As a friend of his once put it: Every day is school day for Zac Barbato.
That’s the approach Barbato still takes more than three years into running Keystone Crushing, a custom mobile crushing company based in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania.
Even prior to starting the company in August 2022, Barbato has always had a thirst for knowledge. Throughout his career, he’s surrounded himself with mentors who have been more than willing to share what they know.
“This whole process has been full of examples of way smarter people than me being unbelievably generous with sharing what they have already learned with me,” Barbato says. “Whether it’s time, knowledge of crushing or, often, both. I’ve been blessed time and again to learn from so many great folks.”
It’s this collection of knowledge and experience that has helped Barbato turn Keystone Crushing, which he runs single-handedly, into what it is today: a company that can handle a variety of jobs.
“We process virgin rock; we had a 50,0000-ton job earlier this year,” Barbato says. “We do site projects. Those are a decent portion of our work, as well. We also work for asphalt plants. We’ve been to quite a few asphalt plants this year, crushing RAP that they’ll recycle back into their mix. It’s kind of all over the place.”
Barbato adds that his typical jobs are usually 10,000 tons or more, but it isn’t uncommon for him to take smaller jobs, as well.
Humble beginnings
Barbato knew from a young age that he wanted to be around equipment. He was willing to do whatever it took to make that happen.
“My grandfather owned a construction company, so it was kind of in my blood,” he says. “From playing with equipment in the garden to moving dirt as a little kid, I was always interested in it. Anything to get me near equipment, I was totally game for.”
That’s why in 2016, at 14 years old, Barbato joined Townsend Construction and Engineering in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania. He began at the company sweeping and cleaning, but as he started getting experience with construction equipment, the lessons he learned in his nearly four-and-a-half years there were invaluable.
He credits company owner Bill Townsend with relaying much of that information.
“He was integral in laying the foundation of learning the basics of things that don’t get mentioned,” Barbato says. “How to work hard, attention to detail and hands-on experience from a young age. Like anything you learn when you’re younger, it becomes second nature as you get older.”
In 2020, Barbato began college at Messiah University in Mechanicsburg studying business administration and management. It was during his time in college that Keystone Crushing was born.
Through an entrepreneurship class he was in during his sophomore year, Barbato took part in the Impact Venture Challenge, a “Shark Tank”-style competition in which students pitched business ideas and could earn funding to get their business up and running.
Because his aunt and uncle owned a concrete yard, he came up with the idea to pitch a contract crushing company. Barbato came in second place and earned $3,000.
He then took his company idea to his aunt and uncle, Deb and Jeff Pierson. His uncle came on as a business partner to help Barbato get his company off the ground.
“They were instrumental in the beginnings of the business,” Barbato says. “My uncle is more of a silent partner, but he and his wife have been hugely valuable and made a lot of the pieces of the puzzle fall into place.”
With still two years left in college, Barbato had a full plate. He was attending school, working and playing NCAA Division III volleyball while laying the groundwork for Keystone Crushing.
“In the beginning, we ran really small equipment and I tried to learn as much as I could,” Barbato says. “There was a big project that came up to bid, and I didn’t know what I was doing. I figured, why not call somebody who knows what they’re doing.”
That got him in touch with Ryan Hanson and Joe Lynne of Hanson Custom Crushing in Minnesota. The company flew Barbato out to meet with them and spent several days sharing their crushing expertise.
“It was like drinking through a fire hose,” Barbato says. “They were unbelievably gracious to teach me and let me learn from what they were doing.”
Other sources of support as he built his brand, Barbato notes, were Joe Sokoloski of Heritage Excavating & Stone and Jared Keupfer of Arrow Crushing in Canada.
Getting to work
Barbato started taking smaller jobs in 2022, but he quickly grew his production capacity.
His first job was processing 2,200 tons with a bucket crusher. After that, he rented a crusher to do a 2,800-ton job, and the ensuing job was 66,000 tons.
So far in 2025, Keystone has crushed several hundred thousand tons.
“Crushing is a pretty relentless task,” Barbato says. “It’s nonstop, one thing after another. Long hours, long days and long weeks to make it all go.”
Keystone Crushing reached this point with a simple – yet effective – three-piece spread. Barbato uses a John Deere 350 P-Tier excavator to load material into a Kleemann Mobirex MR 110 Zi EVO2 mobile impact crusher. From there, material is stockpiled using an MGL 842T conveyor.
Barbato’s familiarity with Kleemann crushers dates to his visit to Hanson Custom Crushing.
“They run Kleemann’s out there, and that was one of the first crushers I saw up close and personal,” he says. “That helped me make the decision to go with Kleemann, as well as the product support we have locally. We rented a Kleemann and then ended up buying our own. The proof was in the pudding.”
His local dealer, Groff Tractor and Equipment, has been a phenomenal partner in keeping Barbato outfitted with the right equipment. The same goes for Kleemann representatives who have worked with Barbato first-hand.
“We’ve had great support from Groff Tractor, so there’s really no reason for us to consider going any other route,” Barbato says. “As anybody in crushing knows, you break parts all the time and you need good parts support. They do a great job of working with us and keeping us up and running.
“Evan Clarke with Kleemann and Wirtgen is also a huge piece of that puzzle,” he adds. “Same with Tom Jordan, our area rep with Kleemann.”
One of the first people Barbato interacted with at Groff was Bruce McKown. While he isn’t with the dealer anymore, Barbato says he has been a crucial part of his support system and remains a friend.
“He definitely took a risk in the beginning renting out the equipment to me,” Barbato says. “He stuck his neck out for me.”
Looking ahead
Just three years into building Keystone Crushing, Barbato continues to set his sights high.
“Growth is definitely a goal,” Barbato says. “What that will look like, it’s hard to say. I look at it like a road trip. Maybe you stop in a city along the way, find you like it and want to hang out there. Maybe that’s three crushing spreads, maybe it’s 10 spreads running all over.
“I don’t know exactly where we’re going to find ourselves in the next handful of years, but the goal is to grow,” he adds. “We want to be able to take on more customers in a larger radius surrounding where we’re at, as well.”
