Hard rocks need not mean hard work. A Hitachi ZX490LCH has proven its worth for Mulgoa Quarries, demonstrating impressive efficiency and fuel economy.
NSW-based Mulgoa Quarries (MQ) is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year, a sure sign of its longevity and strength in the industry.
The family business, headquartered in the Sydney suburb of Erskine Park, is a civil, excavation and transport contractor, with services including contract quarrying, bulk earthworks, landfill infrastructure, contamination remediation, bulk material supply and transport, bulk waste disposal, and various civil and road contracting works.
Company director Matt Wearn said he and his brother Tom were carrying on the legacy of their grandfather John, who started MQ as a quarrying operation in Mulgoa in 1964.
“Originally, we had a quarry which supplied shale to the Sydney brick yards as well as road base to the market,” he said.
“The quarry has since been remediated and the land was sold to developers. The Mulgoa Quarry allowed us to build a relationship with the brickyards that is still strong today, with a lot of our work being for Brickworks & PGH Bricks.”
Matt and Tom’s father Rob, along with uncles Adrian, Bill and Bruce, took over the business when John passed away in the early 80s.
Bill and Bruce left the business by the early 2000s, leaving Rob and Adrian to grow MQ into a multi-faceted business which now serves many industries in Western Sydney.
“These include housing and industrial estates, landfill construction, large land contamination remediation and road and civil works,” Matt said.
“MQ now employs more than 140 people and over 50 per cent of those have worked at MQ for more than five years, and 30 per cent over 10.
“Some of our clients are Brickworks, PGH Bricks, CSR Property, Sydney Business Park, Cleanaway, BINGO, Veolia and more recently Goodman Property Group.”
Such success of course depends on the ability to run a fleet of efficient machinery. The current line-up consists of about 110 pieces of heavy plant, including a number of dozers, compactors, excavators, loaders, dump trucks, graders, mobile crushers and screens. Additionally, MQ has a fleet of 22 trucks and dogs of varying payloads.
“When choosing our machinery, we look for equipment that is consistently reliable, environmentally effective, productive, comfortable for our operators and is competitive in price,” Matt said.
For the business, one brand that ticks all those boxes is Hitachi.
“We recently purchased a Hitachi ZX490LCH excavator to work with our MDS trommel as part of one of our rock processing crews. This machine has been the standout of our recent plant purchases and we are stoked with how it has been performing,” Matt said.
Capable of a higher workload than the previous model, this version boasts 11 per cent reduced fuel consumption, enhanced efficiency due to Hitachi’s industry-leading hydraulic system HIOS V, higher productivity from improved front speed and increased engine output, and an industry-leading cab with first- class comfort and safety features.
“We’ve been very impressed with the fuel efficiency of the new excavator. We had one in our fleet of excavators previously and were happy with the productivity and worklife we got out of it,” Matt said.
“They are also a favourable machine from our operators, who have mentioned that the breakout force was excellent as well as the comfort that the machine provides.”
MQ also currently runs nine Bell B45E Articulated Dump Trucks in its fleet of 23 ADTs.
The South African Bell ADTs, distributed by Hitachi, are another operator favourite among the MQ team.
“The comfort is excellent and again fuel efficiency is a standout, while the auto greasing is also a great feature” Matt said.
Indeed, it was the purchase of ADTs that kicked off the relationship with Hitachi.
“We bought three Hitachi AH400 dump trucks back in 2006, mainly because of their fuel efficiency without reducing productivity,” Matt said.
“With environmental consciousness becoming a front-of-mind item and fuel being one of our biggest costs for the business, fuel efficiency plays a big part in our decision when we are looking to purchase new plant.”
Matt could not be happier with the connection between Hitachi and MQ.
“We have loved working with them over the last 18 years and intend to continue the relationship into the future,” he said.
“Our plant workshop manager had a strong relationship with Steve Gibson from Hitachi in its technical services department for a long time, up until Steve retired earlier this year.
“Steve was always able to diagnose any issues that were had with the machinery quickly and get the machines back working.
“While Steve has retired there is still a good relationship with the team at Hitachi and our workshop guys.”
Today Matt and Tom continue to work strongly with Steve’s son Bryce, who has taken up the sales mantle at Hitachi.
“We have a team of 10 in-house fitters who maintain, repair and rebuild our fleet of equipment and road trucks,” Matt said.
“We have always been very impressed with the serviceability of the Hitachi and Bell machinery.
“With the fleet the size it is, the ability to do services quickly is always important. Our fitters always have a full list of work orders to complete, therefore it’s important to keep the machinery downtime to a minimum.
“The ability to get parts quickly is one of the reasons that we have Hitachi machinery in our fleet today.”
Matt said Hitachi equipment is always a “great addition” to the fleet.
“We intend to purchase more in the future,” he said.
