Cleveland Brothers Save MJ2KB Trail Club $4,000
Regional Sales Manager for Cleveland Brothers Equipment Co. Inc., Pat Maurer, and Bill Clayson, Branch Manager for Cleveland Brothers Equipment Co. Inc. visited the construction of the MJ2KB (Mount Jewett to Kinzua Bridge) Trail section of the Knox & Kane Rail Trail between Mount Jewett and Lantz Corners on May 19.
Cleveland Brothers has donated a vibratory roller for the Trail Club’s construction project. Cleveland Brothers’ contribution saved the club $4,000 which would have been the cost of renting a roller for the duration of the project.
Cleveland Brothers supports community projects, especially those that benefit the health and fitness of the communities they serve. MJ2KB Trail Club is a private, nonprofit, and was formed to build and maintain eight miles of the Knox & Kane Rail Trail from the Historic Kinzua Bridge to Route 219.
As the MJ2KB Trail Club began to tackle the task of laying four miles of TSA trail surface 10feet wide and 4-inches thick, they struggled to keep a uniform depth and grade. That was until Trail Volunteer member, Denny Rettger innovated a way to speed things up and keep things moving. Rettger, who has used his small excavator for other trail projects, fabricated an attachment for the front of the machine that lined up with the truck dumping the material and laid the stone in place 4-inches thick to be rolled to its finished grade.
As seen in the photo, trail paving with TSA (Trail Surface Aggregate) is progressing on the trail between Mt. Jewett and Lantz Corners. The club expects to finish the trail surface by the end of May. The project is being funded by a grant From The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and partnerships with several local organizations and businesses.
Patrick Maurer Regional Sales Manager of Cleveland Brothers Equipment Co. stated that Cleveland Brothers wanted to help the MJ2KB Trail Club by lending the equipment that they needed. Heather Ritts was involved in the trail maintenance. “That’s how we got involved initially. Heather came to us to see if there was anything we can volunteer or donate. We were able to donate the compactor for the project,” Maurer said.
Maurer explained what he was doing on the trail on Thursday.
“We were asked to come up and see what they are doing with our machine and to get a view of the project. It is impressive.” Maurer said. “It is amazing how inventive they are and came up with (made) the spreader box on the excavator to move things along.”
Maurer also commented on how much the small group has accomplished even with the rain. Maurer said Bill Clayson did all the work with organizing.
“We prepared the roller and did a little bit of training to show them how to run the roller. It’s a great project and it’s nice to see what is being done out here,” Clayson stated and said that he intends to use the trail during his lunch breaks.
Ron Keim, Vice President of MJ2KB Trail Club said, “From the trail’s perspective, it is a great example of community support.”
Keim said that the community has rallied around the trail, including volunteers, businesses, and other organizations.
Highly active in the trail maintenance and a member of the MJ2KB Trail Club, Jack Forquer, said, “I’m going to enjoy it when it’s done.”