You flip the key, the screen lights up, and your machine shows true elevation without a base or a model. That one moment changes everything, no waiting on stakes, no rebenching, no guessing. We brought EasyNav from CHC Navigation into our own excavator and walked through installation, setup, and real-world use with Ryan Deemer, (Skid Steer Nation) and Chuck Harris (Benchmark Tool & Supply) to see how this tech finally meets the blue-collar bar: cost effective, reliable, and easy to use.

We cover the practical wins first. In-field design lets crews cut pads, set slope trenches, crown long driveways, and cast planes with a few taps. Utility and septic teams get safer, faster workflows by setting trench depth from the cab and capturing bottom-of-trench shots for airtight documentation. For owners wrestling with labor, the retention angle is big: once operators see clean visuals and simple tasks, they don’t want to go back, your shop becomes the place they stay.

We also get honest about money and support. Entry-level 3D at the price of old 2D systems means ROI lands fast; fewer hours, fewer bodies, and more jobs finished each month. Financing and strong warranties smooth cash flow, and Benchmark’s nationwide service network, remote screen support, and growing training library remove the fear from onboarding. Need to scale to full 3D modeling later? The path is there without ripping out hardware.

Beyond the gear, we talk culture and systems: define values, fix one fire at a time, and build a hiring process that selects for attitude and teaches skill. Save and reuse designs for franchise pads and long driveways, give clients clean as-builts, and stop bleeding time waiting on stakes. The message is simple, adopt now and lead, or risk losing your best operators to crews that already have.

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