Tiltrotator investment pays off for Baker Excavations

Director Andrew Baker said their work involves all aspects of residential construction site preparation, fire trails, erosion control for rural and coastal sites and beach foreshore infrastructure. Coastal areas of the region are often challenging due to their steep and hilly terrain and limited access.

Developing expertise

“In the early days as construction contractors, we had our own small excavators which were used for site preparation, drainage and cuts for driveways and landscaping. Over time, we developed considerable expertise with these excavators. This encouraged us to establish Baker Excavations as a separate earthmoving company." said Andrew.

“It didn't take long to understand there was considerable competition in this market, because smaller machinery was readily available to many contractors. This prompted us to re-evaluate the business.

“We had to decide whether to sell our small equipment and hire machinery for our construction projects as required. The alternative was to invest in the most technologically advanced, high-capacity excavators which would give us a competitive edge, while allowing us to expand into more complex projects.

Competitive edge

“A decision was made to equip ourselves with machinery that would let us tackle the most demanding earthmoving jobs and allow us to tender for projects that would usually be out of the reach of many small contractors". Andrew said.

“Prior to acquiring our current fleet of excavators, we became aware of the wide use of tiltrotators globally and how they were quickly becoming regarded as essential tools by earthmoving contractors.

“It didn't take long to realise that tiltrotators were the future of the industry and were absolutely necessary to provide the price competitiveness, efficiency, precision and minimal impact on sites that our customers wanted.”

Baker Excavations' fleet includes an 8-tonne Kubota KX080-3 excavator fitted with an engcon EC209 full sandwich style configuration including a Q-Safe hitch, EC-Oil connector, gripper, MIG2 joysticks and a DC2 controller. It also has a 14-tonne Hitachi ZAXIS 135US excavator fitted with a Q-Safe hitch, EC214 tiltrotator with EC-Oil and gripper, MIG2 joysticks and DC2 controller. Other equipment in the fleet includes an ASV compact track loader, tip trucks and a low loader.

Transforming the business

Andrew said, “our initial investment in engcon equipment started with buckets with an integrated hydraulic grab. Soon after, we purchased a rolling levelling plate, a special timber grab and hammers. Having the complete suite of engcon tools has transformed our business into an extremely competitive and efficient operation.

"The decision to acquire high-capacity equipment Incorporating the latest technology has proven to be the right move for Baker excavations. Thanks to engcon, we have all the appropriate heavy equipment, tools, skills and experience that enables us to take on even the most complex projects.

Instant benefits

“Once you have a tiltrotator on an excavator, there's no way you would ever go back to using standard hitches and attachments.

“We can do the job faster and with greater precision, while customers are happy because we can get machinery on site and the tiltrotator enables the operator to keep the machine stationary without having to move the tracks around, minimising impact on site and the environment.

Short learning curve

“As we purchased our latest excavators prior to hiring our operators who had not previously operated tiltrotators , it was encouraging to see these new people adapt very quickly to become proficient and productive within their first week.

“All our five operators really enjoy working machines with the tiltrotators because of the convenience and less effort that is required.

Building our business and increasing profitability

“Customers have shared in the benefit of us being able to provide high quality work at competitive prices and this has helped us grow the business dramatically in the last couple of years.

“There is no doubt that engcon tiltrotators are essential for running our business and have played a key role in the growth of our organisation” Andrew added.