Contractor Appreciates New Holland’s EC215LC After Leasing Before Purchase

Wed February 13, 2002
Aggregate Equipment Guide

Whether someone is building a home or purchasing a piece of equipment, it is important to pay attention to details.

When Tony Barone, owner of Anthony C. Barone General Contracting, builds a subdivision, he always pays attention to details.

Building subdivisions and homes for more than 20 years has given Barone insight into the performance of the equipment the company uses.

As the only local company that performs both land development and home building, Barone and his employees do the majority of the work. It subcontracts very little of the work.

Performing a wide range of tasks requires a fully-equipped fleet of construction equipment. For this reason, Barone owns approximately 20 pieces of heavy equipment including: shredders, dozers and excavators. He knows his equipment well and insists on quality and value when making a purchase. That’s why he chose to buy a New Holland EC215LC crawler excavator from Niagara Frontier Equipment Sales.

Weighing in at 47,000 lbs. (21,319 kg), the EC215 is one of New Holland’s newer crawler excavator models — one of the largest offered for general contractors. With a 133-hp (99 kW) engine, the EC215 has a maximum dig depth of approximately 22 ft. (6.7 m).

Barone leased the EC215 excavator for a month, before he decided to purchase it. He’d never owned a New Holland excavator before and wanted to test it in the field before making a decision.

When the month was over, the EC215 became part of Barone’s fleet because he liked the overall structure and design of the excavator. “Accessibility for all the components is phenomenal,” he said, “and it requires very low maintenance.”

Barone believed the excavator was a good buy not only because of its ease of use, but because it would maintain its resale value over the years. Another reason for his purchase decision was the attention Barone received from Niagara Frontier.

“I knew that New Holland made an excellent line of equipment,” he said, “but the most important factor was the salesperson. He came out with owner of the company and talked to me.

“As the owner of my company, I go out and meet people when I’m building their houses. It’s the same thing with Niagara Frontier. They knew everything that had to be known about the equipment and spent a lot of time with me.”

Keith Hetrick, the Niagara Frontier salesman who worked with Barone, introduced the contractor to New Holland equipment.

“We took care of any issues he had, made sure he had the right financing and made sure the machine was delivered on time,” Hetrick said. “We also have training available for the maintenance and operation of the machine.”

Because of the performance of the New Holland EC215 excavator and the service he received, Barone recently purchased a New Holland DC100 dozer and a New Holland 555E TLB to add to his fleet.

This story also appears on Construction Equipment Guide.