Strength & Versatility
Strength and VersatilityA balance of manoeuvrability and power, along with excellent service from Porter Group, sees Harmer Earthmoving commit to Doosan.
Like many smaller contracting firms around the country, Harmer Earthmoving in Ashburton is a family affair. John Harmer learned the ropes as a child in his father’s business, helping out after school and during the holidays. Around three years ago he purchased a big chunk of his father’s company – “the digging and trucking side of things” – and since then has expanded into logging as well. Harmer Earthmoving also has a quarry, from which they extract a clay stone used in dairy tracks.
A lot of the firm’s work revolves around the rural Ashburton community, where it undertakes a variety of work for farmers, from digging holes to cleaning creeks to clearing trees to building tracks. To help out with this work, John recently purchased a new excavator, a Doosan DX140LCR – a 14 tonner with a zero tail swing.
“The 14 tonner is an ideal size,” says John. “For a smaller machine, it’s still big – it can easily fill in for a 20 tonner, yet it has the advantage of being able to be carried around on a smaller truck. We don’t need to use a transporter and one person can cart it round by himself.”
This versatility is important for a company that has a staff of just nine and no plans to expand any further.
“I don’t want the company to get any bigger – I like driving too much,” says John. “At the moment I’m behind the controls of a machine nine out of 10 days, and that’s the way I like it.”
He believes his hands on leadership sets a good example to his team. “It shows the workers that I get out and do it too, rather than telling them what to do all the time. And it’s good being hands on with the farmers too – we get a lot of repeat business.”
Operator Alan Hubbard is very pleased with the new machine. John says Alan’s a very good operator and so he wanted to buy a machine he’d be happy with. Together they chose the 14 tonne Doosan, the zero tail swing being a key point in the decision process.
Alan and the new Doosan are currently working on one of the local farms, “doing a bit of tree work – tidying up stumps, and so on”. Once finished there, they will move on up the Ashburton Gorge to “do a bit of track work”.
Up in the remote rural spots is where the 14 tonner comes into its own. “It’s most efficient up country,” says John. “With the zero tail swing it gets into spots other machines can’t. “It’s magic in working in tight spots. The digger is compact but powerful – bigger than it looks. And a big step up from the earlier model.
The new Doosan joins a fleet of five 20 tonne diggers and a five tonne excavator. There’s also three bulldozers that John’s father runs out of the Harmer Earthmoving yard – the two companies working in conjunction, and the quarry has the usual loaders and graders and then there’s a number of trucks and trailers.
Only a few weeks before purchasing the DX140LCR, John bought its big brother – a 20 tonne Doosan. In fact John has now purchase three brand new Doosans, and has hired many from Porter Hire in between. “One of the biggest factors in going with Doosan is the back up service I get from Porters,” says John.
“And the Doosans have very sharp pricing, are very competitive and have a built in ROPS cab, which a lot of other brands don’t have.
“Eagles have been very good to me in the three years since I bought my father out and that’s why I deal with them 99 percent of the time.”
Story reproduced courtesy of the Contractor Magazine