Hank’s Excavating led by Hank Rohwedder, President, and his son Corey Rohwedder, Superintendent, poured an eight-inch-wide (twenty-centimeter) and six-inch-tall (fifteen-centimeter) curb. The typically-simple profile was complicated because of its location beneath a guardrail so the mold had to be specially designed to offset the concrete. In addition, IDOT required that the curb be poured over 950 eight-inch dowel pins spaced on two-foot (sixty-centimeter) centers that had been sunk five inches (thirteen centimeters) deep into the asphalt road. A slot was required on the front of the mold to pass over the pins. Despite the intricate mold design, Corey was quite happy with it, asserting “I’ve never ordered a mold from Power Curbers and it was not exactly right when we got it.” To get the curb matched up evenly with the guardrail, steering for the machine was sensed off of the rail and the grade adjustment was set to follow the pavement. Using the guardrail and pavement for steering eliminated the need for stringline saving time and money.

A skilled operator and trusted machine were important as some manual steering was needed where the curb and guardrail diverged. Colin Baltz, machine operator, has been with Hank’s Excavating since before their first curb machine purchase in 1994 and has put thousands of hours on the two Power Curbers since then. He commented that “Power Curbers puts out a good, reliable product that we aren’t afraid to run all day.” The factory-direct support impresses Colin. He emphasized that “we can call in and get set-up or maintenance details right there on the phone, they know exactly what you are talking about. Your support team is awesome.” Colin is one of Hank’s many longterm employees. Others have passed their thirty and even forty-year anniversaries with the company. Corey, who is now in his thirties, began helping out when he was twelve years old by washing some of the vehicles and equipment. After college, he worked as an operator and eventually transitioned into a superintendent. Like Colin, Corey shares the confidence in their curb machines expressing “ever since I’ve been working around them, we’ve never had a lost-time breakdown on our Power Curbers.”

Established in 1978, Hank began the company with a John Deere 2240 tractor, a Ford F250 Ranger pickup truck and a trailer that he used to haul the tractor around. He used the tractor fitted with a simple box blade to grade homeowners’ yards. The original tractor and pickup which are both still in clean, working condition, are stored on the company’s yard. They have expanded the facility over the years by leveling their property with excess dirt from their work and between jobs, they construct new structures to protect their many pieces of equipment. Hank’s is a highly diversified company of over seventy employees experienced in earthwork, concrete work of all types, asphalt paving, traffic control, landscaping, and sanitary sewer installation, inspection, and maintenance. The company’s diverse offerings engage crews at about a dozen separate jobs each day. To maximize their efficiency Hank runs a night crew that cleans up and maintains the equipment once the day shift leaves. The night shift can also load and prepare supplies for the following day. That lets the day crews mobilize when they get to the shop each morning, and go straight home when they get back to the yard in the afternoon.

Hank’s efficient operation is highly employee and family-oriented. His daughter Amanda Bayer works as his assistant, and her husband, Chris Bayer helps in IT, accounting, and legal areas. Pictures of the upcoming 3rd generation hang on the walls of Hank’s office showing Corey’s son Corbin riding a toy truck. It is obvious when looking at his employees, facility, and quality of work that Hank and his company take pride in what they do. Hank chooses Power Curbers because they are “durable, reliable, consistent, great-pouring machines that make a wonderful finished product.” A durable 5700-series machine from Power Curbers may last you twenty-five years too with care and diligent maintenance like that of Hank’s Excavating.