K & D Land Improvement, a small family-owned business, built its business around a love of Iowa land, powered by mini loaders and accessories for septic tanks and other high-capacity jobs, to keep the company growing.
For Iowa contractor Dan For Hanson, the love of land was enough to motivate him and HIS WIFE TO START K & D Land Improvement Projects, which focus on timber and grassland conservation. Although the company offers a wide range of services, Hanson’s favorite job is to focus on the environment.
Hansen and his wife, Karen (“K”FOR K & D Land Improvement) , started the company in 2003. Over the next 18 years, K & D Services Expanded to land conservation and restoration, including clearing trees and shrfor private landowners and the Ministry of Natural Resources; repairing field tiles; and implementing soil and water conservation measures, such as saturated buffer zones and Bioreactor; installation of septic tanks; demolition; street cleaning and sewer works.
While Hanson is committed to any K & D project, the effort resonates differently. “I actually grew up in the woods not far from here,”he says, working on timber improvement in his hometown of Lehigh, where the company is based. “We’ve found a niche for versatility and services like sewers are necessary, but I’d rather work on wood. That’s me.”
Equipment and dealer support can fuel growth
The Hansens have a son, and Zach’s been working with his father since college, and their two daughters are out of the game.
“It’s just my wife, me and our son.”There’s nothing smaller than that,”Hanson said. “But we have great equipment. This is our livelihood.”This is my business. This is my desk.
Hansen started using a different brand of slide loader, then established a relationship with capital equipment, which he leased, then rented one, and finally bought a Bobcat 773 slide loader. The company now has a T770 mini crawler loader (CTL) , their 10th Bobcat crawler loader, as well as an E63 mini excavator and MT50 mini crawler loader.
While the equipment itself may have been his bread and butter, the dealership service definitely helped Hanson strike a deal. He said, if it wasn’t for Bobcats, I wouldn’t be in this business my dealers are doing everything they can to help me move on.
Building strong timber and clearing the land
K & D’s service covers the full range of bobcat machines and accessories, outfitting its three machines with 20 bobcat accessories. The Hanson consider their root grappling hook to be the most versatile accessory they have, since they can be used for a variety of jobs.
The T770 forestry tool and application kit has proven to be very effective in timber restoration and land clearance. “Forest cutters are perfect for this kind of work,”Hanson says. “Safety and protection, you get a taxi with special doors and windows and different security… it’s a real accessory to doing the work and can be a cruel machine.”
In particular, the size and strength of the T770 loader, he added, “We can’t leave a huge footprint on most construction sites, and the Bobcat is definitely the toughest of these machines.”
Hanson Calls Bobcat’s engineers and dealerships salespeople “Understanding”when it comes to machine and accessory innovation, especially for his primary job type. “They kept updating and improving,”he said. “But they ‘got’my business, got what I needed.”
But Hansen recognizes that making the most of a machine requires the commitment of its owner and operator. Therefore, he insisted on preventive maintenance of the equipment. “Given the investments and their importance to the business, you have to take care of them,”he stressed.
Protecting the future
K & D Land Improvement Corporation has gained a high reputation in this area without any formal advertising. In fact, it has many repeat customers, especially those related to wood improvement and restoration.
A landowner near the Lehigh Bush Creek State Recreation Area Spent 15 of K & D’s 18 years in the employ of a company to help clear and maintain his land. Although customers mark trees and shrfor removal, as a Natural Resources Conservation Service commissioner, Hanson can help select trees and shrfor removal or retention according to the National Forest Service standards. Kellen, a conservationist at the Webster County, could also help.
Hansen appreciates his neighbors and customers as much as he and Karen Care about this land.
“I’m not a politician, but protection is important,”he said. “We have to focus on our natural resources and protect and preserve what we have. We can do this together, but everyone needs to do their own thing.”
