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Perkins Cinders was started back in the seventies. My grandpa and my dad were doing septic systems and just residential little small jobs,” says Dusty Perkins. “My dad started the cinder company part of it in 1982. We sell aggregates. We do mass grading, utilities, paving, crushing, concrete, just about anything.”
“We have great people that work with us. We show up when we say we will, we do what we say we're going to do and be honest, and just do neat, clean work.”
While the company has grown to employ more than 50 people, what started in the family has stayed in the family for Perkins Cinders—and that’s something that has remained very important to them. “My sister's in the office. My aunt has been in that office since day one. It started in our living room and kitchen. She would take calls in the kitchen.”
“I’m very, very proud of where we've come from,” Dusty explains. “I’ve seen my grandpa and my dad start with nothing and work hard and take pride in everything they do. And I have a lot of pride in what we do. Our name is on the side of the door and that’s a lot of pride.”
Growing up around the family business, Dusty has a special place in his heart for CASE equipment. “When I was younger, my grandpa had a CASE track loader and always had CASE backhoes. And I can always remember growing up, sitting on a CASE backhoe or a track loader. Some of my best memories actually are riding on a backhoe with my dad or my grandpa.”
“When I was younger, my dad would turn me loose in the backyard and tell me to dig holes with the old four-stick CASE. And that's how I learned to run a backhoe — a lot of memories with CASE.”
The Power and the Finesse of the Largest and Strongest CTL Ever Built
Perkins Cinders recently took delivery of one of the first
CASE TV620B compact track loaders off the production line—the largest, strongest CTL on the market today. The 114-horsepower, 6,200-pound rated operating capacity CTL delivers best-in-class breakout forces, and more standardized features than previously available on any CASE CTL. This includes standard adjustable electro-hydraulic controls, high-flow hydraulics, auto ride control, one-way self-leveling, a hydraulic coupler, an auto-reversing fan and more.
Joel Hensley is a project superintendent for Perkins Cinders, and has spent the last few months behind the controls of the new CTL. Standard adjustable electro-hydraulic controls allow operators to set whole machine responsiveness to low, moderate or aggressive; or independently set tilt, lift and drive speed, as well as loader arm and drive control to best meet the demands of the job at hand.
“It's got a lot of variable speeds and I like it because I'm finishing so tight with it,” Hensley explains. “I like it kind of slow — I don't like it to be jumping around — I want to make smooth, consistent motions.”
The CASE B Series features one of the widest CTL cabs in the industry, providing additional space for improved operator comfort. The electro-hydraulic joysticks have been designed with a narrower, more comfortable grip, and closer switch layout and a smaller head size for easier operation. “I could run it for a 10-hour day without trouble. It just gets me up there close to the controls and I'm sitting right where I need to be.”
The CASE TV620B leads the industry in major operational categories including rated operating capacity (6,200 pounds), breakout force (12,084 pounds bucket; 12,907 pounds lift) and track length on the ground (74 inches). A newly designed heavy-duty undercarriage and heavy-duty 17.7-inch rubber tracks allow for minimal ground disturbance (6.1 psi) and enhanced performance on improved surfaces. All of this translates to superior machine power and ground performance.
What has stood out to Hensley is that, even as a beast of a machine, it can handle both the heavy-duty tasks, as well as the finesse work — and it maybe surprisingly excels at that finesse work due to the overall length of the machine and the length/depth of the 1.25-yard bucket.
“We move ABC (aggregate base course) piles and move stumps, rocks, whatever needs to be moved — we haven't found anything that it should move that it couldn't,” Hensley says. “I can run through a super 16 pile like it was nothing. I can spread it out and I can finish it to within three hundredths consistently. I can also load that same super 16 with this machine.”
“The weight of the machine makes it where I can knock the material down, the truckloads, the material, and then the length of that bucket makes it where I can see the cutting edge and run it. I can finish once I’ve got grade found on one strip, I can carry that grade right on across the job, because I can see that cutting edge.”
Additional enhancements in machine design and technology on the TV620B also includes the new CASE SiteConnect Module. The SiteConnect Module allows for more robust telematics performance, remote diagnostics and remote software updates that streamline fleet management activities. This enhanced connectivity allows the machine owner to share real-time machine information with the dealer and the CASE Uptime Center in Racine, Wisconsin. CASE achieves the new remote service capabilities in part through the new SiteManager App. This app pairs the operator’s phone or device to the machine to enable remote analysis. Certified CASE technicians then diagnose the health of each connected machine through various parameter readings and fault codes — and the technician decides as to whether the issue can be addressed remotely, or if it requires a trip to the machine.
For a company like Perkins Cinders that is continually growing, having a trusted equipment dealer is essential. Dusty and his team work with Sonsray Machinery — one of the largest authorized CASE equipment dealers in North America. “It's very important,” Dusty concludes. “If that machine is not running, you are losing money. And being able to call Sonsray and Aaron (Armenta) — he is on the ball. We have ordered parts, and he does everything in his power to get them to us in a timely manner. And that's everything. If that machine is not working, it's costing you money.”
“Being able to keep us moving and get the job done — that's the name of the game. If it doesn't get done, we don't make any money,” says Perkins.
As for the future?
“We're still very hungry. We're growing every day. We’re still very hungry and eager to conquer the world I guess you could say.”
