For Brett Doust of Doust Grader Services, starting up his own grader business to work on one of Western Australia’s major road developments was literally a dream come true.
He secured a plant hire contract for the largest road project ever delivered in the state’s South West: the Wilman Wadandi Highway, previously known as the Bunbury Outer Ring Road (BORR), which was recently opened to traffic after four years in the works.
The new road is expected to divert around 15,000 vehicles from local roads around the city of Bunbury every day, reducing congestion and delivering safer and more efficient journeys for locals.
The BORR presented a unique chance for Brett to work in his own town. Recognising this provided the impetus for him to purchase his own machine and start his own company.
“I’d been a grader driver for most of my life. This opportunity was too good to pass up,” he said.
The machine of Brett’s choice was a John Deere: specifically, a 672GP motor grader.
With net power of 190kW, an operating weight of 20,000kg and a blade pull of 22,453kg, the model is a versatile machine designed for various applications, including road construction and earthworks, offering a combination of power, precision, and advanced technology to enhance productivity and efficiency on the job site.
“I’ve driven many graders in my career, but I have always liked the John Deeres,” he said.
“They’re just better built, in my humble opinion, and the backup service from dealer AFGRI is excellent,” he said.
A welcome feature is the factory-installed Premium Circle option. This fully sealed system is more powerful and accurate while being lower maintenance.
Brett said that with the premium circle option, the traditional gearbox drive and circle is replaced with a fully sealed bearing.
Premium circle has an integrated slip clutch; compared to the traditional circle, it offers a 40 per cent increase in circle torque and 15 per cent increase in circle speed, which will reduce cycle times and improve productivity.
There is far less maintenance too, with the bearings needing greasing every 500 hours.
The circle gearbox oil change has increased from 2000 to 4000 hours compared to a standard circle, while the pinion and circle teeth are completely sealed from dirt and debris to minimize wear.
Wear inserts inside a standard circle require adjustments to keep a good tight circle for accuracy and to prevent damage to the circle, before eventually needing to be replaced.
“There is no need to compensate for wear in the circle or stop to adjust for looseness, which is a game changer when using 3D grade control on a large project like the BORR,” Brett said.
Comfort was also another big plus.
“There is a noticeable difference in comfort in the cab and it is much appreciated,” Brett said.
“I spend a lot of time in the machine: probably at least at 12 or 13 hours a day, six or seven days a week, more time than I am in my house.
“It’s important to be comfortable when using the grader and there have been no dramas.”
Eyes on AFGRI
For Brett’s John Deere purchase, he looked to his local branch of AFGRI Equipment, WA’s biggest John Deere dealer.
With over 20 years’ experience as a major equipment dealer, AFGRI’s construction equipment line-up includes compact excavators, tracked and wheeled skid steers, backhoes, mid to large 4WD loaders, 14-40 tonne excavators, articulated dump trucks, small to large dozers and of course motor graders.
In addition to the equipment, fully integrated 2D laser and 3D grade control options are available across a range of models.
Other features such as John Deere SmartWeigh integrated payload weighing and SmartDetect advanced vision systems with people and object detection and warnings are available selected loaders.
Complementing the large range of construction equipment, AFGRI is also a key player in the WA forestry industry, providing skidders, feller bunchers, forwarders, harvesters, loaders and support services tailored to forestry operations.
AFGRI has been part of the WA landscape for decades with a strong presence also in the agricultural, turf and golf sectors.
Its commitment to exceptional customer support is at the heart of the business with highly qualified service technicians, backed by a team of expert technical advisors and parts where and when you need them, ensuring the business offers the best aftermarket experience.
In addition to its South Guildford location, AFGRI has one of the largest footprints across the state, so it’s got clients covered no matter where their next project takes them.
“The service was fantastic,” Brett said.
“We dealt with equipment sales representative Paul Casagrande when we looked at buying a grader.”
“The initial consultation was productive, with both of us working through details of the project, and what grader was best suited for it.
Paul said Brett had obviously had previous experience with John Deere and wanted to take the plunge and go out on his own and have a crack.
“Brett got in contact with me and from referrals from other grader operators,” he said.
“We started the conversation of budgeted pricing and the requirements he needed.
“After discussions, we worked out what sort of work the grader would be used for, which turned out to be everything from bulk works to final trim.
“So we decided on six-wheel drive 672 model with 190 kW, and the Premium Circle feature to reduce wear and tear on the grader.
“He’s now done about 6500 hours on the grader. We keep in touch regularly to check that everything’s going smoothly with the machine.”
Paul ensures a strong support network is in place from branches in Busselton, Boyup Brook and Perth, which provide comprehensive parts and service for all Brett’s needs.
“Efficient maintenance is important. We’re trying to reduce as much downtime as we can to keep the wheels turning to make the money for these operators. Uptime is beneficial for everyone,” he said.
AFGRI expansion
For those wanting to have a closer look at the John Deere machines offered by AFGRI, the good news is that the company has recently expanded its South Guildford headquarters, significantly increasing its capacity to support the growing demand.
This expansion, which doubles the facility’s size from 19,000 square metres to 38,000 sqm, reflects AFGRI’s continued commitment to providing world-class service and support to its customers throughout the region.
AFGRI’s Construction and Forestry General Manager Brad Forrester said the move was driven by the company’s rapid growth and the increasing demand from its customers.
The business now boasts a larger parts warehouse, designed to continually improve parts availability and reduce delivery times to AFGRI’s 19 branches across the state.
“This facility will allow us to continually expand our inventory in line with market demand ensuring fast turnaround times and minimising the downtime customers experience when needing critical components,” he said.
“We want to continue to add value with confidence that we’re holding the right parts here in WA.”
“Another piece of getting the new premises is that we now have space to increase our AFGRI Connect support team,” Brad said.
“Remotely accessing the machine, the team can diagnose issues and sometimes even fix them over the phone.
“If we can’t fix it over the phone, we can get a technician to the site quickly, with the right parts.
“AFGRI Connect also has the capability to monitor machine health.
“We aim to be pre-emptive, trying to predict and avoid events that may cause downtime, but we also want to be able to give owners information on productivity of machines: for example, how long a machine’s been idling instead of working.
“There’s a lot of deep information we can get out of that. It’s really just added value for the end-users and to make sure they’re as productive and efficient as possible.”
Brad said AFGRI continues to make major investments in its construction and forestry division.
“We have a big field service team, we have increased our sales team and support team, and then of course, with the new larger warehouse, we’ve increased our parts team,” he said.
“We’re looking forward to helping our customers thrive in 2025.”
For more information about the range of John Deere construction solutions, visit www.deere.com.au/en/co