The 2019 National Gas Rodeo, organized by MEA Energy Association and sponsored in part by CASE Construction Equipment, held its annual two- and four-person team championship events September 19^th – 21^st in Independence, Missouri.

The 2019 overall Rodeo champions in the two-person category were the Methane Rangers (Jason Ficke, Jimmy Barnard, Kevin Fahnestock [alternate]) of Spire Missouri East. Last year’s champions, Lil’ Gashouse Gang (Stephen Bouse, Barry Hicks, Jeff Bush [alternate]) also from Spire Missouri East took second place, while The Legends (Derrik Hogland, Daniel Young, Britt Taunton [alternate], Brett Goggans [alternate]) from Spire Alabama took third place.

Equipment rental companies can typically be put into one of three categories:

• Large national rental company with large equipment
• Medium regional rental company with general equipment
• Small local rental company with key pieces of equipment

So, what is it that smaller rental companies need to grow their fleets? Specifically, what does a small company need to know if they want to grow not only their business, but also the size of their equipment fleet? There are some key observations that can help answer that question:

The CASE TV450 compact track loader has garnered the attention of two of the construction equipment industry’s leading publications. The TV450 has recently been named one of the Contractors’ Top 50 New Products of 2019 by Equipment Today magazine, and has earned a 2019 Editor’s Choice Award from Green Industry Pros.

Equipment Today’s 2019 Contractors’ Top 50 New Products is the construction industry’s only award program based specifically on end-user input. It is compiled based on user engagement from Equipment Today magazine and ForConstructionPros.com over a 12-month period.

The construction equipment industry is seeing innovative new developments across all categories that are changing the way we work, and crawler dozers—once considered one of the more difficult machines to master—have now become considerably simpler to operate.

The key trends that are driving innovation in the crawler dozer category are centered primarily around operator experience—and this goes beyond comfortable cabs and easy-to-use controls.

CASE Construction Equipment has upgraded its F Series compact wheel loader lineup with new adjustable electro-hydraulic controls. This added functionality allows operators to adjust the responsiveness of the lift and tilt bucket functions for improved control and efficiency on the jobsite.

Lift and tilt settings can now be adjusted with two new 3-way rocker switches (high, medium, low) mounted on the side console, allowing operators to adjust the responsiveness of the loader lift arms independently of the attachment tilt functions. These new programmable settings allow operators to program the machine’s response based on their personal preferences, or to better meet the demands of the job at hand.

CASE Construction Equipment has named Steve Cianci as its new Vice President for North America. Cianci joins CASE with more than 25 years of leadership at various global heavy equipment and industrial companies — most recently with Kalmar USA, Inc.

Michel Marchand, who previously held the position, left in August to pursue new opportunities.

Tidewater Equipment has joined the CASE Construction Equipment dealer network and will represent the manufacturer in 42 counties spanning western and southern Georgia. The dealer will sell and service CASE equipment out of its Tifton, Smithville and Pinehurst locations, serving the landscaping, general construction, forestry and agricultural markets.

“The southeast is growing, it’s critical to the construction market now and for years to come, and Tidewater provides us a strong and established partner to support CASE equipment owners in the region,” says Brian Weisbaum, director of dealer development — North America, CASE Construction Equipment. “They’ve fully embraced our work by supporting causes we believe in such as Team Rubicon, and the leadership, sales and service staff give CASE a new and reliable partner in the region.”

CASE Construction Equipment has named its 2019 “Diamond Dealer” and “Gold Dealer” award recipients as part of its North American Construction Equipment Partnership Program. The awards recognize dealerships across the US and Canada for excellence in five categories including sales performance, marketing and communications, product support, parts support and training.

The 2019 Diamond Dealer award winners are: ASCO Equipment (Texas), Beauregard Equipment Inc. (Maine, Vt., N.H.), Crawler Supply Company (La.), Groff Tractor (Pa., Md., N.J.), HiTrac (1974) Inc. (Winnipeg, Manitoba), J.R. Brisson Equipment (Ontario), Kucera Group (Ontario), Longus Equipment Inc. (Quebec), McCann Industries Inc. (Ill., Ind., Mich.), Medico Industries Inc. (Pa.), Nueces Power Equipment (Texas), Redhead Equipment (Saskatchewan) and State Equipment Inc. (W. Va., Ky.).