Will Conklin, CEO of Nescon LLC, which manufactures the XBroom, attributes the sweeper’s popularity with the paving company to ease of operation, service and maintenance.
(XBroom photo)
Sweeping is simple right? Well, that depends.
When it comes to pushing a broom, it certainly is, but with mechanical sweeping in a milling environment, it's not always easy.
An Arizona-based manufacturer of a pickup broom designed for heavy-duty, high production sweeping is simplifying the sweeping process in both operation and maintenance with its XBroom sweeper.
Nescon LLC began limited production of the XBroom in 2009, and since then, word of the product has spread rapidly through the paving and milling industry, according to Will Conklin, CEO of the Mesa-based company.
"Simplicity is built into every aspect of the machine's design," Conklin said. "Keeping things simple has been our focus from the beginning, in both operation and maintenance. Two access doors and all hydraulic lines and electrical components are right there where you can see and work on them. We purposely have them exposed and not hidden in the frame. We wanted everything to be easy to get to and easy to maintain, from hydraulic manifolds down to electric boxes."
Operating the XBroom is as simple as "turn on the PLC, turn on the PTO and push down the joystick," Conklin added. "There are no added buttons, gadgets or levers necessary to perform the sweeping operation."
Contractor Origins
John Nesbitt was a paving contractor, but he realized he didn't have a passion for the paving business. He was a natural inventor living in the production-oriented world of paving and realized his true calling was creating solutions to problems he experienced in his business every day, according to Conklin.
In 2007, Conklin, who had been working as a bartender in the college town of Tempe, talked Nesbitt into giving him a job — as a janitor. At the time, recalled Conklin, that's about all his resume qualified him for.
"Like most companies in 2008, they were laying people off and I would learn a new job and just tell John [Nesbitt] to pay me the same rate," Conklin said. "By 2009, I was shop lead as we built the first prototypes of John's answer to the sweeping challenges he faced in the paving business.
"At the time, we had probably 10 milling machines — some older CMI machines and some Wirtgen and Roadtec machines," he added. "For sweepers, we had what was available at the time. It seemed like we had more issues with the sweeping process than the actual paving. When a machine went down, which was a frequent occurrence, there was always difficulty getting support. Just getting someone on the phone was difficult."
Sweeping millings is essential, and when that's not happening, it holds up the entire process.
The issues with sweepers were numerous, recalled Conklin.
"The most common were hydraulic and electronic issues," he said. "But there were a lot of mechanical issues, too."
Nesbitt and his team were keen to address the most common problems they were experiencing as they continued to develop what would become the XBroom, while putting it into service on paving jobs. Conklin split his time between the shop and the job site, acting as milling/pavement recycling foreman and lead technician in the shop.
Soon, two prototypes were in service, and it didn't take long for word to get out that a contractor had built his own sweeper.
"We started getting calls from major contractors about it fairly soon," Conklin said. "It was sort of ‘we heard you produced your own sweeper, and it might be something we'd be interested in.' From that point on, it was organic growth. We began to get orders almost immediately."
The first XBroom was built in a single bay in Tempe and, understandably, competitors in the sweeping space thought it would just go away, Nesbitt remembered.
"We operated in very cramped quarters until we moved into this facility [current Mesa plant] in 2014. There were just three of us at the beginning — myself, Will [Conklin] and my son, Chris."
Today, XBrooms are on milling jobs throughout the United States. They are in use and promoted by industry leaders like the Stanleys of American Paving Specialists (APS) and Raised on Blacktop fame. APS President Bill Stanley credits XBroom with delivering his company's milling division from "broom hell."
XBroom Difference
- Time and money. Contractors' challenges vary, according to Conklin, but in the case of APS, the problem was time. They were limited in the amount of milling they could perform daily because they were held up by sweeping the millings.
"Rather than having three pieces of equipment and five guys, they can do the job with one piece of equipment and one guy," said Conklin.
Traditional brooms typically require a skid steer to pick up millings that have been swept. The XBroom picks the millings up, puts in in the self-contained hopper and hauls it off.
- Availability of support. Conklin touts his company's 24-hour technical support service.
"We answer the phone, and we offer a rapid solution," he said. "Advanced self-diagnostics are also utilized."
- Accessible and adjustable. All controls and adjustments are visible from the easily accessible rear doors. Adjustments to the main broom (angle and pressure) and elevator allow for picking up much larger millings than other sweepers, according to Conklin.
- Ease of operation. The XBroom requires a single operator, and no manual sweeping. According to Conklin, the broom can sweep 30 percent more than competitor brooms in the same amount of time.
Sweeping should be as easy as pushing a hand broom. As the cliché goes, necessity is the mother of invention and simplicity is often the foundation of a new, successful idea. John Nesbitt, Will Conklin and their team understood that and together their XBroom continues to help contractors do their jobs more easily and efficiently.
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