Porter Press Extra: MiniQuip Hire

With a 30-year history hiring compact equipment to civil construction entities in Greater Perth, MiniQuip Hire is a trusted provider of excavators, skid steers, loaders, trucks and trailers, and attachments. Thanks to Porter Equipment, it has added Ammann compaction equipment to its comprehensive portfolio

They might be Swiss engineered, but Ammann’s green-and-gold range of rugged compaction equipment looks perfectly at home on the work sites of Western Australia.

The European manufacturer itself celebrated 150 years in business last year.

But 2019 was also a milestone year for Perth-headquartered MiniQuip Hire, with the family firm celebrating 30 years in business as one of Western Australia’s prominent earthmoving equipment hire companies.

John Fenton from MiniQuip Hire says that the company has supplied compact equipment to a wide variety of clients throughout the wider Perth region for many years: for the past 22 of those years from its purpose-built depot in Bibra Lake, 20km from Perth’s CBD and 12km from the heart of Fremantle.

“We’re well known as suppliers of quality skid steer machinery, mini excavators, vac trailers, tip-trucks, and earthmoving attachments to the local civil construction industry,” he says.

“Last year we took the decision to extend our hire equipment product offering to include compaction and rolling equipment. We went through a pretty robust review process in determining what brand we’d like to align with, and we were impressed with what Ammann offers.”

Fenton says that Porter Equipment supplies the company with some of its bigger equipment offered to clients, including 14.5-ton Hyundai R145CR-9 excavators. With the heavy equipment distributor having the Ammann range of equipment on its roster also, the supply and service aspects Porter Equipment was able to bring to the equation made sense.

“Ammann machines are very good in their own right, and we certainly got feedback from others in the industry around its suitability for Australian work sites and conditions,” Fenton explains.

“The support that Porter Equipment is able to offer us has been very consistent too. Generally, we do most of the day-to-day servicing of our wider fleet in our own workshop, but we know that Porter Equipment can offer us very good parts back-up, which extends to the Ammann gear they represent here also.”

MiniQuip Hire’s new Ammann fleet includes Ammann ACR 70 D rammers, Ammann APR 2620 and Ammann APH 6530, through to the larger APH 110-95 825kg reversible vibratory plate compactors and the impressive – and remotely-controlled –Ammann APH 1000 TC hydrostatic plate compactors.

The company also purchased 1.5- and 2.6-ton Ammann ARX tandem drum rollers, which Fenton says went straight out of the depot gate and into the hands of clients the same day MiniQuip Hire took delivery of them from Porter Equipment.

Fenton says that the ability for rental clients to remotely control Ammann’s largest model plate compactor was a big bonus for him when weighing up these machines’ standard feature set against that of the competition.

“When deciding to expand our fleet to include compaction and rolling gear, we were adamant that we wanted remotely-controllable machines where the technology best suited the machine solution,” says Fenton.

“From an occupational health and safety [OS&H] standpoint, it just makes sense to be able to offer our clients the opportunity to remove workers from the trench if they can. Ammann’s remote operation technology makes that possible.”

The Ammann APH 1000 TC hydrostatic plate compacter’s infrared remote-control system still gives the operator plenty of accuracy and responsiveness from the high-powered but compact machine.

The infrared controller (which also features solar-powered charging to avoid having to continually plug in to charge) means the operator can stand at a safe distance or on firmer ground while utilising the machine.

Ammann has built several fail-safe measures into its remote-control system, including an emergency stop that automatically shuts off the plate compactor if a connection to the operator is lost, or if the machine comes within two metres of the operator.

EASE OF USE

Elsewhere in the MiniQuip Hire fleet, the diesel-powered Amman ACR 70 D rammer offers the most rammer weight in the Ammann range (a maximum of 83kg).

“Ammann has even made sure there are good OS&H elements built into these machines, with vibration-isolated handles that mean there’s less stress on the operator’s arms, which in turn translates to less chance of fatigue while on the job,” Fenton says.

Being diesel-powered means that, despite its size, the Ammann AR 70 D fits in with the fuel requirements of most other plant on the job site. The machine’s handle is designed to be safely gripped from all sides, so quick turns and thorough coverage in compact corners of the area needing to be compacted are easily achievable.

Again, with operational ease-of-use in mind, the rammer also features integrated rollers on the handle to make it easier to manoeuvre onto a trailer or into the back of a work truck.

Chosen for its ‘all-rounder’ abilities, MiniQuip Hire has also opted for the Ammann APR 2620 reversible vibratory plate compactor, which gives operators the flexibility of working at widths of 38cm or 50cm.

“It’s lighter than the competition to handle, but very tough. This machine is really versatile on a variety of surfaces,” says Fenton.

Meanwhile, the Ammann APH 6530 is a step up in terms of compaction technology, which Fenton says represents a great investment for both him and his customers.

“This unit offers newer technology, has triple exciter system, the ACEecon monitor, which continually measures compaction force, is 700mm wide with extension plates and weighs 580kg. It’s a heavy hitter and a very popularly-sized compactor that we now have available on our hire fleet,” he says.

Both the Ammann APH 1000 TC and the Ammann APR 2620 feature a two-shaft exciter unit set-up, helping the operator to easily change the direction of the plate when needed, along with quick forward and reverse directional changes and ‘on-the-spot’ vibration for challenging areas.

“We’ve worked hard to build our reputation as a one-stop compact equipment hire resource for the industry here,” concludes Fenton.

“In order that we maintain that reputation, we need to ensure we can offer our customers well-maintained, high-quality machinery that delivers modern technology and plenty of power, along with well thought-out safety features.

“The Ammann equipment that Porter Equipment has supplied to us ticks all those boxes.

“In turn, we’re confident it will deliver the performance that our customers expect of it.”

 

Photography: Paul Kane