Howard Stott Demolition: Quality Services Powered by Worsley Plant Equipment

Howard Stott Demolition have been changing the landscape of towns and cities of the UK for over half a century. Over this time, Howard has used a variety of machines and attachments and at the age of 71, still prides himself on having the ability to know a decent bit of kit when he sees one.

“Even though I have stepped back from the day to day operations, I will always take a huge interest in the kit we purchase.” Howard commented. “I still have all my tickets up to date and will happily spend a day or two on site helping the teams out when required. I appreciate the work the lads have to do on a daily basis and try and make sure we purchase the best equipment we can.”

One of the latest jobs the company is currently undertaking is the demolition of some of the older buildings on the Wigan and Leigh College campus. Working for main contractor Wilmott Dixon, Stott have recently completed a substantial soft strip and asbestos removal program prior to the structural demolition works.

To ensure they and their client meet the tight deadlines, Stott have deployed their flagship CAT 352 high reach machine and a slightly smaller 340 with straight boom.

Working from the gable end of the three storey teaching block, the CAT 340 was easily able to reach the top of the flat roofed building quickly pulling it down and piling the material in front of it to create a stable platform on which to operate. The benefit of the Lehnhoff system comes to the fore with operator Neil regularly alternating between processor and bucket as he worked his way into the building.

On the other side of the building Director Ryan Noon was filling in on the 352 high reach and tackling a former plant room situated on top of the original brick built structure. Whilst the 28m high reach could have been considered overkill for the structure, having the ability to stand a safe distance away from the potential of slipping tin sheeting made it the correct choice. Utilising one of the Rotar RG30N selector grabs Ryan carefully removed the tin sheeting before folding it and placing it into an adjacent scrap bin. With the steel sheeting removed and the area in front of the building cleaned, Ryan quickly swapped the Rotar grab for a steel shear to carefully cut down and five-foot the steel frame. The arrival of an empty bin allowed another swap of attachments back to the Rotar grab for Ryan to load it up with some of the processed steel. Once loaded, a beam was picked up and used to scrape the area clean before the demolition work continued. “We like to keep on top of the housekeeping.” Howard explains. “It makes segregating materials easier and also makes the job site safer.”

With the steel out of the way, Ryan swapped the grab for a Rotar RDP25S pulveriser before Site Supervisor Dave Coppock connected the site’s water supply to the bespoke water suppression system built onto the CAT. “We designed the dust suppression system with Worsley who have built the system for us.” Howard explained. “We have used a stainless steel tank which we have built into a sturdy frame and fitted it onto the top of the engine cover. The tank and frame are easily removable should we need to access the engine and can be tipped out of the way for routine servicing. The tank has been fitted with a fixed stainless steel pipe which is routed over the engine and protrudes out of the sill just in front of the counterweight. Worsley’s engineers have fitted it with a hydraulic pump to more than adequately supply a spray of water over both sides of the attachment whenever we need it.”

With the RDP fitted, Ryan quickly makes inroads into the building’s convex reinforced concrete roof using the attachment’s powerful jaws to break up the concrete and the integrated shear blades to take care of the mesh of reinforcing bars. After just a few minutes of work, the CAT and Rotar combination had almost completely removed the concrete roof structure and many of the former supporting walls. Ryan echoed Howard’s comments on the Rotar equipment the company use; “They are very well made bits of kit and can handle any of the work we need them on.”

Strong Supplier Partnerships

The relationship built over the years between the Stott and Worsley team has given the demolition contractor the confidence to heavily rely on the variety of products sold by the Middlewich dealer. “We have a great relationship with the Worsley team which has been built on their willingness to invest in their service and back up they offer the industry.” Howard commented. “We could go to other dealers and invest in their attachments and still be able to undertake our operations. It is when we have an issue with anything that we know that Worsley have our backs. Their attention to detail is excellent and they always have a ready supply of spares and consumables when we need it. They will even go the extra mile and source spares for brands they don’t deal in when the supplying dealer can’t.”