Ep. 82 - A Visual Stakeout Rover Changes How Crews Work

This episode was filmed live at Con Expo in Las Vegas! Join us for this special episode with Chuck Harris!

A lot of construction tech looks great in a demo and then dies on the jobsite. So we recorded this one live from ConExpo 2026 in the CHC Nav booth to talk about what actually sticks when crews are tired, the schedule is tight, and the boss wants ROI now.

Chuck Harris from Benchmark Tool and Supply breaks down what’s new with CHC Nav across GPS rovers, surveying, layout, and machine control. We get into the “visual stakeout” rover that uses forward and down-facing cameras to show a real-time image with your points and lines layered on top, making it easier for operators who don’t want to interpret a plan view all day. We also talk correction options, from UHF radio to cellular and RTK network workflows that can remove the need for an on-site base station on many jobs.

Then we jump to the LiDAR rover conversation: fast point cloud collection for stockpile volumes, safer measurement around demolition materials, and why that kind of speed changes decisions for project managers and owners. We also cover the TD73 dozer platform updates, better CAD performance, scalable system options, and a practical feature contractors love: the ability to move a display between machines without a license fee when something breaks or needs to be swapped quickly.

If you’re running excavation, grading, utilities, concrete, or even smaller residential crews and you’ve been burned by complicated GPS systems before, this talk is for you. Subscribe for more blue-collar business reality, share this with your foreman, and leave a review with the one feature you wish every piece of jobsite tech had.

Transcript

Welcome And Sponsor Shoutout

SPEAKER_01 0:09

Hey guys, welcome to the Blue Collar Business Podcast where we discuss the realest, rawest, most relevant stories and strategies behind building every corner of a blue-collar business. I'm your host, Cy Kirby, and I want to help you what it took me, trial and error, and a whole lot of money to learn. The information that no one in this industry is willing to share. Whether you're under that shade tree or have your hard hat on, let's expand your toolbox. Guys, welcome back to another episode of the Blue Collar Business Podcast, brought to you by and sponsored by our good folks over at Paid Dirt Support and Estimating. Um, the gentleman Ben Bruni is actually here live in the booth at Con Expo of 2026. We are in the CHC Nav booth, as you can tell. Um, we had our guests not too long ago, and it wasn't even 90 days ago, I think. No, it was uh a week before Christmas. A week 25. We're sitting here in the first week of March, guys, and the amount uh of feedback I have heard on CHC Nav, 98% of it positive. Um, Chuck's been a very busy man and his team's been very busy. And uh let me introduce the man, the myth, the legend, himself, Chuck Harris with Benchmark Tool and Supply, the American distributor for the wonderful product line of CHC Nav. We are sitting here live in the booth, as you guys can hear us right now. Um, but honestly, we've got all of every pretty much everything that CHC offers, different lineups, is right here at absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 1:41

Everything that touches construction, engineering, and surveying is all right here. It's one it's one big ecosystem that you can break down easily. Very exciting time.

Visual Stakeout With Dual Cameras

SPEAKER_01 1:51

We've got uh it's extremely exciting because some of the stuff that I've been just walking around in the last hour, sitting here, uh, hey, check this out, Sai. Hey, check this out, Sai. Hey, check this out. And I'm like, man, y'all ain't y'all ain't slowing it up. Like, I learned a lot over the last three months. Spend some time with your easy nav product, we'll discuss it. But from the rover standpoint, uh, I guess we can just dive right in and start right there. This is probably the coolest thing on the market when it comes to rovers, basin rover setup. Um, I'll let Chuck do the explaining, but I'm gonna give you guys the layman's term real quick. This little dude is LIDAR on there, and you guys see these cameras. The biggest thing for me, and I'm gonna let Chuck take over for there. When Chuck was out doing our demo and our install, if you haven't checked that out, check out Psychon YouTube, you'll you'll see it on there. Um, but Chuck he brought out that rover, and he's like, I'm gonna blow your mind. And I'm like, Yeah, I don't know about that. He's like, give me a northing and easting over here on the other side of the lot. And I'm like, Okay, cool. This is on our TikTok, too. You'll see my initial reaction. He's like, Look, the data collector pulled up a real-time image of what was in front of me and Chuck. And he said, Look, there's a red line. Do you think anybody on your crew could follow that red line and get to where you're going? That blew my mind, but that's because of the camera capabilities.

SPEAKER_00 3:15

Absolutely. We we've done we've got content floating around out there that you're welcome to go check out. But we'll we'll talk about two rovers and a couple of the applications that they tackle that's it's really changing the world.

SPEAKER_01 3:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:28

I mean, one crew at a time is the way I look at it. But the I-89 or benchmark F8 here that Sai's talking about, it's got a lower camera and a forward-facing camera. And their purpose in life is twofold. You can actually collect data with the forward-facing camera, you can scan an object out to about 65 feet that you can't like reach.

SPEAKER_01 3:53

Yeah.

Base Options And RTK Networks

SPEAKER_00 3:53

And it creates a 3D image that you can put a cordon on. And then the flip side of that is if you had points or lines like you discussed, you can actually lay them out visually. Yeah. So it uses these cameras to guide you to that point. So years ago, or even still, you know, there's there's other units out that will only let you stake out and say, like a plan view. That's right. And some guys are challenged, they don't know which ways, north, east, I've always got so so a picture clears that up real quick, right? Yep. So it's it looks, it shows you an image of what you're looking at out front, and then your your data is laid on top of it. So you go right to them. And it automatically switches toggles the from the forward-facing camera. You can say, okay, when I'm within 20 feet of that object, start looking down. So it actually shows the point of your eye in relation to what you're trying to lay out. So, you know, the cameras add tremendous value to a rover. Yeah. Just alone. Outside of that, you can do everything with this rover that any other rover can do. And you know, battery life is important, right? Oh, yeah, it's everything. So, you know, getting a 14-hour day out of one charge, pretty unique.

SPEAKER_01 5:07

So one question, too, that I think I learned is this the head that can also connect to any other base station?

SPEAKER_00 5:17

Sure. So, not to dive too deep into the weeds, but these actually have integrated UHF radio.

SPEAKER_01 5:25

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 5:25

Okay. So you could talk to a UHF base station. We also can do cellular base stations. So we could put one of our sucersins in your base and do it over static IP. It's not hard, isn't it sound? So we're eliminating radio frequencies and using data to communicate between a base and rover, or you can run any of these units off of the benchmark CPC nationwide network. So you don't even need to worry with a base. I know. One thing, you got to be able to send a text message. If you have enough signal to send a text message, you can use these on a network, and it's going to be the same accuracy that you would expect out of on-site base stations. You just don't have to have the on-site base station.

SPEAKER_01 6:10

So it's such a big deal, though.

LiDAR Rover For Fast Volumes

SPEAKER_00 6:12

It takes half the support setup time out of the equation. Yep. So now we'll jump over to this uh Villy 100, and you can notice the bubble on the front, right? That's the differentiate. So this unit has the GPS rover capabilities. It also has cameras, so you can do what you can do with this, but it has the capability of a LIDAR sensor. Unique to the industry. Very it's the only one that has it, it's incredible. So its purpose today is to model at you know, you're collecting 800,000 plus points a second walking. God bless. Unbelievable. So it's like a blanket of points. So just imagine a stockpile of material. You literally push a record button, just like taking a video on your phone. You walk around it, you hit stop, it immediately gives you a volume report on your data click within seconds.

SPEAKER_01 7:13

It's unbelievable. I actually they've got one live here in the booth, and Chuck was showing me this morning. I think Brad as well, he went out and took a boundary of a is it a Miller machine or a screen? I don't know exactly, but you can tell exactly what it is on the data signature.

SPEAKER_00 7:32

Yeah, it's he did a one and a half minute session, just walked a circle around it, and he's got a very accurate model of a millin machine, you know, just to represent it being a pile. Yeah, we had 97.01 cubic yards of material that you would need to build up.

SPEAKER_01 7:50

Yeah, not a base station. Hey, do we still got the base pole set up? Hey, will you grab me this? Hey, we I need to shoot this stockpile so we can get everything backfilled, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Your project manager, whatever, run out there, boundary shooting, 800 to a thousand points as you're walking. Yes, per foot.

SPEAKER_00 8:10

I guess you would say uh if that's accurate, but yeah, it's like and I mean, if you think about it, as you're walking with just a traditional rover, you're taking a shot that takes about one second, so you stop, take a shot, or you can program it to take a shot every five seconds or every 10 feet. But when LIDAR, it's it's just basically shooting a real-time cloud up there. So it models it's not even with high level of detail. Yeah, it's a lot of data. So you don't need that kind of data for everything, but you can safely do it. Uh, there was a customer this morning that's you know going to acquire one of these here at COD Expo for getting volumes of demoed concrete. Really unsafe to get up and try to walk on the survey. You do it from the ground with a shoe nut uh in no time. So, you know, this is what we call support equipment. We highly recommend if you're new to technology, starting out with a rover or a rover and a machine, which is pretty common.

SPEAKER_01 9:05

Before we get too far, this black bubble thing up here. As soon as you say LIDAR to a contractor, we're like, oh God, how much does that cost? Yeah. Um, the price point on this, the big boy bad daddy rover, best you can buy here. What's I gonna run on?

SPEAKER_00 9:23

I mean, you're talking a full package for a loud at rover, yeah, the sub 20 grand, which is uh, you know, an average price for a normal rover without all that tech.

SPEAKER_01 9:33

$38.52. It may have come down in the last couple of years, but uh yeah, it's pretty crazy, man. Uh, with this amount of capabilities. And then there's, you know, I guess two other steps below that without the LiDAR capabilities. But I just wanted you guys to hear the price point of top of the top of the chart. But I would have done anything to go back and start something so much more um ease of use to the actual operator trying to get, you know, I'm I'm an owner, man. I want to see ROI quick. And the other routes that I have taken up to this point, and with our GPS implementation package and everything else, it's just like, man, it was so hard. Six, eight months of trying to get it to that point. You know what I mean? Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:22

And it's so, I mean, uh, the theme, I mean, you're you're touching on the theme here. What's exciting to us as a company and in our partnership with CHC is you know, after being in the industry so long that's been in the early adopter phase, right? True. 25 plus years. That's 28 to be exactly. So now having things that are set for mass market adoption, and we're seeing it here at Con Expo. Yes, we are. It's it takes three things. Oh, really? And some a potential of a fourth. It's got to be cost effective, reliable, and easy to use. That's the three things you have to add. And then you've got to add all innovation, right? Stuff we're talking about here is innovative. It's it's new to the industry. How do they it y'all are moving?

New TD73 Dozer Platform Reveal

SPEAKER_01 11:10

It's never existed to, man. So this stuff's changing by the day. Um, can we talk about what's brand new here called Expo, some of the announcements? Because this kind of blew me away.

SPEAKER_00 11:18

So we can, you know, one of the one of the new products here that we've had uh the pleasure of working on for the past few months is the new platform for a dozer. So we had the what's called the T D63 version, which existed, and we're able to automate all the dozers, all the canned dozers, even do full installs of hydraulic kits with that. But moving that platform up to the T D73, you know, new new display behind us, and we we've got more content diving into details there. That's being released here at the show. We're going to be deploying systems here in the next days in the field to wrap that up. The key point there is it's a very powerful display with a very efficient CAD engine in it. So the graphics are incredible.

SPEAKER_01 12:08

I gotta tell you, that's one of the things I wanted to mention is uh when I was doing product stuff with Michael, the seamlessness of it's a large file. This wasn't just a tiny little project, it's a large multifamily, and it goes, you can go straight in to a point, it's clear, there's no uh layers disappearing on your way in. And it's and it almost feels like an iPad rather than a data collector. You know what I mean? And it is seamless through it all.

Swappable Displays And Easy Repairs

SPEAKER_00 12:37

You know, the the other value there. So now with the the 73, it's it's uh it's the same cloud film across all machines. So whether it be an excavator, motor grader, dozer, loader, any machine, you know, it could be a skid steer with an attachment or control it, you will be able to transfer that display. Say if you have two dozers and two excavators set up, then you destroy your display out of your dozer because the operator decides to take it out, leave it on the track. It's Friday afternoon, you got a job to do Saturday. Now, with this, you can grab the display out of an excavator, no license fee, put it in that dozer, tell it you're in the dozer, and you're back to running immediately. So it's all the same hardware across every platform. So service support. I mean, it's just it makes it easier for us and the end user.

SPEAKER_01 13:32

That's insane. I mean, yeah. So you're gonna be able to take your data collector out of a dozer, and as long as you have sensors, of course, and on your other machine, but that's insane. That's honestly pretty insane to think about.

SPEAKER_00 13:46

Yeah, so I think the reason, purpose for that, what's driving that is CHC has the operator and owner of the excavation company in mind. Completely agree with that. It's not what they want as a manufacturer, they're listening to the customer quickly and their pain points and designing technologies to fit their ecosystem from implementation to daily usage to the service and support aspect.

SPEAKER_01 14:15

Dude, literally, we broke a cable already since we've been running the easy nav system. Benchmark had us a new one the next day, and the biggest thing was I saw the invoice, it's 75 bucks. It's literally 75, 85 or whatever it was, no recalibration. There's a video on our TikTok, you can go watch. I literally filmed it all. He plugged, played in each each side of those sensors, turned it on, and there was no recal. There was no nothing.

SPEAKER_00 14:41

Yeah, we just went back to work. It's again that that that's part of the mass market requirement, right? It's got to be easy. You got to be able to switch that cable, switch the display. We we remote in so we can help you troubleshoot it down to component level, connector level. So it's just we have to be able to do that to capture the market that we need to capture to help everybody, yeah, right. So it's 100%. It's there's never been a time like this in in this industry.

SPEAKER_01 15:12

The way you guys are moving to CHC is moving. I gotta just hit that home. As a contractor myself, sitting here on this side of the table, I wouldn't be sitting here, I wouldn't be backing these guys if I didn't feel that right there. Not only is a price point, not only is their serviceability, not only is their product line unbelievable and changing rapidly, additions and um everything of the sort like that, but you were right, the development team, software teams, they're listening to what's going on. Hey, I've had this contractor say this to me, and they're moving with speed. Some of the things that I've already heard just buzzing around here for what's coming this year is kind of mind-blowing, is pretty mind-blowing.

SPEAKER_00 16:51

Well, yeah, just you know, I was in the booth for a couple hours yesterday. We have a some of our team here, and you know, talking to them last night, and just the two hours I was here, it's like non-stop. The excitement. I said this, I think, in our conversation back in December. Our priority is to educate the market on what is available and what's coming. If we do that, I mean the excitement from the user side is unbelievable. I mean, it's like, what do we do next to get this on our job site? Which, you know, it's obviously exciting for us because we we we're we've transitioned our company, but we're even to an educator role. Like we want you to be successful with technology and use it every day. That's right. Guess what? If we accomplish that, you'll want it on every machine that you have. 100%. Yeah, we're seeing that now. Yeah, I mean, we're literally days go by uh contractors are adding the next system or support equipment.

SPEAKER_01 17:48

It's kind of insane, man, because when y'all came out, bolted on the 210, I was impressed that day, no doubt about it. But the actual user ability of it has been really um, I don't even know the word. Let's just go with cool to be able to get behind. And I had probably 25 conversations yesterday. Just people, hey man, thanks for YouTube. Hey man, thanks for the podcast. Hey man, what thank you. What about CHD Nav? That's the first question out of their mouth. Yeah. Now, there's resi guys, but like concrete guys, electricians, you are not anybody that's outside of mass grading. Okay, mass grading, totally understand. You want to stick with the certain machine control, whatever. But outside of that, you don't have to go buy their basin rover through an iron maker anymore. You don't have to do that. And honestly, I I'm on my technology coming from a technology.

SPEAKER_00 18:44

It's I mean, there's there's a place for both channels. Um, I mean, we are definitely excited about our channel and our opportunities because we're our focus is the sector of the market that's as big, that's untapped. They're not most of these contractors have not adopted. But even existing guys now are seeing the innovation here and they quickly can see it where a new user cannot see differences. But these existing guys are seeing stuff like the LiDAR or some of the features in the excavator and dozer systems, like man, we and then you know, being cost effective at the same time, it becomes very enticing to them.

SPEAKER_01 19:27

So it's very quick to get ROI. Yeah, it is. I've got yeah, I've got a guy that was on that job. Um I was talking about been there about three weeks. He's not a he's a GPS wizard because he's gone through, he's not a wizard, but he has gone through the experience and doing it wrong, making mistakes, figuring out basic rover. He he's kind of materialized with all of that, spent some time in machine control, but he has been running the easy nav in that 210, and he loves it. Oh, that's cool. It's because it's four buttons, man. There's no hidden channels, menus, yeah. This it's all confusing. The other thing I want to talk about in the just to jump around here, the TD73, right? Which is the dozer, uh the boy we were talking about, bladeware. Okay, yeah. I'm talking about two buttons, and I was there, not underneath this, here, there, and everywhere, and measuring up and down and in and out. It was two buttons, and I was there, boom, make my adjustment and move on. Yeah, it's just so easy.

SPEAKER_00 20:25

How easy and you know, I forget to mention this, but they're all all these systems are scalable. Yep. So, like, okay, the TD 73 is released here at your show. It's in a dual mass version. There's another version coming in about a month, single mass with some options, and then you know, the matchless option is right behind that. So your investment you make in March, you can add on to that and have the latest systems without cannibalizing what you buy today. So you can get a benefit of adopting the technology today, and then as the different platforms come out, if you choose to go that route, you can just add it on.

Residential Use Cases And Simplicity

SPEAKER_01 21:07

Yeah, 100%. Yeah. I mean I'm gonna keep I'm gonna veer off of that because how I feel with what I've already taken on, I don't feel that way. Yeah, you know what I mean? I feel like, oh shoot, another year's gone by, there's a new product. That's right. That's uh that's way better than I got. Well, I'm how do I switch? You know, how do I get in and out, whatever. But anyways, um CHC navs buying one TD73 system, come out, have them install um sensors on a track O and a dozer. True, you've got one system, yeah. It's you know, it's for the solo guy or the one and two, three, four guys. I'm talking about you concrete guys that have smaller crews that need layouts specifically all the time, even on the residential side. This isn't straight up commercial land dev, big, gotta be. You know, of course you have to have you don't have to have, there's still ways around it. But GPS makes your life a lot easier on any type of commercial site. But the resi application residentially wise is mind-blowing. If I could have had this back 10 years ago almost here next month, I think, I'll guess. Anyways, it would have been mind-blowing what I could have done and added along the way.

SPEAKER_00 22:22

True. Yeah, it's just got really easy for that residential guy to like with this technology, create a design, validate it, make sure the drainage is gonna work, and then execute like in minutes. Yeah. So you're not having to go measure traditionally, bring it back to the office, draw it up. You do it right on site, and then execute, you're done.

SPEAKER_01 22:44

That's right.

SPEAKER_00 22:45

So it's just gotten so simple. That's I want to beat that home. Yeah. Simplicity pays. Hey, that's where you get usage. Yeah, you as a Owner of a con construction company getting your guys to use it, it's got to be simple. We shouldn't have it.

Where To Find Them And Closing

SPEAKER_01 23:01

Has to be for the older demographic and the younger demographic. And this is like I know we've sat here and said it's simple, guys. I've actually had experience with the easy nav system. I mean they put easy in well. There's uh yeah, because it is. Yeah, it truly is. And you know, these systems behind us, the 3D modeling, the 73s, and and and playing around on the 2D. Um, I'm sorry, the uh set the D73. And yeah, T D, right? I said D73. That's right. Man, there's a lot of, but anyways, I just love the response truly from these guys all the way down to my level. Yeah. Through you, you guys have been unbelievable to work with in the first couple of months. Anytime we have a question, my operator, we broke that cable. He called Levi and just exceptional, seriously, and kudos. So we appreciate it. Um, guys, we're gonna keep this one kind of short, unless you got any other points you want to hit on.

SPEAKER_00 24:02

I just, if you're at Con Expo and you see this, stop by and visit. Uh, we'll be here all week. Otherwise, after that, we're we're in the field helping contractors every day across the country. So where can they find you, buddy? So you can either go to benchmarksupply.com, you can find us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, all the social, YouTube. Uh, you know, of course, we have great relationship with Sai and the blue collar podcast. I mean, we're we're out there. Our priority is to educate contracts. Yes. So we're trying our best to do that, and I and hopefully, hopefully, we're providing value.

SPEAKER_01 24:39

Absolutely, man. I uh I can speak for that value. There's no doubt about it. Guys, um, if you're at Cone Expo, I have shaken so many hands, man. Day one, day two. Here, we've got quite a few guys gonna swing by here um after this podcast shuts down. But I wanted to shed some more light. CHC Nav to see from aquatics and dredging to layout survey to machine control, the freaking quickness that you guys are moving and chasing down this line. And do some research on CHC Nav, by the way, guys. Put some time in. They ain't just some company that started up yesterday. Okay, go check them out. They're just now landing here in the States and moving across, and it has been wildfire over the last 90 days. Would you not agree?

SPEAKER_00 25:30

It's it's been taxing, but it's it's also fun. Yeah, because you you're you're deploying new things that people are excited about.

SPEAKER_01 25:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 25:38

Guys, well, Chuck Man, thank you.

SPEAKER_01 25:41

Hey, we're good. We appreciate it. I really think we're good too. Guys, until next time, you guys be safe out there and come find us at Con Expo. If you've enjoyed this episode, be sure to give it a like, share it with the fellas, check out our website to send us any questions and comments about your experience in the blue collar business. Who do you want to hear from? Send them our way, and we'll do our best to answer any questions you may have. Till next time, guys.