Digging graves is a serious business, and no one takes it more seriously than Cody Taxacher, owner of Taxacher Specialties, an excavation contracting business based in Connellsville, Pennsylvania, 50 miles southeast of Pittsburgh.
Taxacher, who started his business in 2009, handles a variety of excavating and earthmoving jobs for local municipalities, but his main activity is gravedigging. Using a Hyundai R60CR-9A compact excavator equipped with a Trimble machine control system, Taxacher each year digs approximately 500 graves for nearly 50 cemeteries within a 30-mile radius of Connellsville in southeastern Pennsylvania.
“Gravedigging is the biggest part of our business, and with our new excavator and machine control system, we are as fast and accurate as anyone could be,” Taxacher says. “The Hyundai compact excavator is the perfect machine for us, because it doesn’t damage the ground, it’s very maneuverable, it’s got the power we need to dig in any conditions and the machine control system results in a precise dig every time. All the cemeteries in this area know they can depend on us for speed, accuracy and protection of their grounds.”
The R60CR-9A is a 6-ton class, compact-radius design machine with a maximum dig depth of 11 feet, 9 inches. It has a bucket breakout force of 8,228 pounds.
Technology boosts excavator productivity
Taxacher says the addition of an electronic machine control system “adds an extra level of productivity to the excavator.”
He describes the Trimble GCS900 system as an electronic tape measure in the cab. “You just watch the screen and it tells you where you are. You never have to leave the cab to inspect your excavation.”
Taxacher says you can watch the screen for guidance and get a perfect dig, no matter the project. “It shows you an exact 3D profile of the excavation. If someone says they want a waterline 2 feet deep, you don’t have to be out there with a tape measure, you just look at the screen.”
The right machine
When it came time to replace his previous compact excavator, Taxacher carefully examined the market for the right machine.
“I tried every excavator on the market when I was looking to purchase a new machine,” he says, noting the Hyundai has a large and comfortable cab. “It has Bluetooth for your telephone. It has a nice touch screen — you can see all your controls and monitor how much fuel you have. It’s all right there on one screen.”
Another important productivity feature on the excavator is its quick coupler for changing attachments. Among the hydraulic attachments Taxacher uses on the Hyundai excavator are multiple buckets, a tamper, a breaker and a grapple.
“First of all, we change buckets a lot. Second, if we hit a rock while we’re digging a grave, we take the bucket off and put the hydraulic breaker on. We put the bucket back on. We put the hydraulic tamper on to fill the grave and compact the soil. And we’re done.”
He said the excavator’s dozer blade — a standard feature — is handy for leveling the machine and backfilling an excavation.
Regardless of how his business grows, Taxacher says he’s right where he belongs. “I was one of those kids who was always playing with trucks. This is what I always wanted to do.”
Hyundai Construction Equipment Americas Inc. has been part of the global construction industry since 1991. The company’s goal is to go beyond meeting equipment needs for its clients and to make their businesses more successful.
678-823-7844 | www.hceamericas.com
