News of the quality and beauty of the Galena Stone dolomitic limestone (CaMg(CO3)2 + traces) produced by Hahn Quarry Products Inc. in Galena, Illinois, have spread throughout the nation. The small team of five produces high-end architectural veneers and landscaping stones in many different textures and hues. According to the owner, Bob Hahn, the quarry’s end products are second-to-none because of the care they take excavating and cutting all the various sizes and shapes of limestone products they sell.
“We’re fortunate to have wonderful material to work with,” explained Hahn. “However, raw material will only take a quarry so far; how it is excavated and processed is what drives growth. Since day one, we’ve been honing our methods to create beautiful natural stone products that catch people’s attention and last for many years to come.”
Quarry startup
Hahn and his business partner, Chris Timp, opened Hahn Quarry Products in 1990 after Northwest, Illinois, quarries began closing their doors. The two are lifelong friends, and Hahn also operates another business, Louie’s Trencher Service Inc., with Timp’s father. Meanwhile, Timp also owns a landscaping business that specializes in residential and commercial hardscapes.
According to Hahn, they opened the 146-acre (59.1-ha) quarry because gravel and landscaping rock was in short supply around the area. “We started by just clearing off a hill so we could produce a little bit of landscaping rock and gravel,” he explained. “As word got out about what we were doing, we had a lot more people calling us for material, so we built a shed, added a splitter and later invested in an inside saw and crusher, as well as a backhoe with rock saw attachment in order to expand the type of end products we could produce.”
Cutting limestone
Producing quality and consistently sized natural limestone products requires a lot of cutting — in the quarry and at the production shed. “Sizing and precise cutting in the quarry can save us a lot of time on the back end of the process,” said Hahn. “It also used to be a bit of a bottleneck because of the rock saw attachment and backhoe combination we were using. We just weren’t keeping up, and there were also a lot of breakdowns. It was frustrating, so we started looking for a better solution.”
His work in the construction industry led Hahn to look beyond the quarry industry for a solution to the company’s cutting issue. Through extensive research, he landed on a ride-on tractor with a rockwheel — a trencher setup commonly used to install underground utilities in challenging ground conditions. After talking with Matt Lind and Lucas Petrocci with Vermeer Midwest about his idea, a Vermeer RTX1250i2 ride-on utility tractor equipped with a rockwheel showed up at the quarry a few days later for a demo.
“This demo wasn’t the first time we tried out a rockwheel trencher at the quarry,” Hahn said. “We tested a smaller unit a few years ago but didn’t feel like we would be able to make enough gains in production to justify a change. However, when I saw Vermeer was introducing this tractor a few summers ago, I thought the specs might better align with our needs. And with several different rockwheel sizes to choose from, I thought we could probably come up with something that would work.”
The Vermeer RTX1250i2 Hahn demoed had a little smaller and wider rockwheel than the setup the company would eventually purchase. “Right out of the gate, we could tell the rockwheel trencher was going to work — now we just needed to decide what configuration we wanted,” said Hahn.
Machine configuration
Hahn, Timp and the quarry manager, Mike Hesselbacher, discussed everything they would like to be able to do with the RTX1250i2 before placing their order. “The tractor’s specs were what made me think the RTX1250i2 could handle the work, but its ability to quickly swap out attachments, have tracks for tires or add a cab peaked our interests,” explained Hahn. “We talked about how cool it would be able to cut rock in the dead of winter or the summer heat in a climate-controlled cab. We also decided tracks would give us the best traction in the quarry.”
The team also decided the Vermeer RW1252i2 center-mount rockwheel with a maximum cutting depth of 52.5 inches (133.4 cm) and a minimum cutting width of 4 inches (10.2 cm) was the best configuration for their needs. “This rockwheel gave us the ability to make deeper cuts faster than our backhoe and rock saw attachment setup could do,” said Hahn. “We’ve doubled our cutting speeds.”
In addition to operating more efficiently, Hahn said there is much less airborne dust created by the rockwheel. The company’s rock saw attachment didn’t have any shielding around the blade, so a lot of dust was kicked up as it cut. “The Vermeer rockwheel is much cleaner to run — the material from the cut usually just lays down next to the blade,” noted Hahn.
Support matters
While there were many reasons behind Hahn Quarry Products’ decision to explore alternative solutions to their former rock saw attachment, maintenance and downtime were the two areas that stuck out the most. “I’m not sure if it was an excavator or attachment issue, but we burned through a lot of hydraulic pumps on our rock saw attachment,” Hahn said. “Every time a pump went out or a blade needed to be replaced, we would be down for days because the parts had to be shipped from overseas. It was costing us a lot of money and causing a lot of delays. We needed a better equipment partner.”
The three businesses Hahn and Timp operate require a massive amount of equipment, and experience has taught them which companies provide reliable parts and service. The partners both agree that the team at Vermeer Midwest ranks among the best they’ve worked with. “Their team wants to see our company be successful — that’s a quality that goes beyond just selling a machine or delivering a part. They are invested in us, and we like that.”
Looking ahead
While using a machine designed to cut rock for utility installation work is a bit unconventional, it proved to be just what Hahn Quarry Products needed to operate more efficiently. The team’s out-of-the-box thinking is now helping the company keep up with the growing demand for its high-end limestone products.
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