Rock Products recently caught up with Montabert General Manger Aaron Scarfia and Senior Buyer/Planner Chelsi Langa to talk AGG1, breakers and more.
RP: How was the AGG1 experience for Montabert this year?
Chelsi Langa: I thought it was pretty good. I think we had a good turnout and we had a lot of people who were interested in the demolition tools and attachments that we are now going to be offering along with the Lehnhoff couplers, so I think there was definitely a lot of generated interest there between those two points
RP: What percentage of the people stopping at the booth were from the aggregates industry versus demolition or construction?
Langa: Definitely aggregates, but also demolition and a lot of construction. I know Aaron talked to a number of people, so he might have some different points of view on that
Aaron Scarfia: I was actually surprised how many people were interested in the pulverizer for demolition that we brought to the show. Many aggregate producers who were attending the show actually have their own processing facilities: recycling facilities where they require a pulverizer or some sort of demolition attachments.
RP: What was the primary tool you were showing at AGG1?
Scarfia: We always show our breakers, as many quarries have breakers and booms to break up oversize when it gets stuck in their crusher. It is important to note the partnership between Tramac and and Montabert, we really wanted to highlight that, plus the fact that a Tramac boom comes with a Montabert breaker. Also you could put a Lehnhoff coupler on it and you could then put a sorting grapple, a pulverizer – there are so many ways you can use these tools. The versatility is amazing and I think operations really value the ability to turn on a dime and do something else, and do it quickly, as we all know time is money.
RP: Regarding the people you talked to at the booth, was there a lot of tire-kicking or were people actively telling you they were at the show to buy?
Langa: There was a little bit of both. There was one gentleman that was super interested in the pulverizer and he came back at least three times asking different questions and getting different specs.
RP: Were the people that you talked to equipped at their operation with the proper heavy iron to accommodate your breakers or pulverizers?
Scarfia: Most of the attendees that I was part of the conversation with were planning on using existing equipment and wanting to match something up to what they already had in use. We do occasionally talk to some customers who want to get more innovative and maybe use more attachments, but their excavator is just a bucket machine. In that case obviously entry level cost would be a bit higher.
RP: Can a producer put your attachments on just about any machine?
Scarfia: We can put our couplers and attachments on pretty much anything. If an excavator is old and the oil less than ideal, or contaminated, it’s a simple oil change but as long as the fluid stays clean we can put any coupler or attachment on any excavator. A lot of customers have told us, “I like to put breakers on my older equipment with high hours because breakers are hard on excavators.” One of our approaches is to educate them that Montabert Breakers are not hard on excavators, we’re fully suspended and we have a pressure absorption within the breaker itself so the percussion going up into the boom is very limited. We are actually starting to shift the thinking of some of these potential customers and they’re starting to put our breakers on new machines.
RP: What is the next step for Montabert in terms of promotion for your products?
Scarfia: At AGG1 we launched our low-cost quarry maintenance program so we’re heavily promoting that in the market right now with dealer involvement but also our new rebuild facility in Nashville, Ind. We feel like we’re well equipped to help end users be proactive in scheduling their maintenance. All of our breakers come with telematics so we can reach out to customers and tell them when it’s becoming time – they have enough percussion hours on a tool – to start thinking about a reseal and really driving home that this breaker is going to last for years and years if they do the regularly scheduled maintenance.
For more information go to www.montabert.com.
Montabert General Manger Aaron Scarfia at ConExpo-Con/Agg 2023.