Gorilla Hammers of Randolph, Mass., the attachment division of Tech Hydraulics, does not believe in taking shortcuts, according to Robert “Bob” Tedesco, president and CEO.
“My father started the family business in the 1940s by repairing gas pumps and other petroleum delivery equipment. My big brother took over at the age of seventeen when my father passed away suddenly. He expanded products and services to offer hydraulic and pneumatic sales and repairs to the automotive, industrial and mobile equipment markets. When my brother Joe left in 1979 to pursue a career in auctioneering, we incorporated as Tech Hydraulics and continued to expand product lines and services in response to the demand of our customers.”
In the late 1990s, an emerging trend in the construction industry gave Tedesco an idea for a growth opportunity that would take advantage of the company’s hydraulic expertise.
Tedesco explained, “An increasingly dense population and far more stringent controls since 9/11 had dealt a severe blow to the blasting industry. At this time, New England was experiencing rapid development of residential and commercial real estate. These factors, combined with the area’s geologically rocky makeup, rendered the hydraulic hammer an essential tool in the construction industry.”
He added, “We repaired them for years, but demand really began to build around the year 2000. Our problem was that if units were irreparable, we had to refer sales to other outlets.”
In response, Tedesco launched a new division of the company. Called “Gorilla Hammers”, it would be dedicated solely to providing all makes and models of hydraulic hammers as well as the parts and service to support them.
This new venture would require retraining employees, acquiring new service and technical tools, securing new vendors and stocking a much more expensive product.
Tedesco needed logistical and operational support to handle the challenges in sales and marketing for the new venture.
He called upon his nephew, Joseph Tedesco, to fill the role.
“Joe had impressed me from childhood with his personal discipline, optimism and ability to learn anything quickly. His broad educational background and diverse work history made him a natural choice for such an undertaking.”
A short four years after Joe was brought in as a partner, Bob’s vision for Gorilla Hammers has grown by leaps and bounds, according to the company.
Joe explained, “In our infancy we were buying from middle merchants, stocking only the essential products and struggling to make a name for ourselves locally.
“Gorilla Hammers now purchases primarily from manufacturers in Germany, Italy and Korea and stocks a two-million-dollar inventory of hydraulic breaker tools and parts for all makes and models. We also added a rental fleet of excavators equipped with hydraulic hammers and built strong national sales, spearheaded by our Web site. Globally we have sold hammers and parts throughout the entire Western Hemisphere and recently [we] began trading with Western Europe and Africa.
“Most recently we have introduced our own ’Gorilla Hydraulic Breaker’ line of hydraulic hammers. These breakers have been utilized in our rental fleet for over five years and for each one sold, we stock a complete inventory of wear components to minimize customers’ downtime. Our direct involvement with the manufacturer allows us to control the product better, match prices with any legitimate competitor and offer an attractive package our dealers can profit from.”
In addition to strong marketing and aggressive vendor sourcing, Gorilla Hammers has taken great pains to ensure that its customers receive the best service and technical expertise the industry has to offer, according to the company.
Its service facility’s employees alone possess more than 60 years of hydraulic experience. Each hydraulic hammer the company rebuilds is run on a test stand. In addition to its ability to finance large hammer repairs, Gorilla Hammers also offers a large stock of rebuilt and “0 hour” hydraulic hammers of various makes and models.
Gorilla Hammers’s rental fleet rarely supplies operators for its hammer-equipped excavators. Hence, its hammers must be capable of operating in the most abusive and neglectful environments. This creates a need for rigorous field-testing for all of Gorilla Hammers’s products. In addition, it allows Gorilla to see the pitfalls of hydraulic breaker usage through the eyes of a site contractor.
Finally, employees entrusted with selling Gorilla’s hydraulic breakers are required to spend time in the field and service facility and are able to walk a customer through basic hydraulic hammer maintenance and troubleshooting as well as installation.
“Most hydraulic hammer outlets sell the hammer as an afterthought to their primary product, be it a backhoe, mini or excavator. To our company, the hydraulic hammer or breaker is our marquis product and we treat it accordingly,” said Bob Tedesco.
“We will not take any shortcuts in providing hydraulic hammers, parts or service. We will decline any sale where we feel our hammer or part will not perform reliably and safely in the customer’s application. We pledge to provide the customer with a superior hydraulic hammer, the parts and service to support all makes and models and the technical knowledge and expertise required to achieve the longest service life possible.”
This has led to Tech Hydraulics’s Gorilla Division doubling its annual sales over the last four years.
Gorilla hopes its passion for hydraulic hammers and breakers and its refusal to compromise lead to continued success.
For more information, call 781/986-3905 or visit www.gorillahammers.com.
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