Cody Eccard is all about efficiency. As owner of Pleasantville, Ohio-based Eccard Excavating, LLC, he heads up a team of five who specialize in commercial and residential septic installation and repair, excavation, and utilities installation. As a small business, no adage carries as much weight for him as the classic “time is money.” Yet, for the bulk of his seven years in business, his approach to septic installation has been self-described as rudimentary, traditional and labor-intensive — a situation that bothered him to no end. A recent addition to the Eccard equipment inventory, however, has changed all that, making such an impact that new positive catch phrases like “game-changer” and “no-brainer” have been in play of late.
Taking Care of Business
Although municipal sewer systems handle sanitary waste for the overwhelming majority of homes and businesses in the U.S. today, nearly one in five dwellings rely upon a septic system for those needs. Despite having only limited formal construction experience, answering the call to bring that wastewater treatment solution to individual homeowners and commercial businesses in central Ohio was not a stretch for Eccard.
“I’ve been around construction equipment a good part of my life, mostly from helping my dad who built houses in his spare time,” he said. “So I started out doing septic installs as something of a side job, but then, in 2020, decided to focus on doing it full-time.”
From the outset, aside from calling on some friends for occasional help, Eccard found himself doing much of the work himself which made the septic install process particularly grueling.
“In the early days, the process involved using a regular laser transit to get my elevations, and marking those points with paint or flags,” he said. “For a long time, the layout portion of the job was the most time-consuming. Depending on the complexity of the job, layout could easily take three to four hours. Then, if I was alone on a project, I would lay it out, dig 10 to 20 feet, hop out of the machine to go back to verify the elevation, hop back in the machine, and so on. That made for a very long day.”
“I’ve been around construction equipment a good part of my life, mostly from helping my dad who built houses in his spare time.”
– Cody Eccard
Idle Hands
As Eccard’s business grew, so too did his payroll. While the help was more than welcome, it also served to frustrate Eccard, both that his per-job labor costs were much higher and that his workers’ time was often not efficiently utilized.
“First of all there is the hours-long wait for layout to be completed during which I often had three or four men standing around,” he said. “Then, even when we would begin excavation for the system, one man would spend the better part of the day just holding a grade rod, making occasional checks. And those checks were most often in a hole which often can be a safety concern. So, while we were being productive and the company was making money, I knew there had to be a better way to do what we did.”
Eccard said he did a decent amount of research to find that “better way,” including looking at some indicate systems currently offered for smaller machines like his Kubota KX-080. “Those looked promising, but they didn’t allow for growth, weren’t swappable with other machines and, most importantly, didn’t provide the layout capability I needed,” he said. “I was hitting a brick wall until a friend suggested I contact GeoShack, the local Topcon dealer. When I did, it changed everything.”
Making the Move
It's worth noting that, despite being a believer in technology for the workplace, prior to his contact with Josh Isham, GeoShack’s senior geopositioning sales consultant, Eccard had no experience with such solutions. Not knowing what to expect, he was pleasantly surprised after his first interaction with the GeoShack representative.
“I had a mentor who once told me: ‘As soon as you can find something that can improve efficiency, get it.’” he said. “So, when Josh showed me the layout capabilities of Topcon MC-Mobile — the way I could just go on site, lay out the job, and have the guy in the machine see it all — I knew It was exactly what I was looking for and needing.”
The process Eccard describes aligns perfectly with Topcon’s set goals for its MC- Mobile solution: the ability to quickly and efficiently measure, design and build. Drawing upon key technology from the surveying and machine control worlds — including tapping the strengths of a Topcon Layout Navigator robotic total station — MC-Mobile has proven its value in reducing staffing needs and largely eliminating costly wait times.
“The impact was immediate,” said Eccard. “Using MC-Mobile, we’ve completely eliminated the need for one laborer. In the past, we’d have someone walking along with the machine holding a grade rod, continually checking grade — that’s gone. My guys’ skill sets are suited for more than simply holding a grade rod all day. That person can now be installing pipe or putting in chambers or doing wiring. We’re just so much more efficient now.”
“Using MC-Mobile, we’ve completely eliminated the need for one laborer. In the past, we’d have someone walking along with the machine holding a grade rod, continually checking grade — that’s gone. My guys’ skill sets are suited for more than simply holding a grade rod all day. That person can now be installing pipe or putting in chambers or doing wiring. We’re just so much more efficient now.”
– Cody Eccard
Benefits Abound
Being a small contractor, Eccard said he was particularly impressed that a solution like MC-Mobile was available to someone like him. While he still saw the robotic solution as a pretty significant investment, it was also something he couldn’t deny himself. “Between the labor savings and the added efficiencies I knew we would be seeing, the payback would definitely be there. So, it was the classic no-brainer.”
What Eccard Excavating lacks in size and payroll, it more than makes up for in workload. According to Cory Eccard, between new septic installs and system replacements, the company does between 75 and 100 projects per year, so the uptick in efficiency provided by the MC Mobile solution is more than welcome. And, despite having it for just months now, they’ve already seen examples in which it has proven invaluable.
“We have to dig tank holes in some questionable soil; that’s the nature of the business,” he said. “We recently did a commercial project in such conditions, and the bottom of tank hole was 15’ deep. Just knowing that I didn’t have to have a man down there to verify depth because I had it right in the cab of the machine, made all the difference.”
He also cites instances in which someone else has laid out the design in advance but, by the time he and his crew get to the site, it’s been run over to such a degree that it’s literally gone. “In the past that would have meant hauling out the equipment to begin the layout process. Now, we just set up the LN, grab a rod and tablet and do the layout. What was a major issue is now only a minor setback, and we can begin our work.”
“We recently did a commercial project in such conditions, and the bottom of tank hole was 15’ deep. Just knowing that I didn’t have to have a man down there to verify depth because I had it right in the cab of the machine, made all the difference.”
– Cody Eccard
A Perfect Pairing
Eccard said his interaction with the team at GeoShack did not end after the sale but rather has grown since the implementation of the machine control (MC) solution — MC-Mobile.
“GeoShack has been outstanding,” he said. “I would consider Josh more of a friend now than simply a salesman. Whenever I need anything, he will always take my call or call me right back. Because I had no prior technology experience, without the support we’ve gotten, we wouldn’t be as far along as we are.”
He added that he is particularly impressed with how the new Topcon solution compliments the performance of his Kubota KX-080 which he has equipped with an Engcon Tiltrotator bucket. “That machine, combined with the accuracies of MC-Mobile, makes grading, bedding placement, backfilling, matching grades, etc. a breeze,” he said. “Moving forward, I can say pretty confidently that most of our machines will be set up in just the same way. And we are finding new ways to use the MC-Mobile solution almost every time we use it.”
One of those ways was implemented on a pre-bid site visit in which Eccard took the LN out to verify quantities. “On a residential job — and most commercial projects — we generally don’t get any takeoff information,” he said. “In the past, I’d go to the site with a transit laser, take my shots, write down the readings, then bring it all back, and calculate how many cubic yards either needs to be removed or imported. With the LN, I go out, walk it off in five minutes, hit the ‘calculate’ button and get our quantities. Again, it all comes back to efficiency. And we’re seeing it in so many areas of the operation now.”
Watch the video about Eccard Excavating here.
