Xtreme's Rugged Reliability
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| During assembly, Southwest Product's Tom Haney (left) and Don Ahern are shown with a Perkins 1104C-44TA engine installed on an Xtreme model. |
April 6, 2005 • Don Ahern is no stranger to challenges. His first was taking over Ahern Rentals, the family equipment rental business, and expanding it into one of the biggest independent rental firms in the Southwest. Then he decided to acquire the assets of a West Coast rough terrain forklift business in order to have his own manufacturing company, and he attacked the challenge with the same careful planning and determination he had used to build Ahern Rentals,
“Actually, we couldn't have picked a much more difficult time to get into lift equipment manufacturing,” Ahern said. “In 2002, the year we started Xtreme Manufacturing, the market was predicted to decline by 20 percent or more nationally. And it did.”
But the company's strategy was to build a high-quality product offering the lowest overall cost of ownership and minimum downtime. The company's telehanders have a steeper initial purchase price than their competitors, but “we deliver a rugged, reliable, long-lived product that will meet [the customer's] needs for 20 years or more,” says Ahern
Xtreme's XRM-945 telehandler is a case in point. Like all Xtreme telehandlers, it weighs about a ton more than its competition because, as Ahern says, “we simply use more steel—1-1/4” plate on the body, 1/2-inch steel on the booms.” In addition, the company uses rollers rather than wear pads on the booms in order to reduce wear and maintenance.
Ahern's commitment to quality and Xtreme's reputation for rugged reliability are key reasons Perkins diesel power was selected as standard equipment. The XRM-945 and its larger siblings, the XRM-1145 and XRM-1157, are powered by Perkins 1104C-44TA turbocharged and air-to-air charged 4.4 liter, four-cylinder diesels. The XRM-945 uses an engine rated at 108 hp and the larger machines use a 122 hp version.
“We had a lot of experience with Perkins engines in our rental machines,“ Ahern explains, “and we are well satisfied with their quality and performance, as well as their reliability under the rugged conditions encountered by rental equipment. Folks who rent equipment tend to work it hard and not pay much attention to things like maintenance. Perkins engines delivers under those rugged circumstances year after year, and that's one of the reasons you'll find them on Xtreme machines today.”
Almost as important is the support Ahern's Perkins Master Distributor, Southwest Products of Phoenix, provides. According to Ahern, “Tom Haney of Southwest Products and Dave Rossman, the Perkins regional sales manager, have been key players in helping us develop our new product line.
Don Ahern's vision and commitment to quality has been supported by the market's acceptance of Xtreme's products. Business has been good and the company has moved into a brand new manufacturing complex adjacent to the Ahern Rental complex in
“There is always a market for quality,” says Ahern. “Solid machines, best-in-class components, and customer-focused service are what got us here.”
