IN FOCUS / LIEBHERR ALL TERRAINS
TAKING A LEAD WITH TRADITIONAL BUSINESS VALUES Blue Dog Cranes may be the new hound in the Melbourne construction game, but owners Ben Ind and wife Samantha, along with their tight knit team, are not afraid to bring new tricks to the industry. STARTING THE BUSINESS JUST AS THE global pandemic struck was not good timing, but with a focus on traditional business values they have weathered the storm and recently have taken delivery of a low hour, late model Liebherr LTM 1060 -3.1. Ben Ind and Samantha both come from business backgrounds,. Samantha’s career until late was in event management, working globally. While always working in construction, Ben studied Business Management. They have owned a successful café together whilst at the same time Ind was working at Metcalf. This is where he learnt how to get the most out of staff through leadership skills.
Ind started his career as a truck driver and dogman with Associated Cranes in 2010. Within a year he was given a 13t Kato to operate in which he spent 4000 hours. At the time, the new generation Katos were fairly rare. He then went on to operate a 30t Kato before moving into a 35t Liebherr and a 55t Liebherr. It was in these cranes that he realised there would be opportunities for a ‘milk run’ crane hire business. “I worked with Associated Cranes for two or three years. It was a great company; the work environment was fantastic with some of the best operators I have seen and worked with. It was at a time when they were not
afraid to share their knowledge and teach you. There I gained a lot of knowledge and experience in a short period of time because these fellas were happy to show me the right way to do things and they weren’t afraid of losing their cranes. “I then became curious about the industry as a business and moved on to Metcalf Cranes. I spent a couple of years working on large scale civil projects and wind farms, completing lifts which were influenced by engineers, lift plans and studies. This helped to broaden my knowledge base. I then moved back into the ‘milk run’ side of the industry working with Statewide Cranes where Les, the owner, had me operating the 55t
Blue Dog Cranes took delivery of the Liebherr LTM 1060 – 3.1 in late June. 48 / CAL September 2021
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