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Origin of the Drag Skip concept

16th, February 2023

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At Conquip Engineering Group, we strive to provide our customers with innovative, high-quality products and solutions, designed with the aim of helping construction sites increase efficiencies on-site, improve safety and use more sustainable methods of working. One of our proudest achievements is the development of the Excavator Drag Skip, a heavy-duty, large capacity skip that has proven to be somewhat of a game-changer for the construction industry.

Read on for the full story behind the development of the Drag Skip and how it came to be the successful product it is today.

IT ALL BEGAN IN 2011

Back in 2011, George Critchley, Conquip Engineering Group’s Sales Director, met very early one morning with the Mickey, the Plant Manager from Houlihan & Co Excavations Ltd.

George told Mickey about Conquip’s design and production facility and how we’ve developed custom solutions to solve specific challenges on site. They started talking about some of the challenges that Groundworks companies were facing and quickly the topic of  “material wastage” came up.

EVERY 8TH TRUCK OF SHINGLE WASTED!

The Plant Manager was facing a common problem of wasting material, such as pea shingle, and he believed that a solution was needed to address this issue. He explained that every time a truck of shingle was delivered and tipped out onto the ground on a construction site, they would lose between ¾ to 1 cubic metre of the truckload of material in the dirt.

This meant that they were effectively throwing away an eighth of every load of shingle.

FIRST UNIT SOLD

The initial idea was a heavy-duty skip with angled ends, with a large durable roll bar that an excavator could use to pull the skip to the work area on-site. We quickly responded to this challenge by designing and fabricating a prototype, and following multiple site trials and iterations, we sold our first Drag Skip to Houlihan’s.

The customer was impressed with the build quality of the product, they ended up purchasing a second unit. Soon, all Houlihan Excavations’ groundworker teams were keen to add the Drag Skip to their sites, with six or seven purchased over a few months.

Very quickly, other groundworks contractors started to see it in use and the enquiries started flooding in. A new innovation was born.

THE BENEFITS OF THE DRAG SKIP

As it turned out, there were several other benefits to the Drag Skip besides just saving material:

It reduced the number of plant machinery required on-site as normally, one machine would be required on the stockpile, another excavator was required at where the drainage was being put in and often a dumper running between the two machines (while often getting stuck!).

The Drag Skip also helped to reduce the damage to the dumper truck caused by the excavator, as the shingle was scooped directly from the heavy-duty Drag Skip instead of from the dumper bucket. As you can see from the product spec, the Drag Skip is built to last with extra reinforcing where the excavator scoops the shingle.

Furthermore, it was discovered that the dumper trucks would need the handbrake to be engaged while they were being emptied by the excavator. The excavator was generating a pull force on the dumper, rocking it and moving it from side-to-side, which was damaging the handbrake cables, resulting in them needing replacing. Using a Drag Skip eliminated this issue too.

REDUCE, REDUCE, REDUCE

The construction sector is constantly looking for new ways to reduce the impact on the environment. The positive benefits of the Drag Skip are 3-fold!

1/ Less wastage of material

The shingle is used for its purpose, which means less material is wasted in the ground. Overall, fewer resources are used, reducing overall carbon embodiment of the project.

2/ Fewer trucks coming to site

As a result of less material wastage, the 8th truck is not needed. This means there are fewer trucks coming to site, reducing the carbon footprint of the project.

3/ Fewer machines in use on site

Now that the excavator can pull its own materials to pipe laying location, fewer dumper trucks are required, meaning that the overall pollution and fuel usage of the project is reduced. One machine, where there could be two.

THE ‘STONE SAVER’ OF TODAY

As the popularity of the Drag Skip grew, Conquip continued to refine and improve the product, incorporating customer feedback with design expertise and manufacturing excellence.

Today, the Drag Skip is an essential piece of equipment for many construction sites, helping to save time and money, reduce wasted material, and increase efficiencies.

In conclusion, the story of the Drag Skip is a testament to the innovative prowess of Conquip and the dedication they put towards bringing positive change and advancements to the construction industry.

 

HOW MUCH CAN YOU SAVE?

Stop wasting valuable money on shingle lost on the ground every-time it’s unloaded. In this short video we are calculating how much you could actually save per each load of shingle. The numbers speak for themselves.

WATCH VIDEO: Cost Calculation >>