LANDFORM HEADS FOR THE HILLS AND GLENS
When opportunity knocks you grasp it with both hands!
When Jake Dickie along with Sandy Brown set up their Landform company it was based on landscaping and groundworks. This opened up opportunities for domestic fencing where they became entrenched in a heavy workload of domestic fencing some of which was on new housing developments.
A new opportunity came their way in 2018 when they had the chance to take over CRS Fencing, a well-established fencing business in NE Scotland and this was when their Fencing Division was introduced and Michael Dickie came on board.
“Acquiring this new business gave us an increased customer base in the forestry and agricultural sector” said Michael. “ Most of this work is high out in the hills and glens, erecting deer and
stock fencing for new forestry or replanting. Certain Grant Schemes specify creosote which is what we prefer ourselves for the longevity of the fence and of course our reputation. There is nothing worse than failed posts a few years after erection” said Michael.
“Our post drivers are all Bryce. We did have a Bryce Magnum XL but sold it to a local Estate.
By having our own lorry, we find it easier and quicker to take the tracked machines to the job, rather than hitching up the post driver to the tractor, so we let it go and our preferred system works well”.
“Apart from quad bikes and 4×4 pickups we have an 8.5 tonne Doosan digger with a SoloNet wire net unroller/tensioner which takes net up to 2.1m. The good point about having the unroller mounted on the digger is you can lift it up and round the back of turning posts, making the unrolling easy and very speedy, particularly when deer fencing”.
“When we took over CRS Fencing we acquired the first Bryce tracked machine that they introduced to the market – the HD180, but with two 20k deer fence contracts pending, we still required an addition to the fleet. I had experience of using another make of tracked machine on a roadside contract where the ground had been landscaped with about 60cm of topsoil and the going was very soft . This job was under a timescale and had to be completed irrespective of ground conditions. We had performance issues with the machine we had hired due to lack of ground clearance causing the chassis to bull-doze or bottom out. This lack of progress was costing us money so our only alternative was to pull the Bryce 180 off a hill job to complete the contract. The difference was quite startling – we never looked back.”
“Before we bought the second Bryce machine, we called in another contractor who happened to use the same make of tracked machine that I previously had issues with. It was interesting to hear him comment on how much better built the Bryce was and how it had much better hitting power than his machine.
On that basis, and with the pending deer fence contracts, we purchased a Bryce 180 PRO. The 180 PRO is a beauty and a major advance on the early HD180.”
“Bryce machines have given us no problems and no bad reviews from our operators. Bryce have to be complimented on their build quality and the way their machines perform on steep and boggy ground.
With an experienced operator the Bryce tracked machines can de-bog themselves using power slew and weight transfer. The track ‘lead-in’ feature at both ends of the machine is hugely important under these conditions. It is amazing how we can get ourselves out of a messy situation under our own steam, so we don’t lose time – the difference between profit and loss” said Jake with a smile.
“Apart from the Bryce 180 machine’s ability to master difficult, and at times dangerous terrain, its balance and design features allow us to erect every type of fence on any type of ground within our operating radius, with ease.”
landformltd.co.uk michael.dickie@landformltd.co.uk Michael Dickie – 07964 251382
or Jake Dickie – 07794 146169
