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Bandit Has Two Expansions In Works
Bandit Industries, Isabella County, Mich., has announced two major building additions to expand production capacity and add a new, state-of-the-art parts and service facility.
Bandit is investing $1.4 million in the two expansions. Both are expected to come online in 2018. This is the second round of expansion in as many years.
“We added manufacturing space 18 months ago and revamped our assembly lines in anticipation of the increased demand,” says Bandit President Jerry Morey. “We continue to invest in our future, not only in facilities and gear, but in our workforce, including training. We added 38 people in 2017 and plan to add another 50 employees in 2018. Our employees are what set us apart with the pride we take in the equipment built and in the way we take care of our customers. We are proud of what they do and accomplish.”
The new parts facility will also house a central receiving and distribution area, improving the flow of parts and materials to the six major manufacturing facilities. This will free up extra manufacturing space to further increase Bandit’s production capacity. Bandit has added more than a dozen dealers with more than 30 total locations in the past two years.
“As our dealer network expands, the need for parts expands right along with it,” says Bandit Parts Manager Jamie Morey. “This new facility will allow us to respond rapidly to our dealers’ and customers’ parts requests, limiting their downtime and delivering on the promise that we stand behind every Bandit machine sold.”
The parts and service expansion is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2018. As soon as that facility is completed, the second expansion will start that will add production space for new products Bandit intends to introduce in the third quarter of 2018.
“Our new dealers are reaching more customers than ever before, driving demand for our products,” says Bandit’s North American Sales Manager Jason Morey. “Producing enough new units to meet that demand has provided Bandit with a welcome challenge—one that we’re more than ready to meet.”
Bandit added three-quarters of a million dollars of new cutting and steel processing equipment in 2017 to keep up with the demand for parts for its expanding production areas.
Bandit also introduced a number of new products in 2017 including an entry level stump grinder, several new models of hand fed chippers, a new large capacity self-propelled whole tree chipper, a new intermediate model horizontal grinder, a new forestry mower carrier with mowing and stump grinding capabilities.
Bandit Industries demand isn’t just limited to North America. Bandit’s international business continues to grow significantly.
“Bandit continues to customize machines and build products for the international market,” says Felipe Tamayo, Bandit’s International Sales Manager. “We are selling products in every corner of the world, and now sell to 56 countries. We are also designing products specifically for the foreign markets to further gain market share overseas.”
Firefly Approved By New Standard
Firefly has recently received approval toward the new FM standard 3265, covering the Firefly spark detection and extinguishing systems. The FM approval covers more than 70 detectors and all detectors are available in versions for use in explosive atmospheres.
Firefly’s True-IR detectors are specially designed for detection of all types of ignition sources such as sparks, flames and hot (black) particles. All Firefly spark detectors work in the True-IR spectral range, which enables detection down to the Minimum Ignition Temperature (MIT) and Minimum Ignition Energy (MIE) of the material. They are at the same time insensitive to daylight, which is essential to avoid false positives and avoid unnecessary and costly interruption of the process. This will also make it possible to install the detectors in an area where daylight is present.
Doppstadt Expands Chipper Offerings
Doppstadt has expanded the range of its precision chippers to suit the market needs: the tracked DH 811 K for forest and farmland applications and the DH 910 SA-B chipper with semitrailer chassis for semi-stationary.
The new machines can be adjusted to various kinds of timber by means of different knife arrangements and screening baskets. They process log timber, slabs and forest residues. Since they are provided with state-of-the-art engines that comply with Euromot IV / Tier 4, these self-propelled or road-going machines cover all the ranges of application in the forestry and timber industry.
The tracked version of the DH 811 with compact design is 6 m long, 2.5 m large and 3.3 m high. Therefore, it fits on any low-loader. The chipper can cope with narrow forest roads as perfectly as with overgrown or muddy forest tracks. Since the upper carriage can be swiveled by up to 270° the DH 811 K assumes an optimum working position even on most difficult terrains.
The semitrailer chipper DH 910 SA-B is suited for the continuous industrial operation on wood yards. The machine shows its high throughput capacity in industrial wood, but it can also process logs with up to 90 cm diameter. A belt, which can be swiveled by up to 90°, discharges the wood chips carefully thus producing high quality wood chips with a reduced fines content.
Morbark Names Top Equipment Dealers
Morbark, LLC, recognized eight of its top equipment dealers—four in Tree Care and four in Industrial Products—with Gold Tier status for 2018, based on their performance during the previous year.
Industrial Products:
• Columbus Equipment – Ohio, Western West Virginia, Kentucky and Indiana
• James River Equipment – Virginia, Eastern West Virginia and North Carolina
• L.C. Whitford Equipment – Western New York and Western Pennsylvania
• Tidewater Equipment – South Carolina, Georgia and Florida
Tree Care Products:
• Alexander Equipment – Northern Illinois
• Bobcat of Buffalo – Western New York
• Schmidt Equipment – Massachusetts and Rhode Island
• Stevens Products LTD – New Zealand
“Our customers’ success is Morbark’s success, and our dealers are integral to helping our customers succeed,” says John Foote, Morbark Vice President, Strategy and After-Market Services. “Our Gold Tier dealers provide more than just our high-performance equipment, they give our customers local knowledge and support to help them grow and maintain their businesses. They are the best of the best.”
Morbark dealers are reviewed and scored annually on their customer service, business plan, equipment and parts sales, service and warranty process, marketing efforts, and much more. The companies earning Gold Tier status are truly exceptional in all scoring aspects, and all but one of these dealers have been awarded the honor previously.
For industrial, both James River Equipment and Tidewater Equipment were honored with Gold Tier status for the fifth straight year, while L.C. Whitford earned its second straight Gold dealer award and Columbus Equipment was honored for the first time.
For tree care, Alexander Equipment earned Gold Tier status for the sixth consecutive year, Schmidt Equipment has earned the honor five of the previous six years, and Bobcat of Buffalo was honored for the third straight year, while Stevens Products enjoyed its second straight Gold Tier award in the Tree Care division.
Mid-South Show Is Offering Space
Management personnel for the Mid-South Forestry Equipment Show have announced that the booth/site selection process has begun for exhibitors who participated in the 2016 show.
Once the pre-selection process is complete (March 19) non-claimed space and general exhibitor information, including the site selection map, will be posted at www.midsouthforestry.org and can be accessed by clicking the link for exhibitor information.
The MSFES event, which ranks as the South’s top live equipment demo/display venue, will take place September 21-22 a few miles south of Starkville, Miss. The 2016 show set records for exhibitor participation and overall attendance.
Bandit Adds Options On Beast Grinder
Bandit Industries has added options to The Beast horizontal grinder lineup with the Model 2460XP, available as a towable or track machine with 520 HP.
Special attention was paid to making the 2460XP among the easiest horizontal grinders to service and maintain. Common maintenance items were designed to be accessible from either the ground or on built-in platforms.
The 2460XP is equipped with a 60 in. wide by 30 in. diameter, 30-tooth cuttermill running Bandit’s patented saw-tooth style cutterbodies. This regulates the size of the tooth’s bite, so most of the material is sized on the initial cut, allowing material to be sized correctly on the first pass so it exits the larger screening area more quickly.
For the 2460XP, Bandit offers Strickland and Caterpillar tracks.
Visit banditchippers.com.
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