GIR DEL Hydraulic Services - Celebrating 50 years

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MEET WESTERN CANADA’S LARGEST FULL SALES & SERVICE MOBILE HYDRAULIC COMPANY

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Gir Del Hydraulic Services, the largest full sales and service mobile hydraulic facility in Western Canada, has provided cylinder and component services, along with the innovation and sale of custom equipment and the distribution of notable product lines for 50 years. Gir Del is proud of its 24-hour service, long-term team featuring decades of hands-on experience and expanded service area.

Mike Eskiw, general manager, was just 19 years old when he obtained an entry-level job at Gir Del. Today, he says he “couldn’t have asked to work for a better company.”

“Jules DelColle and Morris Girard founded Gir Del in 1973,” says Eskiw. “Over the years it has grown from a small 2,000 square foot location to now occupy a spacious 38,500 facility. We were acquired in 1989 by Guillevin International Co. and operate as a division of Guillevin. We are also proud to be a trusted distributor for many top-quality hydraulic product lines, including the full line of Parker Mobile Hydraulic. Our in-house service and repairs, along with extensive product and component lines, ensure we are the one-stop location for all of our customer’s needs.”

He continues, “Gir Del is actively involved with the Canadian Fluid Power Association and plays a leading role in promoting Fluid Power Education in the Edmonton region. We take pride in maintaining this level of excellence and much of our growth comes from customer referrals.”

Nerissa McNaughton | Photos by Rebecca Lippiatt

Mike Eskiw

That year-over-year growth took the company from around four employees on day one to nearly 50 today.

“Our long-serving staff members bring a tremendous amount of knowledge to the team,” says Eskiw. “We enjoy very low turnover and a great company culture. Things change fast in this industry in both the technical, social and environmental aspects. The longevity of our team proves the willingness to change and adapt with the technology and times.”

Eskiw credits “a deep understanding of our customers’ complex needs and our priority on quality and fast service turnaround” as key factors in the company’s success. He admits that, “beings so specialized can make finding the right individuals to fit the team a challenge but finding the perfect fit – not just anybody – for our team is what keeps our quality and reputation high.”

“People,” he adds “are often surprised about not just the variety of services and projects we can take on,

south to the Red Deer area and far up north into the Territories. We also have an impressive range of automation in the shop, which has never been used to replace staff but to empower them to do their work with less physical impact, better safety and with higher quality output. We are constantly updating our equipment and processes to ensure the quality for which we are known, and to ensure the best working conditions for our team members.”

Among Gir Del’s unique projects and products is a tunnel boring mole and a custom hydraulic auger drive.

“The City of Edmonton tunnel boring mole is an 108,000-pound, 9’6 x 15-foot piece of equipment on which we replaced and repaired all the hydraulics,” Eskiw explains. “We were also proud to have designed and manufactured a 200,000 feet-of-torque auger drive that came in at 19,500 pounds. It is over nine feet long.”

Gir Del is in high demand for such specialized products. Another item that has received Gir Del’s innovative touch is a 36” diameter pipe rotator designed to fit onto a CAT excavator. For this project, Gir Del added all the necessary hydraulics. Gir Del has also custom built power units and repaired vacuum truck hydraulic components.

“We build or modify custom pieces to fit existing equipment doing customized jobs,” Eskiw summarizes.

François-Xavier Guillevin launched Guillevin International Co. in 1906. Led by the dynamic Jeannine Guillevin Wood, who assumed presidency of the company in 1965 upon the passing of François, the company has grown exponentially through strategic acquisitions and the establishment of numerous locations.

Guillevin acquired Gir Del in 1989, helping to empower the brand’s growth and opportunities to serve a wider client base.

Despite being one of Canada’s largest distributors of electrical material, as well as a prominent supplier of safety products and industrial supplies with over 100 centres strategically located across the country, Guillevin allows its partners in each division to leverage their unique talents and brand identity – after all, those are what drew Guillevin to those brands as they searched for companies to bring under the umbrella.

Learn more about Guillevin online at guillevin.com and on Facebook (@Guillevin).

Gir Del is not just making a difference in the field of hydraulics. You’ll also find its team members out in the community helping to make the world a better place. In addition to corporate sponsorship of an RBC Race for the Kids event and large donation to the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, Eskiw himself is a long-time supporter of the Alberta Hunter Education Instructors’ Association, following in the footsteps of his father who volunteered with the organization for close to 40 years.

As he reflects on Gir Del’s 50th anniversary, Eskiw says a very big thank you to the team and to Guillevin International Co.’s past CEO Robert J. Bouchard and present CEO Luc Rodier.

“I also thank our customers, partners, vendors and suppliers. Thank you for your continued support. I look forward to growing our mutual businesses together. To our future potential clients, please know that we are highly committed to, and very capable of, assisting you with your hydraulic needs. We invite you to get in touch to see how we can work together and help you reach your projects’ goals.”

Looking to the future, Eskiw hints that an expansion may be on the horizon, along with the possibility of increasing Gir Del’s chroming capabilities. With 50 years as the foundation – one brimming with experience, growth and too many successful projects to count – the next 50 years promise to be equally, if not more, exciting.