Nordloh

Entrepreneur Tom Nordloh owned a landscaping company that would bid on large projects that often included the installation of thousands of yards of erosion control blanket. The standard method of installation was very labor intensive and involved 10’ long, 150lb rolls that were lifted, unrolled, and pinned down manually. With many of the project bids coming within a few cents per yard, Tom knew there had to be a better way, so he came to CDN with an idea and a hand-built prototype.

CDN worked closely with Tom to develop two versions of the AutoBlanket machine. Requiring only one operator, the AutoBlanket loads, unrolls, and staples the blanket to the ground with a substantial labor savings over manual installation. The unit mounts to a standard skid-loader plate or three-point hitch of a compact tractor, and can operate on any slope that the vehicle can drive on. A tractor mounted control system permitted unlimited programmable staple patterns to meet all soil and slope conditions. Following the design work, CDN built and tested the first three production units.