Orange, Conn. – F&W Equipment Corporation, a leading distributor of landscaping and earthmoving equipment in Connecticut since 1939, is now a stocking dealer for the complete line of attachments offered by Ransome Attachments.
During a recent attachment demonstration at F&W Equipment’s Orange, Connecticut facility, the companies showed off Ransome’s Exac-One Mini Mower, Exac-One Model PTO300 Log Grapple, Black Splitter S2 800 Cone Splitter, and Gyru-Star Compact Screening Bucket, all of which are now available through F&W in its role as a stocking dealer for Ransome.
During the event, Regional Sales Manager Mark Laigle discussed the company’s addition of Ransome Attachments to F&W’s offerings. “The more you can broaden your product line, the better off you and your customers are,” he says. “We’re always looking for attachment opportunities. 90 percent of the time people buying a machine will buy an attachment. We can roll it all into one package.”
F&W’s connection to Ransome products began when one of Laigle’s regular customers asked if they could purchase a Black Splitter cone splitter from him. Laigle reached out to Eric Ransome, president of Ransome Attachments in New Jersey, and quickly recognized the opportunity to support F&W customers by stocking Ransome products.
F&W’s market position is strongest among midrange contactors that Laigle describes as small mom-and-pop companies with five or six employees. The F&W product portfolio includes Kubota compact and mid-size farm and landscaping equipment, and a full complement of Doosan excavators, wheel loaders and compact construction equipment, as well as specialty attachments that broaden the capabilities of many of its machines.
Laigle says the Ransome attachments really complement F&W’s equipment lines, citing a recent example. “My first sale of Ransome’s Gyru-Star Compact Screening Bucket was to Reynolds Nursery, a small nursery in Norwalk, Connecticut,” he says. “They have customers that drop soil off all the time and they have to screen it through a screening machine, which takes forever. Reynolds was looking for some way to do it faster with a wheel loader. They bought a brand-new wheel loader from me, and I told them we could put the screener on the front of the new wheel loader they bought.”
Laigle did a product demo for them and says, “They’re now screening like 20 yards of topsoil in no time at all, and it’s made their life so much easier. They go out of their way to call me and let me know that.”
As a stocking equipment distributor, F&W offers a higher level of service to its customers. “We’ve grown our business on customer service. When our customer has a piece of equipment that’s down, we either have a part in stock, a replacement machine, or a rental unit,” Laigle says.
“In fact, my first question to Eric was, if a Ransome product comes out of the UK or Germany and I sell a mower to somebody that needs a bearing for the pump, is it going to take six months to get it?” Eric Ransome assured Laigle that his company stands behind its products. He said, “We keep in stock the most commonly needed replacement parts here in New Jersey. We are also very fortunate to work with such great manufacturers who can send parts directly to our customers quickly and cost effectively.”
Laigle notes another benefit of being a stocking distributor. “I think contractors expect that if something breaks, it’s going to take a day or two to get fixed. As we sell more and more items, the normal wear and tear stuff, if a customer’s attachment goes down, I can give him a rental unit to use while we’re getting parts. Almost every single piece of equipment we sell is available for rental,” he adds.
“Because F&W is a small family-owned business, this is what we live for. Ransome is the type of teammate we’re looking for, someone that’s going to provide us customer service so that we can provide it to our end-users. We’ve got to get after Eric to get some more products!” Laigle laughs.
“We are excited to be working with F&W Equipment as its excellent reputation is well known in the area and our quality attachments complement their lines of equipment,” says Eric Ransome. “I really see it as a mutually beneficial partnership that will continue to grow.”
