Martin Stone Quarries, Inc. got its start in 1953 when Henry Martin leased a rocky patch near Bechtelsville, Penn.

“My father, Henry Martin, started this company in 1953. When we started, we sold material by the truckload right out of the bank to farmers and township people,” says Tom Martin. “My dad, me and one other man were the whole crew. We used a ¾-yard excavator to mine, and we produced about 75 tons per hour.”

Now the third generation of Martins handles day-to-day operations at the quarry—situated in the same area as the original, leased property—and the mine produces 1.5 million tons per year with a mobile equipment fleet that has little in common with that original excavator. Rather than breaking rock with a hammer as Tom did as a young man, the Martins use an automatically controlled 600-tph processing plant to prepare rock for sale.

The quarry has seen a steady progression from its humble beginnings more than 60 years ago when it started digging into the massive deposit of granite gneiss. The very hard, abrasive rock resists mining, but it yields quality aggregates. The work to build the business continues.

“The changes we made to the plant control system in 2006 were a major leap,” explains Travis Martin, operations manager and third generation owner (Tom’s son). “The most recent high-impact capital expenditure is the purchase of a Cat® 990K Wheel Loader. The 990K is sized to increase our input to the plant, and we want to give our crews good equipment to operate.”

 Martin Stone relies on a single face loader for the vast majority of feed to the plant, so the role of the 990K is critical, as was its 990 Series II predecessor. The old 990, with about 50,000 hours on the meter, now serves as the backup face loader. Its longevity is owed not only to its design, but to the proper operation and maintenance performed by Martin Stone personnel and rebuilds performed by the local Cat Dealer, Giles & Ransome.

“Any machine can run well for 5,000 or 10,000 hours,” says Travis Martin. “But we’re looking for frame life of 40,000 to 50,000 hours. We want a machine that’s going to perform over its entire life. And we also need to know the service and support is there from our equipment dealer. We have confidence that Ransome will be there throughout the life of the machine.”

“WE RECOGNIZE HOW VALUABLE OUR EMPLOYEES ARE, AND WE TRY TO GIVE THEM WHAT THEY NEED TO SUCCEED. WE LIKE TO GIVE THEM GREAT MACHINES TO WORK WITH.”

At Martin Stone, consideration for employees is truly a part of the new equipment purchase decision, as current managers carry on the vision of Henry Martin who laid the foundation for a family business in which employees would be treated with respect. “Martin Stone has about 50 employees,” Travis Martin explains. “We recognize how valuable our employees are, and we try to give them what they need to succeed. We like to give them great machines to work with.”

The 990K has one primary operator who does production loading during day shift, five days a week, and he is known for caring for the machine as if it was his own. “The 990K hydraulics and greater power make it easier to operate,” says Bill Hook, 990K operator. “It has much more hydraulic power. I can curl the bucket right into the face without having to use lift power. And the cab upgrades, like the air cooled seat, make it nicer to operate. The trainer seat is a good safety feature, too.”

Hook points out that the sharp, abrasive granite requires special considerations: “A big concern is keeping the floor clean—to keep the loader and truck tires from getting cut. Also, we use penetration tips on the loader bucket and replace them every 200 hours.”

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The second-shift loader operator feeds the plant from stockpiles created near the hopper during the daytime production shift. As a result of operating 16 hours per day during the work week, the 990K will accumulate about 3,000 operating hours this year. The number of operating hours magnifies the savings in fuel costs, when compared with the previous loader.