Quality machines sized right for the work — that’s what Tim Lawson looks for when purchasing equipment for New Life II Septic & Rent-A-Jon, a 2011 addition to his plumbing business. The Winston-Salem, North Carolina, business already installed and repaired water and septic lines, so pumping tanks, installing onsite systems and renting restrooms were natural added services. Lawson added more excavation equipment to meet the needs of the new workload.

“My 2008 Kubota (KX 91-3 compact track excavator) gets daily use,” Lawson says. “I’m always digging up a septic tank or doing exploratory digging.”

For installing onsite systems, he uses the Kubota or his larger 2000 Case 1840 skid-steer loader. Both are small enough to fit through 6-foot gates and maneuver on small lots in the growing subdivision developments in New Life II’s coverage area. For a lighter touch and smaller repair jobs, Lawson downsizes with a 743 Bobcat and a 2005 Ditch Witch trencher.

“We drive as soft as we can and try to be as neat as possible,” he says.

Lawson also raises efficiency by bringing everything he needs to a job site in one trip. He loads the skid-steer on his 2102 Dodge Super Duty dump truck, pulling a Birmingham tri-axle tilt bed trailer hauling his excavator. Another person drives the 2005 5500 Duramax Chevy truck that carries a 300-gallon fuel cell.

Occasionally renting a larger backhoe when necessary, Lawson has all the bases covered for installing and repairing a variety of onsite systems employed in his territory.

Since there is no cold weather downtime in North Carolina, regular maintenance of machines is critical to ensure reliability and a long useful life.

“Every day I grease and check the oil like my dad taught us,” Lawson says. “Every time we fuel up, we write down the time, and the people in the office keep track.” With charts for each piece of equipment, he knows when oil needs changing and other maintenance work needs to be done. More complex repair jobs are performed at a local garage.