to its equipment—in particular the Arctic Sectional Sno-Pushers.

"So far, we have invested in three Arctics and have been very happy with them," Tyler said. "Because the Sno-Pushers are built in sections, they adjust to the contour of the surface that is being plowed. A traditional snow pusher will miss a lot of the surface and you have to go back and use a lot of salt and sand to compensate for the areas where the blade did not make contact with the asphalt or concrete surface. These are really top-quality snow pushers, and I would recommend them to anyone."

"Yes, they definitely cost more money, but we got that money back in the first year we used them. The fact that the snow pusher releases in sections when it hits a foreign object such as a curb or manhole can save us thousands of dollars in liability and property damages."

Accessibility and comfort are other key features T & T looks for: getting in and out the machine from a side door just makes a lot more sense than having to climb over a bucket in the front, Tyler added.

"What we appreciate the most about the JCB machines is the innovation — a skid steer with a telescoping boom and a side entry door. That's real innovation, and that's one of the reasons we started out with JCB in the first place. Innovation was the reason we purchased Arctic snow pushers from Alta Equipment. So, we appreciate that Alta Equipment represents companies that bring innovative new ideas to us."

Tyler also has been impressed with the operator comfort of the JCB machines, which he called "the most comfortable machines [he] has ever been in."

"Obviously, there is a learning curve adjusting to the controls of any new machine, but the learning curve was short.

"As a hardscape contractor we pay attention to quality. We choose quality over quantity, meaning we don't take on too many jobs. Taking care to know that we can handle the jobs that we do take. We go above and beyond on every single project we do to make sure our bases are solid and that our completed projects will last."

For more information visit www.tandtlawncare.org/ and www.altaequipment.com/.

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