Jetland’s range of loading ramps are helping make transport easier for ProPag Civil & Earthworks
Melbourne’s ProPag Civil & Earthworks is still a relatively new business, but director Jesse Pagonis and his close-knit team have achieved a lot in a short time.
“We started about three years ago, just doing small earthworks jobs with a 5.5-tonne excavator and a tandem tipper,” he says.
“We were doing pretty much just whatever work we could to keep the business going.
“Since then, I’ve put together a great team of three other young guys, and we all get along and work together really well. My partner has since joined the business too. She handles all the admin, advertising, and finds all our work for us. It’s a good system.”
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Not only has the team grown but also its fleet, with ProPag’s machinery now encompassing two additional excavators, a John Deere compact track loader and two more tipper trucks.
“We want to keep growing as long as we’re able to maintain the level of quality we deliver on our projects,” Pagonis says.
Delivering quality work has been the key non-negotiable in all ProPag’s work since its inception, whether it’s been earthworks, driveways or tree removals.
Having quickly established a reputation for well-executed projects, the ProPag team has seen demand increase to the point where it has been able to lean more heavily into its preferred earthmoving niche – predominately focusing on site cuts and retaining walls.
Pagonis says the business has become so busy with retaining walls that it’s considering creating an entire team dedicated to them, and then running a separate crew to do site cuts and excavation beforehand.
“We all have a passion for machines, using them to build things, but then we all like being able to get out of the cab and work with our hands too,” he says.
“Our growth has been far quicker than I’d expected, it’s just taken off, which has allowed me to add to the fleet, and put together a really good team.”
Efficiency gains
In putting together ProPag’s fleet, Pagonis has kept efficiency front of mind.
An unsung hero of the fleet are tough and reliable loading ramps, purchased from Jetland.
Jetland’s loading ramps were first procured by Pagonis when he was looking to streamline the loading and unloading of his machinery from trailers, and these handy accessories have certainly helped achieve this.
Reaching out to Jetland due to its local Mordialloc-based warehouse, Pagonis says this decision quickly proved to be a good choice for all the right reasons.
“Firstly, they were open on Sundays, so that was a bonus given we’re generally working six days a week,” he says.
“I called [owner] Jimmy [Fang] up, and he said to come down and check out the range.
“He’s a very nice bloke, very accommodating, and was keen to chat and learn about my business. I ended up purchasing a set of ramps then and there, and I’ve bought another two sets since.”
Despite seeing daily use, Pagonis adds that the Jetland ramps have not missed a beat.
“All of our sets are in the six-tonne rated range, in a couple of different lengths for different situations,” he says.
“We’ve pushed them to their limits, but we’ve still had absolutely no issues whatsoever. They’re very high-quality products.”
Evolution
Another reason Jetland has stood out to Pagonis is the fact that Fang and his team are committed to refining and improving their products.
“No matter how good your product is, there’s always something to improve on,” Pagonis says.
“That’s something that’s great about Jimmy – he’s always thinking about improvements to the designs, and his products are always getting better.”
This is evidenced though most recent set of Jetland loading ramps bought by ProPag, which are approximately 20kg lighter than its last pair, according to Pagonis.
“I was a bit worried at first, thinking that they wouldn’t be able to hold up like the last set, but like the older ones, they’ve been absolutely perfect, and they’re much easier to handle,” he says.
Custom-designed ramps have also been a topic of interest at ProPag, with Fang and his team more than willing to make this happen.
“We’re hoping to get something made to allow us to drive from a tag trailer into the back of a truck without removing the trailer,” Pagonis says.
“No one makes aluminium ramps for that purpose, and Jimmy’s open to working with us on that, and doing a bit of R&D together.
“He was the only one who was willing to talk to me about this line of work. Everybody else either wasn’t interested, or just wanted to make them out of steel – but they’d just be far too heavy.”
Based on his experience so far, Pagonis is confident that anything Jetland manufactures is going to withstand anything he and his team can throw at it.
“We just want to be able to use our ramps without worrying about them,” he says.
“And with Jetland, there’s just no concern as to whether they’ll be okay. We’ve never had an issue wi1th them, so it’s one less thing to think about. We highly recommend Jetland loading ramps.”
For more information, visit jetlandramps.com.au