A range of high safety spec Kobelco excavators forms the backbone of Mat Poole’s company Total Dry Hire (TDH), which has been renting equipment to the construction industry across Sydney for the last four years.
Poole says Kobelco was not the only machinery company he spoke to when he started his business but it understood his plan and has helped TDH grow to an operation with 12 excavators ranging from 1.5 to 48 tonnes. TDH services a range of clients from local builders and plumbers to large-scale civil construction operations building roads and airports.
“Kobelco excavators are very powerful, they dig well, they work well and they tend not to break down. I can’t fault them,” Poole says.
Before hatching the plan for TDH, Poole was working in marine drilling but many of his friends were working in the civil construction industry. As they complained about the lack of good quality, full safety-spec excavators in the dry hire market, he realised he was looking at a promising business opportunity.
“Coming from the oil and gas industry, there was a much higher level of safety, so I could see that standard flowing through to the rest of the industry and that gave me a head start,” Poole says. “I bought brand new machines that offered the highest level of safety just as the transformation was happening in the construction area. The machines with the extra safety features are perfect for jobs with risky, uneven terrain.
“One of the biggest reasons for me, in terms of buying from my local authorised Kobelco dealer, Sydney Trucks and Machinery Centre (STMC) is the sales staff. The service is excellent and they went through everything with me, the different machines, the prices and what else they could offer, and that’s where it all kicked off.”
Poole says STMC was able to add additional items requested, such as height and slew limiters, emergency stop buttons, double auto locking hitches, handrails and UHF radios to ensure compliance on all sites.
On the client side, Poole says that, with some hire periods stretching out to six or nine months, those renting his machines are giving positive feedback on the fuel savings of the Kobelco machinery compared to many of its rivals.
Click here to find Kobelco excavators for sale.