If you’ve ever seen scrapers in action, you know how fast they can move dirt.
They come in two main varieties: self-propelled and pull-type.
On this episode of The Dirt, we hear about the benefits of pull-type scrapers from K.A. Group, owner of K-Tec, Ashland and Metalcraft models.
Compared to self-powered scrapers, towable models cost less to purchase, require less maintenance and protect resell value, according to our guest, Shane Kroeker, K.A. Group director of strategic initiatives. They also offer advantages over traditional excavator-haul truck operations you might not have considered.
The K.A. brands offer a variety of sizes of scrapers, from those that can be pushed by compact track loaders to the large models that can be pulled by articulated dump trucks – even towing more than one scraper at a time.
So to find out more about how pull-type scrapers can benefit your earthmoving operations, check out the latest episode of The Dirt.
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In This Episode:
00:00 - K.A. Group Scrapers
00:39 - What Kind of Scrapers Does K.A. Group Offer?
01:38 - Towable Scrapers vs. Traditional Motor Scrapers
05:42 - How Difficult is it to Convert an ADT to Tow a Scraper?
09:33 - Do Towable Scrapers Perform Better?
10:51 - Why Use Scrapers Instead of Dump Trucks with an Excavator?
13:14 - Final Thoughts

Video Transcript:
Bryan Furnace:
Today, we're here to talk about scrapers, but not the big self-powered units. We're here to talk about the pull-pans. If you're not familiar with K.A. Group, you will be here soon. They are the manufacturers of the product lines of K-Tec, Ashland, and Metalcraft: three different product lines that serve different areas of the industry. Shane is here to talk with us today about all three product lines and what they can possibly do for your company.
So my first question is: For those not familiar with K.A. Group's kind of product line, can you give us an overview of the product line and then the industries that they serve, the different segments?
Shane Kroeker:
Absolutely, yeah. So the K.A. Group is comprised of three brands. We have the K-Tec brand, the Ashland brand, and Metalcraft. So the K-Tec brand is very much focused in the heavy construction, mining, quarrying industry. Really robust machines, premium product, a three-year structural warranty on those heavy-duty scraper equipment.
The Ashland brand is more so in the industrial construction, we'd call it, as well as the agriculture sector as well. Nice solid one-year warranty on that.
Metalcraft brand: Again, that's a little bit more of a niche market there. It's more catered towards the land-leveling contractors. Really popular in that Southern Mississippi Delta area as well.
So those are our high-level three different brands that we have under the K.A. Group.
Bryan Furnace:
Gotcha. So one of the questions I've always wondered is what are some of the advantages behind these standalone pull-behind pans, versus the traditional scrapers that everybody knows in the industry that are self-powered units?
Shane Kroeker:
One of the major advantages that we have is that it's really a lower capital investment. You can get in a full scraper machine attached to a tractor or a truck at a lower capital investment than the traditional self-powered motor scrapers in the market, so that's one of the major advantages there. You can move a lot of dirt. You've got less maintenance as well, so that's the other benefit to the machines too. Very few grease points. We want to have you moving dirt as fast as you can, instead of having to constantly maintain those machines too. So that's one of the major benefits there too.
Another unique way that we can use our machines is that you can actually split our machines up so we're not connected as a purpose-built scraper machine. We have the pull-pan plus the power unit, so you can actually split those apart, and then you have a minimal downtime in that, actually, as well. So if your tractor or your truck is down, you can swap it out with a different power unit and get on moving as well. So that's one of the other major advantages there.
And then circling all in all, you're looking at a better resale value at the end of your investment, as well, because you can again split those machines up, sell the scraper separately, sell the truck or tractor separately, instead of having this one purpose-built machine that really depreciates over time. And it's hard to really get that extra value out of those machines, as well, as you see, at the end of life...