Komatsu Finance is offering a start-up finance policy for those looking to enter the earthmoving industry with a new Komatsu machine, and one of those to take advantage of it is Sydney-based owner-operator Dominic Sammut.
Under the start-up policy, Komatsu Finance will lend up to $200,000 to potential purchasers of a new Komatsu earthmover, provided they have been working in the industry for four or more years and meet the company’s lending criteria.
Finance is available for a maximum of five years, with GST to be repaid upfront and no ‘balloon’ payments.
Dominic Sammut took full advantage of the package when he bought his first machine – a Komatsu PC138US-8 excavator – and started his own business, Sammut Excavations, in September 2014.
Since starting in business, most of Sammut’s work has been through major Sydney contractor ABAX Contracting, primarily carrying out subdivision work in the western suburbs, covering the whole range of works including bulking out materials, drainage, general earthworks and loading trucks.
Attachments for his machine include a set of buckets, a hammer, a ripper and an auger.
Sammut – who is the son of Sydney earthmoving identities Felix and Pauline Sammut – had been operating machines for other contractors for eight or nine years, and decided to start up on his own.
“I’d been operating for other people for a few years, getting experienced in the industry, and decided to take the plunge,” he says. “I’d mainly operated excavators, but also skidsteers, backhoes and trucks.”
Sammut says he’d operated a few Komatsu machines, as well as other brands, and to him the Komatsu excavators for sale stood out in performance, longevity and quality. That’s been borne out by the fact the machine has now done over 2,000 hours without any problems.
“Actually, I did have a bit of trouble,” he adds. “Somebody broke into it and vandalised it after about four or five months of owning it – so I rang up Komatsu and they came out that day, saw what I needed and got it going the next day.
“I lost two days because they were fixing it the second day, but for what they did for me – it’s not a common part, which they had to ship down overnight from Queensland to get it going for me – so yeah, I was happy.”
Komatsu Finance NSW/ACT business development manager Chris Favotto says the start-up policy has proven popular with owner-operators starting out on their own.
“Since we began the start-up offering, we have been able to assist many new entrants into the market purchase their first Komatsu machine,” he says.
“There have been instances where new customers have gone to their bank, but have had their loan application rejected as they are a start-up.
“After some discussion with us, we have then been able to approve a loan facility under our start-up policy, allowing them to purchase their first Komatsu machine.”