Retrofit hydroexcavation units garner lots of attention from overseas attendees.
BOXR representatives didn’t know what to expect as first-time exhibitors at the Pumper & Cleaner Environmental Expo International in February, but by the end of the show, they were pleased with the response.
“A majority of the people we’ve been speaking with are actually from overseas,” says Mike Muldowney, vice president of engineering for BOXR Mfg. Inc. “They’re interested in units that can be produced here, but mounted on trucks over there.”
BOXR manufactures ready-to-mount hydroexcavation units that are “designed and constructed by operators for operators,” according to Muldowney, whose father started the company in the 1980s. BOXR was displaying one of their ready-to-mount hydroexcavation units at the show this year – a unit that can carry 1,000 gallons of freshwater and has a 10-cubic-yard debris tank.
“We’ve spent so much time digging the holes ourselves, we know what we like and want in a machine and we started there with our basic specifications,” Muldowney says. “You walk around and you see machines covered in all kinds of tool boxes and do-dads and hose reels and heaters and glove warmers and boot dryers and all kinds of other stuff, but we know it’s not stuff you need to get a hole dug. This is where you start, this is the shovel, the rest of that is the automated stuff.”
The unit on display has several components to it, including a Roots 827 Blower, which has 4,200 cfm with 16 inches of vacuum. “It isn’t as much vacuum or cfm as some of the other companies are touting, but it’s what we know works for the job,” Muldowney says. “Sometimes you can have too much. If you’re trying to attach trim in your house with a sledgehammer, it’s going to go through the wall; it’s the same with these machines.”
On the water side, the unit has another industry standard, a CAT 3560 water pump. Muldowney says going with the CAT 3560 was a given. “We run a full hydrostatic drive on both our water and vacuum side that enables us to run more efficiently,” Muldowney says. “If you don’t need all that water flow or pressure, you don’t need to turn it on.”
Muldowney adds that BOXR units all use Danfoss hydraulics. “It’s a widely recognized product. They’re all over the globe, so support is never far away, but we also offer support for all of our customers, too.”
Besides the 10-yard, 1,000-gallon unit on display, BOXR also manufactures a 15-yard, 1,500-gallon unit; a 20-yard, 2,000-gallon unit; and can do a 5-yard, 500-gallon unit if asked. “When someone brings a cab-chassis to the table, we put in the transfer case, install the pumps, put the unit on, tie it down, hook up all the hosing and away they go,” Muldowney says.
BOXR put out its first prototype ready-to-mount hydroexcavation unit 10 years ago after making the move from a service company to a manufacturer. “We saw the need for us in the supply industry, so we decided to make a go of it,” Muldowney says. “We put out the first prototype and it went straight to Utah and then we did a few more. Then there was a little belly in the market and we weathered through that and refined our design a little and came on strong again two years ago.”
Muldowney says the Expo was an eye-opener for both him and his father, Pat. “You come to a show like this thinking one thing, and you start thinking of another,” he says. “We’ve had a lot of interest in a potential roll-off unit, a lot of interest in a more condensed unit that can fit in a container ship to go overseas because those are far easier to ship than an exposed unit. We’d love to get in all those markets. This show has opened our eyes to a number of things.”
Muldowney says his family’s company plans to exhibit at the show again in 2015, which will be its first year as the Water & Wastewater Equipment, Treatment & Transport (WWETT) show in Indianapolis. 877-553-0399; www.boxr.ca.
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