A Successful Beta Launch of the EDCO 18” Trencher

How Kennebec Rentals utilized their local customer base to provide real-time product testing data to EDCO

“EDCO told us to have our customers put the machine through anything,” Joe Cormier, Operations Manager at Kennebec Rentals, stated. “They needed to know if this was something they should take to market. Is it durable? Is it able to handle different terrains?”

The answer? “They [the customers] were kind of fighting over this thing,” Cormier added. “They kept asking ‘when are they going to make this?’”

What’s Unique About the EDCO 18” Trencher?

Time-Saving

“The biggest thing we kept hearing was it just kept saving a lot of time,” Cormier added. “And the more time they [our customers] have to work, the more money in their pockets.”

Strong Propane, who worked the trencher on multiple jobs daily, was accustomed to digging trenches 18 inches deep and four inches wide by hand through varying terrains.

“He [Strong Propane] was able to book triple the jobs because of the time he was saving from having the machine,” noted Cormier. “My goal in the company is to make sure that I can make any job that my customer needs to do easier. And when I can provide a tool that saves time, it saves them money.”

Transportability 

In a world where bigger isn’t always better, the EDCO 18” Trencher offers customers a reprieve from large, cumbersome trenchers.

“They [our customers] were all looking for a smaller machine,” Cormier stated.

The EDCO product is easier to transport in a standard work truck or van and does not require a trailer, freeing up that expense or space for other equipment a customer might need to haul to a job site.

Lowering System

With a unique lowering system, the EDCO 18” Trencher is flexible and adaptable to meet the digging depth needs of any job.

“A lot of other trenchers on the market right now are more a lever and lower system where you squeeze the handle and lean it forward to lower it to dig,” Cormier noted. “EDCO’s is more of a spindle lever where you crank it down rather than lower it.”

The spindle system allows for reaching more accurate, specific depth levels because there aren’t predetermined grooves dictating where the machine can stop. So rather than options to dig up to 4, 8, or 12 inches, the EDCO 18” Trencher allows a user to reach any depth level in between. 

Ease of Maintenance

As part of the beta-testing agreement, the Kennebec Rentals team could work on the EDCO 18” trencher in their shop as if it were a part of their everyday rental fleet.

“EDCO wanted to know the ease of a maintenance crew working on it [the trencher] because they didn’t want to put a product out there that is hard to work on or that they’d have to constantly deal with new parts being needed,” Cormier said. “We’re not one of the big names when it comes to the national rentals, so we try and utilize every aspect we can to make sure we’re able to maintain our products and get them right back out. And that was part of EDCO’s quest – to learn how easy it was to work on.”

Cormier highlighted the EDCO team’s responsiveness to maintenance needs. Their R&D team addressed the minimal issues raised and sent a new part within 48 hours to fix the problem, accompanied by a detailed instruction manual on replacing the part.

What Issues Were Uncovered During Beta-Testing?

The instant, on-the-spot customer feedback allowed EDCO to swiftly address the two issues uncovered with the machine and troubleshoot quick solutions. 

Trench Width

Initially, the 18″ Trencher was set to dig 3 ½” wide trenches, leaving customers who needed a 4” wide trench to dig by hand to reach their final desired width. EDCO worked with the customer’s team to adjust the chains to be a bit wider and change the direction of the teeth, allowing for a width of up to 4.

“[EDCO] made it so that the customer didn’t have to do any extra leg work,” Cormier stated. “A three-hour job was turning into 10 minutes.”

Teeth Guard

“There was a little bit of growing pains with where they [EDCO] had mounted one of the teeth brackets,” Cormier said. “The customer found a weak point that would cut the shear pin and break off at that point because it was creating too much stress.”

Cormier worked directly with the EDCO team in charge of building the chains and shared a live video from a job site showing the issue with the initial design – how the guard wrapping over the top of the teeth was hitting the ground and bending up when the machine was digging.

EDCO immediately designed a new guard and shipped it to Kennebec Rentals to install on the machine. Cormier noted the replacement part thoroughly addressed the issue.

What Was the Final Outcome of the Beta-Testing?

From running lines for hot tubs to addressing runoff from underground trenches to drain water away from homes to digging for underground lines, the four beta-testing customers’ demand for the 18” trencher was so high that EDCO ultimately sent a second machine for Kennebec Rentals to utilize. 

“We were able to find the right partners that were able to utilize it [the trencher] in the way that it needed to be for EDCO so they could get the best result to make a really good product,” Cormier added.

“EDCO really utilized the information that we provided,” said Cormier. “They were seeing some value in what we were able to give them. Ultimately, my role was to make sure my customers had value, but also that EDCO felt they had gotten a piece of equipment into somebody’s hands that could provide them with exactly the feedback they needed.”

After months of four customers running over 110 total jobs, “we really had no complaints,” Cormier concluded. “It [the 18” trencher] was a dependable machine that our customers could count on so they could get their job done well. EDCO did a great job.”