Efficiency and focused utilization bedrock of Alfred Gorick Co. Sand & Gravel

by Bob Lindsay
NINEVEH, NY — When Alfred Gorick Co. Sand & Gravel took possession of their first Fintec 570 Tracked Screen, the powers that be never foresaw what could only be viewed as a serendipitous outcome. But, that just might be the best way to describe the chain of circumstances that led this company to find just the right machine supplied by just the right sales company to give the operation just the right edge in efficiency it needed to support all aspects of its operation.

Alfred and Stephanie Gorick started Gorick Construction Co., Inc. more than 60 years ago in Binghamton, NY. “Our primary focus,” said company president Alfred Gorick Jr., “is earthmoving and demolition, basically our two fortes.” Since 1945, the firm has been meeting the heavy highway and construction needs of the region by doing “Whatever It Takes,” which is the company motto.

“We also do sports facilities,” said Gorick, a 1986 Clarkson University graduate with a degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering. By the following year “or early 1988,” the company was still meeting its construction business' aggregate needs from other sources.

It was around that time that Gorick, Jr. saw the need to take the proverbial bull by the horns and make things happen on their own terms. They purchased their first gravel pit in 1987, “and got into the sand and gravel business.” Alfred Gorick Co. Inc. was born.

These days Gorick Sand & Gravel boasts four quarries, the Route 11 quarry in the town of Kirkwood, the Route 12 quarry in the town of Chenango, the Hogsback Road pit in the town of Greene, and the East River Road quarry in Nineveh, NY.

According to Gorick, Jr., the company purchased the pit to meet their immediate construction and heavy highway roadwork needs. “We originally started out just screening,” he said. “I didn't know a lot about crushing, so after about a year we got in touch with Capitol Equipment, and bought a used Cedar Rapids 565 crusher. That was around 1988.”

At that moment, a business relationship was born. “We've been with Capitol Equipment ever since,” explained Gorick. “They've always done good by us. I've usually gone to Seamus (Crotty, company president) and said, 'Here's what I'd like to do.' He'd look it over and suit a plant to meet our needs. He knows what we do and how we operate.”

In 1997, Gorick Sand & Gravel purchased its first Eagle 1000 crusher. Its latest plant came last March at CONEXPO-CON / AGG in Las Vegas, where Gorick purchased one off the floor of that storied venue. “We took delivery of the 1000 Hybrid Traxx,” said Gorick. “It was right there on the floor at Conexpo. We (later) ended up with two of them. I told Seamus we needed to update our machines. But because we're in demolition and construction, I wanted it to be able to do concrete, asphalt and masonry, in addition to sand and gravel.”

According to Will Hitchcock, Jr. foreman for the Alfred Gorick Quarry in Nineveh, the firm purchased their first Fintec, a 542 Tracked Screen, from Capitol Equipment. “We ran that for about a year. Then, we were covering a landfill in Syracuse and rented a blue (Fintec) 570 (Tracked Screen) from Capitol Equipment. I was so impressed with its production that it never went back.”

According to Gorick, that 542's “maneuverability in the pit was great. Then we had a landfill job, and we needed another screen. So we rented a (Fintec) 570 from Capitol Equipment. By the time we were done, we found many little things besides production that made the 570 better for us. So we traded the 542 for the 570.”

That was two years and 1,600 machine hours ago. According to Gorick, “This past fall, we had to supply 70,000 yards of material in 30 days for a Wal-Mart project. Some was run of bank, and some was crushed 2-inch minus. That's when we decided the Eagle and the 570 would work together perfectly for this project. We considered renting another 570, but instead we bought the other 570.”

One thing that helped push Gorick into purchasing the second 570 screen was when Capitol's Seamus Crotty told Gorick that Swedish global giant Sandvik in 2007 had purchased Fintec Ltd. and Extec Crushers and Screens Ltd.

“It was interesting because when I called Seamus and told him what we needed, he said that Sandvik had just taken over Fintec,” explained Gorick. “He said that we'd have to wait for a rental unit until one came back in. As we looked at that, we worked with Capitol Equipment and took the new (570) instead. It was a great decision.”

According to Gorick, that sudden opportunity played in the company's favor, and to its strengths. “It's made us far more cost effective,” he said. “Basically, our primary screens and crushers are less than three years old. It's a capital investment, but it was the right move for us.”

Equally interesting is the color scheme on the new Fintec 570: While it sports the Fintec name and 570 model designation, the color is plainly Sandvik orange. In fact, this machine is the first one in North America to be delivered in the new Sandvik color scheme.

Quarry foreman Hitchcock says the Fintec 570 not only has excellent fuel economy — the 100-gallon tank was filled every two days. “During the Wal-Mart job we worked 10-hour days and I filled the tank every two days,” he said. “So that's pretty good, especially when you're making what we were making.”

What Gorick “makes,” in addition to road sand, includes ROB gravel, screened Item No. 4, crushed Item No. 4, crushed stone, 1st, 1 and 2; crusher run minus 2 -inch, round stone 1 and 2, cobbles, screened sand, landscape stones and boulders, screened/blended topsoil, and pea stone.

And the machines are easy to operate. “We have a small crew, mainly a four-man crew,” Hitchcock said. “If one guy is out, it doesn't mean we can't go. We adapt and work. The (Fintec 570) controls don't confuse anybody. The handle goes up, it's on. The handle goes down, it's off. It's real convenient.”

On this late January day, the Fintec 570 is running in below freezing weather, somewhere in the low 20s. “It's tougher on everything,” Hitchcock said. “You have to slow down a bit. We don't like to do it because we're out in it. But the machine doesn't seem to care.

“The secret to all of this is cut and dried consistency,” Hitchcock said. “That all you can ask for. And with the Fintecs, you can do it. You make gravel five days a week with no problems. It makes life a lot easier being consistent.”

In addition to the two Fintec 570s and the Eagle TRAXX, Hitchcock said Gorick sand and gravel operation includes a pair of Komatsu front-end loaders, a model 380 and a 420; two Caterpillar loaders, a 950G and a 966F; a Komatsu D135 dozer; and two excavators, a Komatsu PC300-6 and a John Deere 230.

According to Alfred Gorick, Jr., the Fintec 570s brought the operation into full focus. “It's all about efficiency,” he said. “We originally went into the gravel business to support our construction business. Now the recycling ability of the sand and gravel operation supports our demolition operations.”