Ron Horner revels in the chance to try out a bunch of earthmovers at Porter’s Dig Day Out
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Earlier this month we headed to the Porter Equipment Dig Day Out on the Gold Coast – a full three days of accessing some of Porter’s extensive range of excavators, loaders, compact track loaders and articulated dump trucks.
Being an old bushy and weather watcher I thought I’d better take an early-morning drive to the site in an effort to be ‘first cab off the rank’ and get a handle on the gear before some big rains hit.
Not quite being the first on site (but close enough to it) I quickly introduced myself to the guys from Porters and was promptly given the green light to access whatever equipment we needed and got ‘the nod’ that the keys were within easy reach when required.
Set up on a small Main Roads profiles dump on the edge of the M1 there was plenty of gear on site to get my blood up to operating temperature. There were machines and attachments from a range of manufacturers distributed or sold by Porter Equipment – such as Hyundai, ASV and Terex – but the best thing was there was an area designated for actual physical demonstrations.
Now that is a rarity these days as most dealers are so reluctant to let their machines get dirty or get paint stripped off the buckets or blades, so this was truly refreshing.
Most of the gear impressed me in some form or another. I found the Hyundai HL757-9 rubber-tyred front-end loader to be a good looking, well balanced machine that, on the surface, holds much potential.
However, I delayed the offer to give it a spin as the weather was rapidly closing and we had a very short window of opportunity to view the rest of the gear.
Working beside me was an ASV RT75 Posi-Track compact track loader which I found more than interesting. I personally like the design of the undercarriage and the track frame, bottom and top roller configuration and the power to the ground made available by such a design. Plenty of power, climbing ability and easy to manoeuvre were my first impressions.
If you are in the market for a compact track loader I would suggest that you have a look at these, though I am not sure of the price range in which they fit.
Also on display in the ASV Range were the RT30 and the RT5O Posi-Tracks and we filmed a demonstration with the RT50 fitted with an Australian-designed and -manufactured set of hydraulic rippers designed by Queensland company Terraform.
The rippers are available for most skid-steers and tracked loaders.
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“R&D is the most important part of the operation at the moment and modifications to the attachments are ongoing as more units are made available to the field and improvements are made on a continuing basis to suit the customer’s requirements,” Terraform director Peter McIntyre told me.
I was particularly impressed with the outcome of the short test run and this is another item worthy of investigation if you are in the market for such.
The Terex range of articulated dump trucks is one the top-end ranges of gear that Porter’s distribute.
Sitting atop the profile mound and just waiting for someone to “load ’em up” was a neat looking TA300 … a 30-tonne dump truck which looks like it’s got all the goods and one which we would just love to get our hands on for a future demonstration.
I had to save the best till last so it was off to the excavator hill to run my eyes over the fleet of diggers sitting there “just waiting, itching to get a bum in a seat”.
A good range of diggers was available for those who were game enough to weather the oncoming storms, including: The 2.5 tonne R25Z-9AK; the 3.5-tonne R35Z-9; the 6-tonne R60CR-9; the impressive R140LC-9; and the good-looking and well-balanced 30-tonne R290LC-9.
I was very pleased with the design of the R290LC-9 with its high track frame design (which gives plenty of ground clearance) and really beefed up track frame design, and also with the 14-tonne R140LC-9 bladed excavator.
I have placed an order to test these two machines as I feel they are well worthy of being reviewed. I reckon these could possibly be the dark horses of the Australian excavator market and could well be true winners for Porter Equipment.
Regretfully, my prediction of a wash-out came to fruition about an hour earlier than hoped and we could not get our bums into anything on the day. Nevertheless, Porter Equipment’s Dig Day Out was a success as it gave those in the market a chance to try out some of Porter’s extensive range of first-class equipment.