HITACHI CONSTRUCTION MACHINERY

“I’ve driven practically every conceivable brand of machinery and I firmly believe the Hitachi is the most superior machine on the market.”

There is mutual agreeance in the hydraulic excavator marketplace that our range of Zaxis-3’s are the best new model option when it comes to operator comfort, reliability, performance and operating costs. In fact, Hitachi is the world’s largest producer of Hydraulic Excavators for one very good reason - they are the best you can buy. Because of this, it is not very often we write a feature about an earlier model machine, this time we have a very worthwhile exception.

On Tuesday 20th May 2008 our Brisbane branch commissioned Australia’s first Factory Refurbished Excavator (a 2005 model ZX225USR with just over 4700 Hours). IT was picked up by a long-time Hitachi customer and operator Keith Driver of K & D Plant Hire based in Kingaroy, Queensland.

The machine underwent a comprehensive 72 point check at the original manufacturing plant in Japan. Some refurbishments included a brand new seat, new hydraulic pump assembly, re-manufactured hydraulic cylinders, interior and exterior re-paint, replacement undercarriage centre joint and repairs or replacements of valves, pins, bushes etc. as required and of course, a comprehensive major service.

Brisbane’s Used Equipment Manager, Wayne Latimer sourced the machine whilst in Japan and engaged the factory to perform the refurbishment. Whilst it will never again be a brand new and may not have the enhancements and additional features a new Dash 3 model will have, it is a very worthwhile and cheaper alternative. Wayne, as well as Hitachi’s Sales Engineer Rob Curtis, worked closely with Keith to give him the best deal. In the final agreement saved Keith approx $100,000, compared to that of a new model. In fact, Keith believes he had the best deal he could ever get for a 20T.

Keith’s current fleet consists of a 5 and 30 tonne Hitachi Excavator, a John Deere 670CH Motor Grader, three Prime-movers (two with side tippers and one float), a large tracked skid steer loader and a 12 tonne vibrating roller. His newly acquired 20 Tonne fits the gap nicely between the 5 and 30 and he already has at least two years of solid work for it on three separate major sub-divisions consisting of between 60 to 80 blocks each.

Keith’s background in earthmoving started way back in his secondary school days where he drove his fathers Dozer at the ripe old age of 15. He has been involved with several large infrastructure developments throughout South East Queensland including dams, and mining infrastructure. In 1983 Keith was offered the very first operator position at the Tarong Coalmine (180 kilometres west of Brisbane). He obviously liked it as he stayed there until 2007!

2002 saw him purchase his first machine whilst still working at the mine. He spent the next five years setting the foundations of his plant and operator hire company. He purchased one machine after another and whilst doing so, he built an enviable reputation and strong customer base. It wasn’t until June 2007 that he felt everything was well in place to make the move to leave his Tarong position and run his business.

With many decades of operator experience (including Hitachi’s EX3500 and EX5500 Mining Excavators) why do you think he continues to choose Hitachi? Well, these are his own words…

“I’ve driven practically every conceivable brand of machinery and I firmly believe the Hitachi is the most superior machine on the market.”

Need we say more!

(By Vaughan Kidd)

*For more information, please contact us (Hitachi Construction Machinery Australia Pty Ltd.)
*Duplicate of articles shown is prohibited without permission.
*The machines may not meet the regulations depending on countries.

Send Us an E-mail