Scape & Scrape: Working In Extreme Weather

Brian Fuller plows snow and maintains right-of-ways, the kind of work that is often not seen and/or noticed by most of us. It’s hot, it’s freezing. It’s mind-numbingly tedious. It’s treacherous. And, yes, it’s often overlooked, until he and his crew at Fuller Landscaping clear the way for the rest of us, who might just be stranded otherwise.

Fuller and his crew, who primarily work for the city of Fort Collins, Colo., and the state’s Department of Transportation, have encountered rattlesnakes, cars and trucks piloted by drivers who are texting, and very steep hills. Altogether, it’s a diversified bundle of services that keeps him and up to 10 workers employed. 

He accomplishes his tasks on the job, on his ranch and on others’ land where he custom bales with several Massey Ferguson® tractors—an MF2605, MF4608 and MF4610 with a cab. Fuller says they perform equally well in each of the ways he uses them.

Again, it’s that combination of services and an industriousness that keeps him and his employees busy throughout the year. It is, however, a fiercely competitive market in which he operates.

“A lot of these guys come in, they low bid this stuff, these contracts, just to get their foot in the door. But they don’t know what it’s about, and [after] about a year to two years and they’re gone.

“I go out and I buy good equipment,” continues Fuller. “I spend the money. For me, to be able to do this 20 years later and still be in it really says something.”

And when asked what else differentiates his company from others in the business, he replies simply, “I think it’s me—I’m at almost every job site … and I think it’s my name. I’m using my last name as the name of the company.” When something’s not done right, he says, it’s pretty obvious who’s responsible.

See the full story and video: Scape & Scrape: Working In Extreme Weather