Many people think of hydroseeding technology as being a fairly recent development, but Norman Gray II is happy to tell you differently. The 67-year-old from Medfield, MA, runs Transit Seeding Inc., a hydroseeding company that was started by his father, Norman Gray I, in 1950, and incorporated in 1951. Today Norman Gray III is also active in the family business.
“My father had a small business shop called Gray Engineering, and in that facility he built two hydroseeding machines, including his first one in 1950,” recalls Norman Gray II. “Both machines were 1,000-gallon models, and they were the first hydroseeding machines we used. They were in service until 1965 when we acquired our first Bowie machine, a 1,500-gallon unit powered by a Ford six-cylinder engine.”
For Norman Gray II, the hydroseeding business is in his blood, and despite going off to college to earn a degree in engineering and then working for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in highway and bridge construction, he couldn’t stay away from what he grew up with. “I have been around this business for a very long time,” notes Gray. “I remember my father discussing his business opportunities at the dinner table when I was very young, and then I started helping out in the business during the summer and after school when I was about 15 years old. One of the projects we worked on was the Pease Air Force Base in Newington, NH. I remember mowing the grass along the airstrip the day before they opened the base and having the Thunderbirds fly overhead.”
Transit Seeding worked on a number of air force bases and other government contracts, and still does government work today. In addition, the company bids on private work such as residential lawns for large homes, soccer and football fields, and landfills. “Until 1982, we did a full spectrum of landscaping services. But in 1981, determining the future of the business fell to me and it was my task to move forward, so I decided to specialize in hydroseeding and dropped the labor-intensive type work,” says Norman Gray II. “People said “˜How are you going to get by doing only hydroseeding?’ but after three or four years, we developed a tremendously loyal following and never looked back. I feel you need to specialize in one thing and do it well.”
Transit Seeding looks at its equipment in the same way, and that first Bowie hydroseeding unit the company purchased in 1965 proved to be the start of a long tradition. Transit Seeding still runs Bowie equipment and today has one machine, a 3000 Imperial, which has a capacity of 3,000 gallons. “We have operated two at the same time in the past, but for our small corner of the world, we find one machine is enough,” notes Norman Gray II. “We like how the Bowie machine is configured for filling, drafting water, and for storage. We can load enough materials on the machine to do five or six acres, and we can do up to 10 acres a day if everything is clicking just right. About five years ago we did a 60-acre job at Logan Airport in Boston, so we just parked a trailer at the airport and loaded up the supplies we needed for several hours. When we ran out, we would go back to the trailer and load the machine up again. Because we could carry so much product, we did the job in just five days.”
On the other side of the country, Ron Dietz also likes his Bowie hydroseeding equipment. Dietz is the president of Dietz Hydroseeding Co., a Sylmar, CA-based company that has been in business since 1979. Dietz specializes in hydroseeding and works primarily in California. The company runs up to four crews at one time with two or three employees on each crew. They complete a lot of habitat restoration work and do projects for Caltrans (the California Department of Transportation) and for the federal government.
Dietz runs primarily Bowie Industries’ 3000 model Hydro-Mulchers and has one 1100 model, but he stresses that for his projects he needs to have the machines customized, even if it takes two to six months for delivery. “When we need a new machine, we sit down with the engineers at Bowie and we specify what we want. We add extra pumps and we reposition items on the machine so that we can maximize productivity in our market. Bowie doesn’t even start production on our machines until they get the exact specifications. Their out-of-the-box products are excellent machines, but we look at it like buying a new car or truck. You can pick one out on the lot that might be close to what you want and drive it home the same day, or you can order one from the factory and you may have to wait a couple of months for it, but you will get exactly what you want.”
Jay Selby also works with his favorite manufacturer, Finn Corporation, to get what he wants in a machine. Selby, who owns Selby’s Soil Erosion Control Co. in Newcastle, CA-just north of Sacramento-has nine hydroseeding units and six straw blowers, mainly from Finn. “We have one of the big bale straw blowers from Finn,” explains Selby, who took over the company from his father, Jay Sr., nine years ago. “The bigger bales are predominantly seen on the West Coast, and Finn is in the East, so we phoned them up and said “˜Why don’t you make us your research and development people for this product?’ Now we are looking at ways to make the machine self-loading, as the bales weigh 1,000 pounds each and right now we need a forklift to load them. We want to find a way to make the machine self-loading so that we don’t have to have the strawblower and a forklift on the work site. That will mean less manpower, which will save us money.”
In addition to having input into the machine design, Selby also likes to run Finn equipment because it allows him to keep a smaller parts inventory on hand. “Many of the parts from Finn are universal from one of their machines to another,” notes Selby. “That means we can carry fewer parts and have less capital tied up in parts.”
The mixing capabilities and the productivity of the equipment are also important in Selby’s choice. “For our projects, we have to put a lot of material into the tank, and we feel that the Finn machines can handle this. They spray further than any of the other equipment we have, yet the machine isn’t bulky or oversized. It’s actually a very sleek design that mounts on a truck, and they have made the best use of the space by putting everything in the right place. “
As for maintenance, Selby says the Finn model is easy to work on and maintenance can be performed by his two on-staff mechanics. Selby employs 20 to 35 people in the business, depending on the time of year, and works on projects all over northern California. Right now the company is working on an 800-acre revegetation and erosion control job for a high-end housing project in San Ramon, CA. “This project has two major streams running through it, so from an environmental perspective, it has become a real showcase for us,” says Selby. “I find the environmental part of the business is very rewarding. Here in California, the storm drains go right into the ocean, so we feel that we are doing what we can to protect our oceans, while allowing development to continue.”
Heikes Farms Inc. is also a family-run business, which today is operated by Bruce Heikes of Lakeville, MN, just outside the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul. Heikes specializes in erosion control seeding and uses strawblowers extensively. “We run all Haybusters from DuraTech Industries in North Dakota,” explains Heikes. “We have two of the newer 2100 series models, and two older models. We do a lot of highway work, and we use between 7,000 and 8,000 round bales of hay every year. We find what works the best for us is to come along first with a tractor that has a seeder on the front and a tiller on the back to work the seed into the soil. We then come along with the Haybuster and blow straw onto the surface, which holds the seed in place until it germinates.”
Heikes fondly recalls his first venture into straw blowing and is quite happy to now have a company like DuraTech behind him. “We did our first job with a square bale mulcher that was made from a silo blower, and I have to say I am glad that I still have arms. The first thing I did was tell my dad that I was going back to milking cows,” jokes Heikes. “For the type of work we are doing, we feel that the Haybuster is the best product on the market, and we have great dealer support from Myron Boll of Boll Sales in Howard Lake, MN.”
Today, Heikes has up to 25 employees, and is working on a number of projects, including a stretch of highway near Rochester, MN, that will require approximately 800 acres of erosion control seeding, 100 acres of sod installation, and 150,000 linear feet of silt fence. Heikes started the project in 2003 and doesn’t expect to finish it until 2006.
Bob St. Jacques, owner of Four Seasons Landscaping Inc. in Windsor, CT, runs Reinco Hydrograssers because he likes the size of the tanks, and he likes the jet agitation for the slurry rather than the mechanical agitation that is used in most hydroseeding machines.
“Right now we have a Reinco 2,500-gallon truck-mounted model,” explains St. Jacques, whose company employs between 25 and 30 people during peak times. “We specialize in landscape construction installation, and we do a fair amount of hydroseeding and erosion control work, mostly for commercial and industrial clients. When we got into hydroseeding, we started out with a Reinco 800-gallon machine and then stepped up to a 1,500-gallon machine before buying the 2,500-gallon model. One of the reasons we bought Reinco to start with was because of the jet agitation. We wanted something basic, and with the jet agitation system, you have less moving parts. The system is like a big Jacuzzi that recycles the water, and as long as the pump is running, we get agitation. After our first Reinco, we decided we liked the company and the service. The factory is just three hours away in New Jersey, and we buy direct from them, so we can get parts shipped overnight by UPS if we need them. We have built a good, long-term relationship, so we really don’t have a need to switch to another brand.”
St. Jacques also likes the range of his latest 2,500-gallon machine. “We use both the cannon and the hoses for jobs, and that combination works well for us. We carry about 300 feet of hose on the truck, and we can add on to the hose, giving us a total of 700 feet if we need it. We just finished a job for a Lowe’s distribution center in Plainfield, CT, that was about 25 acres and required about one million square feet of seeding. About half of that was done with hydroseeding, but because the site included retention ponds, we couldn’t get the truck in, so we had to use hoses. The entire job took us about five working days.”
Four Seasons has created a niche market for itself by taking on challenging jobs, which is something St. Jacques takes pride in. “We enjoy the work because every job is different. We never seem to get the easy jobs, only the ones that are on a cliff or rock face, and where we have to pull hose up a hill. But we thrive on it-the harder it is, the better we like it.”
For St. Jacques, his crew is a definite asset in this type of work. “We have been in business since 1980 and we have a number of long-term employees, including Glenn French, who looks after our equipment maintenance and is our foreman in charge of hydroseeding. But Glenn also helps out with specifying equipment and works closely with Reinco’s engineers when we buy a new hydroseeding unit. With Glenn’s input, we are able to get the machine just the way we want it.”
Further south and to the west, Bryan Steele of Mighty Green Hydromulch in the Dallas-Fort Worth area of Texas likes both the jet-agitation machines and the mechanical machines and says people shouldn’t be too concerned with which is better. Steele, who has been in business since 1985 and does only hydroseeding, has been using Easy Lawn hydroseeding equipment, and recently purchased a C95 trailer-mounted machine from the Delaware-based manufacturer.
“Some people in this business think the jet-agitation machines don’t spray as far as the mechanical agitation machines and won’t handle as thick of a slurry,” explains Steele. “I have used both types, and the analogy I like to use is that the jet-agitation system can spray more of a cream of wheat slurry, while the mechanical system will spray more of an oatmeal. The bottom line is that 90% of our customers don’t get caught up between the two, they just want the product down. The machines I have had in the past were jet machines, and the new one I have just bought is a mechanical machine. My main reason for going mechanical this time is that with the implementation of tighter stormwater regulations, the industry is moving more toward erosion control rather than just seeding. With the machine I have purchased, I can run the thicker slurry when I need to, but I can also run the thinner cream of wheat when that is all that is needed.”
Steele also appreciates the size of the Easy Lawn C95 as he says its 950-gallon tank and the size of the machine gives him enough capacity to be competitive on bigger jobs, but still allows him to compete on smaller jobs as well. “With this machine we have the best of both worlds. It is a mid-sized machine, and because it is trailer mounted, you don’t have to have a commercial driver’s license to drive it as you do with the big machines. I can do the larger jobs, but I can also do the residential jobs where a big machine couldn’t even get in the driveway.”
For Ron Dean, getting equipment in the driveway isn’t an issue. Dean handles business development for American Civil Constructors (ACC), a company that works on huge construction projects around the country, including high-profile highway work in mountainous terrain.
“We have worked on some very large jobs, including the Guanella Pass project for the Federal Highway Administration,” explains Dean from his Littleton, CO, office. “The pass is a popular tourist attraction because of its scenery and 11,600-foot altitude. As the reclamation team, we go along behind the highway construction crews and revegetate everything. On this project, that includes an alpine sod salvage program, which we won an award for, and 70 acres of hydroseeding. We are also installing erosion control logs and silt fence.”
The Guanella Pass project, a two-year commitment for ACC, began in July 2004. “We were really interested in this project because we do a lot of high-altitude work, and this is an area where we have expertise,” adds Dean. ACC employs 700 people in Colorado and another 1,000 around the rest of the country. “We have completed many projects for the Colorado Department of Transportation and for ski resorts.”
ACC ordered a new hydroseeding machine in May 2004 from Apex Curb & Turf LLC in Clarkston, WA, and the Apex JL 4000 was delivered just in time for the Guanella Pass project. “One of the reasons we were motivated to buy this machine was because of the cuts and fills in the Guanella Pass job,” notes Dean. “These slopes are up to 400 feet long, and with regular hydroseeding equipment, we would have had to run 300 to 400 feet of hose. With the Apex machine, we need less hose, and any time you are not laying hose, you are saving money. Also, this machine has more beaters, it moves faster, and it chews up the blend better. The pump is designed to handle heavier slurries and bonded fiber matrix, which is harder to shoot, and the power plant is air cooled, which is better in the higher altitudes we like to work in. We felt this machine would keep us on the cutting edge of the industry, which can result in getting more bids.”
John Larson, who owns Apex Curb & Turf, started developing hydroseeding machines in 1995, when he found the products from other manufacturers were not meeting his specific needs. “I started a hydroseeding business in 1994 and owned machines from other manufacturers,” says Larson. “I have a background in mechanical engineering, so I built my first one in 1995, and then produced my first stainless steel, high-production machine in 1999.”
Larson wanted the ability to shoot farther and to shoot thicker slurries. The machine that ACC purchased produces 23,000 inch-pounds torque, while the pump can handle 600 gallons per minute at 175 psi. It also has a twin cannon system, allowing two operators to work at the same time. “We can shoot up to 300 feet depending on the elevation and, if necessary, we can have two guys shooting up to 250 feet on different sides of the road at the same time,” adds Larson.
Apex still works on hydroseeding projects and, of course, uses its own equipment. “We do projects in Washington, Idaho, and Montana,” says Larson. “Last year alone, we worked on 50 federal and state contracts, and every time we are out on a project, we document everything and look to see how we might improve our equipment. We generally run three trucks on the bigger jobs, and we can do 25 to 30 acres per day, depending on conditions. “
With all of the different types of hydroseeding equipment on the market, someone new to the business has many decisions to make-from the size of the tank to the type of agitation system-but one thing almost all hydroseeding professionals agree on is that anyone wanting to get into the business needs to do the research and buy the right machine for the planned applications.
“Anyone just starting out should spend at least a year working with someone established so that they can determine what size and type of machine will work for the market they want to target,” notes ACC’s Dean. “If you are going to specialize in residential lawns, you are going to want a very different machine than if you want to do the big commercial jobs. You need to make sure you tailor your equipment to your customer’s requirements.”