Mosser Construction: Reshaping Northwest Ohio with Komatsu iMC

Infrastructure and site development contractor Mosser Construction started using Komatsu iMC equipment six years ago and quickly realized the benefits of intelligent machinery. Since then, the company has purchased five intelligent dozers and two intelligent excavators.
“We’ve been acquiring the equipment as we’ve needed it over the past few years,” said Dave Mason, survey and machine control manager. Mosser’s first iMC purchase was a PC360i, which the company wanted to install storm and sanitary piping on a large project. Since then, crews have used the PC360i and a smaller PC210i for installing utilities, sanitary lines, waterlines, digging out structures, digging footers, excavations, ponds, and “anything you use a regular excavator for.”
The Fremont, Ohio-based company’s fleet of intelligent dozers includes one D61i, two D51i, and two D39i models. Mosser uses those machines for road grading, heavy excavation and stockpiling material.
One feature Mason particularly appreciates about the iMC dozers is proactive dozing control, which uses data collected by the machine’s sensors to drive the blade to the precise grade required. Proactive dozing is beneficial for stripping topsoil because the dozer stays on grade without overcutting.
For example, Mason pointed to the Arche Solar Farm project (see left) Mosser is working on in Fayette, Ohio, for Lightsource BP, a large solar energy company. Mosser is excavating about 200 acres, and the job entails stripping a lot of topsoil. “Proactive dozing mode is a huge benefit for this project. It keeps our quantities right on track and prevents us from over-excavating the topsoil. There may be 13 inches of topsoil, but we are only required to strip 4 inches, and it’s easy to stay at 4 inches with proactive dozing,” Mason said.
The company’s PC360i is also onsite in Fayette to excavate fill material and do pond work. “Having the modeling for the side slopes in the machine allows us to accurately dig ponds without over-excavating or under excavating,” he noted. “It saves us having to have a guy out there constantly laying out stuff conventionally with stakes and lathes. It saves us having a laborer with a grade rod. The operator can work independently.”
Mosser has been able to reduce the number of workers needed for grading and grade checking by at least two people on projects where iMC equipment is used, according to Heavy Highway and Civil Division Manager Chris Carry. Additionally, Carry estimates using iMC equipment results in a 10% to 15% increase in efficiency and production beyond the labor savings.
He added that intelligent excavators have provided significant savings when it comes to excavating foundations and pouring footers. “We started using the technology for that application in 2019, and we’ve found that we save nearly three people on a foundation crew with integrated GPS. It’s been very beneficial to us, and that’s the only way we bid such projects now.”
Mosser-a 300-employee company with annual volume topping $100 million-has a large fleet of equipment. The company determines when to use Komatsu intelligent machinery based on the size of the project and the size of the equipment needed, Mason said. “The guys we have out in the field love these machines and try to get them on their projects as often as they can.”
The company strategically purchased intelligent machines in a range of sizes to accommodate most tasks on a typical jobsite.
Mosser also wanted an intelligent tight-tail excavator for highway work. Since Komatsu doesn’t currently offer an intelligent version of its PC238, the company purchased a PC238 equipped with an aftermarket Topcon system from Columbus Equipment Company. The option gives Mosser the tight-turn excavator they need and the grade control they want in a simple package created by Columbus Equipment’s SmartConstruction Division.
While the “intelligent” aspect of Komatsu equipment is impressive, the machinery has much to offer beyond machine control, Mason said. “A lot of operators who are CAT guys or John Deere guys are very surprised when they get into the Komatsu machines. They are really impressed with how much power the bulldozers have.”
Mason noted that when he joined Mosser 11 years ago, the company had a mixed fleet of dozers and excavators, but as the company has acquired new equipment and discarded old pieces, the fleet has become almost exclusively Komatsu. “Our field superintendents love Komatsus,” he added.
As Mosser’s machine control specialist, Mason appreciates the service he gets from Columbus Equipment Company, including sales rep Luke Matheson and the entire SmartConstruction staff. “The guys we deal with-Mike Fenster, Nate Koerper and Robert Ditmars-are always available to get the problem fixed and keep production going.”
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