When asked about the most essential tool for his business, Avanti Plumbing & Drains of Royersford, Pennsylvania, owner Anthony Tosco is quick to answer.

“We have an attachment; it’s called a tiltrotator (engcon). This rotator was a $70,000 investment,” he says, adding that when his wife saw the price that she probably wanted to kill him.

But Tosco says he believes it’s one of the best pieces of equipment he has ever invested in. The tiltrotator attaches to the boom of an excavator and allows the bucket — or any other type of attachment — to rotate without having to move the excavator itself. An attachment can rotate 360 degrees and tilt at plus or minus 45 degrees with the tiltrotator tool.

Fuel savings

As the engcon website states, with the tiltrotator you can work in narrow spaces without having to move the machine, and attachments are changed out easily and quickly. It performs tasks with fewer movements and changes of position that allows for both fuel and time savings using an excavator equipped with a tiltrotator compared to one without. According to engcon, an excavator with a tiltrotator consumes 20% less fuel.

Tosco says he’s grateful he learned of the tiltrotator when he was following elite hardscrapers online.

“I like technology but not technology that takes away from people,” Tosco says. “When I started to consider this piece, I went up to New York, visited a big excavation company and was able to use it.”

Tiltrotator models from engcon are available for machines ranging from 1.5 to 33 metric tons.

Efficient digging

Tosco says he’s logged about 1,000 hours on the tiltrotator since acquiring it nearly three years ago.

“For an operator, this makes it so fun,” Tosco says. “Not only does it make it easier for the guys, but think about your arm. You don’t have an elbow. You don’t have a wrist. You have a shoulder. That would be a great analogy. Now, imagine you’re able to stay in a more fixed position, you’re able to dig the opposite way. It’s just amazing.

“I invested in this because it saves the men’s backs,” Tosco adds. “If you are replacing a sewer, there’s a good bit of hand shoveling that takes place. We’ve probably cut that down by 80% to 90%. What I’m able to do with this tool, sometimes I’m doing the work of three or four guys. It’s a complete game-changer.”