Grampians Excavations
Kobelco Doubles Up On Reliability
Grampians Excavations looks for reliability from both a supplier and its equipment, and Kobelco offers just that with the SK500XDLC excavator.
Contracting and plant hire business Grampians Excavations is known for facilitating complex solutions for its clients.
“We have a diverse pool of equipment and people that work in conjunction with our clients to assist them in a multitude of ways such as plant hire, engineering support, labour hire and lump sum contracting,” Grampians Excavations assets and development manager Kurt Lewis told Quarry.
“These services are deployed across a number of sectors but primarily in the infrastructure, construction and quarrying industries.”
Behind every successful business operation is reliable equipment, backed by a strong partnership.
Achieving a good working relationship has benefits for both the customer and the supplier. Long standing relationships ensure that suppliers know their customer’s needs inside out and the customer is assured that they will receive high-quality service and reliability each and every time.
It is for these very reasons that Grampians Excavations and Kobelco have enjoyed a 22-year long relationship.
For Grampians Excavations, “the level of service we receive from the Melbourne/Ballarat Tractors team is second to none with both Mark Henry and Shaun Pollard heading this up,” Lewis said.
“Their management team have been nothing short of sensational, also in assisting us in growth by providing the level of support we expect and deliver to our customers.”
INTRODUCING THE SK500XDLC
Having had great success with its existing Kobelco machines, Grampians Excavations found themselves reaching for a new addition to its fleet – the Kobelco SK500XDLC excavator.
“We have had great success with our existing SK500s, they have been reliable and efficient, so it just made sense to continue down the same path with our most recent acquisition,” Lewis explained.
The SK500XDLC excavator will be used in Grampians Excavations’ plant hire fleet.
It will be put to work on a quarry for mass excavation of road-based material, to be used in a large roads and infrastructure project.
The XD series is purpose-built for extreme heavy-duty work environments, making it ideal for working on tough and demanding worksites like quarries or mines.
The SK500XDLC features a robust machine body and substantial additional reinforcements to all key areas of stress and wear across the boom, arm, underbody, and undercarriage.
Not only is the SK500XDLC heavy duty, but it is also powerful. Kobelco claims that the SK500XD delivers top of class performance specifications, with 183 kN slew torque, and bucket breakout force of 292 kN.
The excavator has a safe working load of over 6000kg and features an extreme duty 7m boom and 3.45m arm.
This enables it to reach dig depths of 7.81m as well as maximum digging reach of 12.04m.
In addition to the SK500XDLC’s rugged build, the excavator features Kobelco’s advanced hydraulic technology to deliver fuel efficiency without comprising on performance.
The excavator features a new arm interflow system that controls hydraulic fluid flow more efficiently.
As a result, cycle times are faster, delivering improved digging performance, and hydraulic efficiency is optimised. This results in improved fuel efficiency, with the SK500XD averaging under 30 L/hr fuel consumption, even in heavy digging conditions.
In line with this, Grampians Excavations has already been experiencing benefits from using the SK500XDLC.
“As we have come to expect, the performance of this machine has been sensational, with lower running cost and great reliability.”
Kurt Lewis
In particular, the SK500XDLC’s ability to perform in heavy-duty environments was a key consideration for Grampians Excavations.
According to Lewis, Grampian Excavations was particularly impressed with the fuel burn, heavy duty undercarriage combined with the reinforced boom and stick on the Kobelco SK500XDLC.
“When comparing new equipment some of the factors we consider is suitability to task, cost of ownership, running cost and dealer support,” Lewis explained.
“With those things considered, the SK500XDLC was a clear winner,” he said.
Another major consideration was the support Grampian Excavations gets from Melbourne tractors.
“The support we get out of Melbourne Tractors plays a pivotal role in our dealings with them,” Lewis said.
“We work in a busy, rather time sensitive environment and knowing that we have outstanding support on should things not go to plan is comforting.”