The Rocket Equipment Story
“I Pictured Concrete Raining Down.”
Scott Seaton is the founder and president of Rocket Equipment. He’s been a successful commercial roofing contractor for more than forty years. But when it came time to re-roof the house he and his wife recently purchased, it gave him pause.
The old roof was concrete tile and the landscaping extended far from the base of the home. A traditional chute was no good for the concrete. And dropping the heavy tiles from the roof or rolling through and crushing the landscaping with traditional debris disposal equipment was a non-starter.
“It hit me that what I needed was a stiff, self-supporting chute. One that I could extend over the landscaping and architectural elements,” Seaton recalls.
As the largest commercial roofer in his region, Seaton had an extensive fabrication facility. He quickly put it to use creating a prototype for his vision.
“First, I Found A Hundred Ways Not to Do It.”
From the materials to functionality, the TrashRocket went through dozens of prototype designs. Scott and his crews tested each one, refining and improving the way the unit would work in the real-world at real job sites.
“We abused the test units. If it couldn’t handle everything we threw at it, we went back to the drawing board,” Seaton says.
It was important to the team that the unit not only worked, but worked really well. The team made changes like replacing the chute interior with low friction material so debris wouldn’t get hung up, adding beefed-up hinges to the upper hopper so it could accommodate a variety of roofline configurations and even adding a solar charger to the unit so it was always ready to go with no downtime.
“I Believe in Working Smarter, Not Harder.”
Roofing can be a tough business. From the beginning, the Trash Rocket was intended to give roofers an edge in efficiency, profitability and safety. When it handled all three of those elements, Seaton knew he had a product that every roofer would want.
“I wanted the Trash Rocket to be a game changer and it is. We’ve been able to generate more profit with more competitive bids because of what this unit can do,” Seaton says.
The Trash Rocket helps crews save setup time, save tear-off time and save cleanup time. Plus, less mess and less risk of damage to architectural elements means happier customers.
It’s the right tool for the job. And, being able to use a revolutionary tool like the Trash Rocket, makes for a crew that can take more pride in their work, too.
“Launching Trash Rocket Is Just the Beginning.”
Seaton has big plans for Rocket Equipment. A lifetime of solving challenges in his own roofing business has led to a variety of innovations that can benefit the entire industry.
“Bringing the Trash Rocket to market has been a lot of fun. And seeing how much it has helped other roofers improve their businesses is energizing. We have some other innovations in mind that will continue to help everyone level up,” Seaton says.
Seaton and the entire team of roofing professionals at Rocket Equipment know that, as a roofer, you can’t just say you do great work, you have to prove it every day. With Trash Rocket, they’re helping roofers do that with every job. And the sky is the limit.