When it comes to landclearing or debris clean-up, there’s not much that Rick Warner, owner of Warner Services, won’t tackle.

“We try to work with our customers as best we can,” said Warner.

This credo is part of the reason the Lancaster County, PA, company has been able to complete local and regional jobs; or even jobs as far away as Louisiana where they were doing some debris clean-up from Hurricane Katrina.

Warner owns an approximately 900-hp Hogzilla tub grinder, which is powered by a Caterpillar 3412 engine. He used the machine on the Gulf Coast job site when trying to dispose of the 150,000 cu. yds. of material left in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

Warner and his wife, Cindy, packed up their camper, went down to Louisiana and remained on various job sites for approximately two months.

He also brought his Caterpillar 318C LN excavator and 953C track loader, which were purchased from Cleveland Brothers, to break and move debris.

According to Warner, the most challenging aspect of the Louisiana job was gathering debris in wet conditions because the fields were not draining quickly.

The 318C LN excavator also includes a Rockland stump splitter attachment used to split wood before it goes to the grinder.

Warner has enjoyed the production from his Cat equipment.

“I run them everyday and the Cat machines work good for me . . . I don’t think there is any other loader,” he said.

Back in Pennsylvania, Warner had tackled many jobs — most of them for homebuilders and excavators who want to prepare their sites for construction.

Whenever a developer or builder buys a piece of land and does not realize the amount of land that needs clearing, Warner is ready to step in.

Warner Services has worked for three months at a time on jobs in York, PA, and northern Maryland, in addition to sites around the company’s home base in Willow Street, Lancaster County, PA.

Over the past five or six years, Warner’s business has grown from its original agricultural operation. The company did mostly agricultural work and began landclearing jobs when the crops were in the ground and he was looking for work.

Now with his wife, Cindy, and son, Kenny, Warner is able to partner with many local contractors and keep the land clearing jobs coming.

Having a relationship with local Caterpillar dealer Cleveland Brothers has benefited up-and-coming small businesses like Warner Services.

“I like that I call Ryan [Coder — Cleveland Brothers sales representative] and say that I need something and he takes care of everything,” said Warner. “Caterpillar works well with us and that means a lot to somebody like me who is not a multimillion dollar business.”

With the company’s mix of equipment and determination to get the job done, Warner Services may not be the multimillion dollar business, but it is on the right track.

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