Getting social with Shamrock Earthworks

by Nick Drew | Tue 04 Sep 2018

Getting social with Shamrock Earthworks

Social media has become a great place meet and engage with like minded plant and heavy machinery people around the world and during my visit to the Maskin Massan show in Stockholm earlier this year I was lucky enough to meet up with some of the guys from “across the pond” including Sean Coghlan.

36 year old Sean Coghlan founded his business, Shamrock Earthworks Ltd (formerly Shamrock Excavating Ltd) back in 2007, operating out of Calgary, Alberta in Western Canada. The company specializes in the construction of rock retaining walls, grading and landscaping projects but also offer a wide range of other excavating services. Sean's grandparents moved over to Canada from Ireland in the early 1950's and he still has a bunch of relatives living there, so he figured that with the Irish heritage and the rock work they do - Shamrock was a great name for his business!

Sean gave us a bit of background on how he got started, “In the 6 years prior to starting my business, I ran excavators for a number of different companies ranging from commercial landscapers to a deep water and sewer contractors before finally moving on to a mass excavation company. I didn't realize at the time but all the knowledge I gained in these different industries has been a great asset and showed me how versatile the excavator can be”.

Sean continued, “In 2006 I was building a golf course with the mass excavation company and I starting chatting with a guy who owned a small landscape company doing work near-by and I asked him, if he was to start his business over again, what would he do different He said "I wouldn't have waited so long to start my own thing" It was at that moment that I knew I had to give it a try”.

Sean started out with a pick-up truck, a fuel tank and a 5-tonne mini excavator which served him well in those early days of establishing himself and his business. Since those days Sean has bought and sold several pieces of equipment to meet his requirements on specific job, but today his focus is on the 14-tonne class Volvo ECR145DL compact radius hydraulic excavator which he purchased 3 years ago. Embracing modern technology Sean has recently added an Engcon tiltrotator system, several attachments and a Trimble Eartworks system. Sean also has a 6 tonne class excavator also from the Volvo stable, a John Deere compact tracked loader and a dump truck.

Talking about the all the new systems available Sean said, “Technology is changing every industry and earthworks is no exception. When it comes to innovation in any business, I believe you have to embrace change, continue to learn, and evaluate what will have the biggest impact on efficiency/productivity/and quality of what you are doing, we just have to move with the times its as simple as that”

“The majority of the work we currently take on are acreage projects that include basement excavation, septic install, residential road building (driveways) and all the contouring/retaining wall work on these jobs. The combination of the excavator, tiltrotator, and grade control has been a huge benefit and has increased the speed and quality of the services we provide”.

Summarizing and talking about the benefits that social media can bring when used correctly Sean said, “Social media platforms have been an amazing tool for sharing ideas and researching information about products and tools. I look forward to the future of both the industry and my business!” You can follow Sean and Shamrock Earthworks Ltd on; Instagram - @shamrockseanj LinkedIn- Sean Coghlan FB - Shamrock Earthworks Ltd The Digger Man Blog would like to thank Sean for getting in touch with us and sharing his material.

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