It’s one of the most common stories in the construction industry—a couple of friends who’ve worked together for years decide to strike out on their own. That’s exactly what John Foster, his son Shayne Foster and Shawn O’Reilly did four years ago when they started SWJ Tractor Service, which completes all kinds of grading and excavating work.

John and Shawn, who are both equipment operators, complete all of the work, although John will add people as SWJ Tractor gets bigger jobs. Shayne is the company owner. John’s wife, Wendy, works in the office in Chula Vista in the San Diego area, as well as helps clean the equipment at the end of the day.

John says that when they first started out, they did just about anything to get work, including hauling trash and cleaning out people’s yards.

SWJ Tractor Service excavates with their CAT 304C mini excavator on the Ecology Auto Wrecking project.
 

 

 

 



(Below) SWJ Tractor Service moves dirt with their CAT 257 Multi Terrain Loader at the Ecology Wrecking site. (Above Pictures) SWJ Tractor Service has completed a variety of projects at the auto junkyard using their compact equipment including; digging pits, bringing in loads of rock and grading.

“It hasn’t always been easy, but slowly and surely we’re getting good work and a good clientele,” John says. “We’re getting busier and busier all the time.”

John says SWJ Tractor owes much of its success to a couple of key contacts that have both given them work and recommended them to others. Stehly Bros. Drilling has given SWJ Tractor work in many of the company’s slow times. SWJ typically drills water wells for Stehly Bros., as well as destroys old wells and excavates the paths for the water tanks. But, John says, for three months in 2005 they put SWJ Tractor to work at their 1,000-acre ranch in Valley Center during a slow period.

Jim Thompson from Thompson Electric has also steered a lot of work SWJ’s way. “Having contacts like Stehly Bros. and Jim Thompson is like being given a gift from heaven,” John explains. “We’ve just met a lot of good people who have become good clients and have helped things go a lot smoother for us.”

 


 

 

Currently, SWJ Tractor owns two Caterpillar compact machines, a CAT 304C Mini Excavator and a CAT 257 Multi Terrain Loader, and an 8-yard dump truck. They have purchased their equipment from Hawthorne Machinery, located in San Marcos. By the year’s end, John hopes to own a 10-wheeler truck and a full-size backhoe.

According to the Caterpillar website, the CAT 304C has “load sensing hydraulics” that “optimize flow for smooth powerful performance and increased fuel economy.” It comes standard with stick-mounted brackets so it is ready to fit a hydraulic thumb.

The Multi Terrain Loaders have the same engineering and thinking that went into the Caterpillar’s big machines so that they have the “hydraulic muscle needed to complete the job,” the website says. Cat Multi Terrain Loaders don’t use belts in their hydraulic systems; instead the pumps are driven directly off the engine. This results in maximum power and performance, according to the website.

John chose the compact equipment because it was “a good way to get our foot in the door in the business.”

As a C-12 contractor, John is excited that the company has been progressively able to bid bigger jobs. Despite the fact that his industry is very competitive, he’s glad to be getting the opportunity to bid these jobs.

SWJ Tractor is completing one job and just getting started on another job for Ecology Auto Wrecking. SWJ Tractor has been on the job at Ecology Auto Wrecking’s Chula Vista site for a little over a year and will be wrapping up sometime in July. They have completed a variety of projects at the auto junkyard including: digging pits, bringing in loads of rock, and grading.

John says the job has been a great learning experience for the company. The variety of tasks they’ve completed has given them experience in work they haven’t completed before. One of the challenges on this project is the size of the jobsite and the coordination needed to be done with a large number of other subcontractors working there.

SWJ Tractor has just begun a year’s worth of work at Ecology Auto Wrecking’s Arizona facility in Parker where they actually process the cars for scrap metal, separate the metals and ship the metals to facilities for their end use. The facility has a car shredder that takes whole cars and reduces them to scrap metal. SWJ will be completing grading and excavating, laying out groundwork and helping with electrical installation.

Most of the SWJ’s job are bid based on time and materials, with some jobs bid on the total yards of dirt that needs moved. Both of the Ecology Auto Wrecking jobs were based on time and materials.

  


John’s experience operating his own company has been a good one so far. He says that he doesn’t have to worry about any aspect of the company’s jobs because Shawn is a very experienced equipment operator and John knows that Shawn will get the job done.

“I think we are a couple of guys who do good work, are honest and go over and above to get the job done,” John says. “We do quality work and get it done on time, and we don’t beat around the bush.

“We stand behind everything we do,” he adds.

One of the company’s biggest challenges is staying on top of everything, John says. Because they have few employees, they bid the jobs and do all the work, which sometimes means long days.

“But, I say the more work the merrier,” John says. “I’m happy to have all the work we can get.

“We have been so fortunate getting in with the right people and to get rolling along as a company,” he continues.

For more information call (760) 747-6504. Cc

SWJ's CAT 304C digs a trench at the auto junkyard located in Chula Vista, California.

 


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