New Kobelcos for piling work

Wagstaff Piling recently took delivery of two brand new Kobelco TK750GFS models.

NEW KOBELCOS TO WAGSTAFF PILING

Wagstaff Piling recently took delivery of two new Kobelco 75t capacity telescopic crawlers. The decision to purchase the new cranes was firmly based on the performance of Kobelco’s already operating in the fleet and the relationship with local distributor TRT Australia.

WAGSTAFF PILING IS A FOUNDATION

specialist and wholly owned Australian business founded by John Wagstaff in 1980. The vision of Wagstaff and his team is to provide clients with professional and experienced staff at all levels, and to offer the best foundation systems available to its clients. Wagstaff Piling operates throughout Australia with the most advanced piling equipment available, says Wagstaff.

“We manage projects from a range of piles including pre-cast, bored piles and CFA piles. We also manage a significant number of projects in basement construction including diaphragm walls, secant piles and continuous piles. We’ve been in business since 1980, so that’s 40 plus years and in that time, we’ve completed between 6500 and 7000 contracts, around Australia,” he said.

Wagstaff goes on to discuss the mix of the fleet run by the organisation.

“Primarily, we have a fleet of specialised foundation equipment from various manufacturers from around the world. These include Soilmec, Bauer and Casagrande. We run 12 driven piling machines and between 50 and 60 drilling machines.

“But we also utilise cranes in our fleet, mainly as support machines, and these include Kobelco’s. We bought our first Kobelco crane back in 1983, a second in 1986 and a third in 1987. We still have two of them in daily use, both having had a full rebuild at 25 years,” said Wagstaff.

Wagstaff has been working with Troy Hand Crane Sales & Pacific Islands Manager

With a lifting capacity of 75t at 3m and with a main boom of 30.1m the TK750GFS is ideal as a foundation work crane.

TRT and new Kobelco models were delivered in early October.

“Yes, we have worked closely with Troy and we have just taken delivery of two brand new Kobelco TK750GFS models. We’ve certainly found the Kobelco machines to be extremely suitable for the foundation industry.

“The main reason for this is they feature free fall winches which is important if we are using them for diaphragm wall construction. Our 80t pin jib crawler has just completed a Diaphragm wall project and is moving to start another, so they are well utilised assets which is what you want in your fleet. Similarly, we’ve used the 75t telescopic cranes mainly as service cranes but we occasionally we need to use them in free fall mode. The new machines are welcome additions.

“The team at TRT has been absolutely brilliant, and Troy is very helpful, he knows his cranes and has provided us with excellent advice,” he said.

Hand confirms why he recommended the Kobelco TK750GFS model.

“I was working with John and this team, and they were commenting on the performance of the Kobelco’s already operating in the fleet. It was fairly obvious the TK750GFS was going to suit their requirements.

“With a lifting capacity of 75t at 3m and with a main boom of 30.1m the TK750GFS is ideal as a foundation work crane, it is well suited for this type of work. It is designed to support the larger piling equipment working during the early stages of these large construction and infrastructure projects. John and the Wagstaff Piling team were very happy with the way the sales process worked,” he said.

“Wagstaffs bought a Kobelco TK750 approximately three years ago and the crane hasn’t stopped working. It’s been an excellent machine for them, super reliable and that’s why they’ve gone for the newer model in the TK750GFS,” he said.

“In my sales role, particularly

with Kobelco, I’ve reconnected with customers some of which I’ve known for many years. With most of the conversations, the feedback on Kobelco machines is the same as it has always been, customers talk about the value for money, the quality of machine and the reliability the brand offers. These are the important factors relating to this class of crane.

“Customers like the ‘feel’ of Kobelco cranes, they are not overly complicated, and they are extremely user friendly. This is due to the traditional Japanese values in terms of the design, engineering and manufacture. Kobelco product represents value for money, quality, reliability and longevity in terms of the products’ life cycle, says Hand.

“As soon as you open the cab doors you can see everything is in its place and set out correctly. From the small crawler to the large models, the cabins are set out in the same format which makes it easy for an operator to jump from an 80t capacity crane to a 250t capacity crane because the cabin and the controls are the same. Customers like this consistency in terms of the design across the crawler range,” he said.

Despite the challenges presented by the COVID pandemic, Hand is confident there will be continued demand for Kobelco telescopic crawlers. With major large projects happening with more in the pipeline, up and down the East Coast there is a tremendous amount of interest in telescopic crawler as ‘assist’ machines.

“The industry sectors we are involved in are buoyant. The once in a generation infrastructure building boom, including the $110 billion Federal Government spend means we are seeing a high level of enquiries, especially in construction. Throughout last year we were receiving the enquiries, but they were more tentative, now there is definitely more purpose with the conversations and there are a lot more enquiries in terms of volume,” said Hand.

“We are receiving enquiries for all models, and I’ve quoted on a range of models and various capacities. There is a good level of interest in the TK750GFS. Lead times ex-factory are four to five months for most standard models and for the telescopic boom it’s around six months.

“For the past 18 months we have been faced with the major challenge of uncertainty around COVID-19. No one really knew the impact COVID-19 was going to have. We were speaking to customers who weren’t certain if they were going to be able to get onto various sites due to the restrictions, projects were delayed because of the lock downs. All of this generated a general lack of confidence.

“Of course, in this sort of environment new assets, like cranes, are not high on the agenda. But we’ve seen the Federal and various State governments work through the restrictions and implement plans on how to continue to grow the economy without putting people at risk of COVID-19. So, 12 months on, there is significantly more confidence, and we can see we are on the right track,” he said.