Doosan Delivers for Davies

by Nick Drew | Mon 20 Feb 2017

Doosan Delivers for Davies

Having consulted his operators Andy Davies recently placed a significant order for Doosan machines from local dealers Mason Bros. The Digger Man Blog travelled to South Wales to find out more.

It’s over 20 years since Swansea based Andy Davies purchased his first machine which he bought second hand. Since those early days his plant hire business has grown and grown thanks in part to his long term contacts in the industry and by word of mouth in the area.

Pictured above: Andy Davies (Left) and Jack Mason of Mason Bros (Right) Having initially started out working for Bam Nuttall on major civils jobs, Andy’s business now works for a wide range of clients across the South Wales area. Today his fleet of 14 machines is largely dominated by excavators from the Doosan stable but also includes some Case and JCB models.

Andy has just invested heavily in new Doosan kit as part of his fleet upgrade replacement strategy, having purchased seven 14 tonne class DX140LC-5’s and one 8 tonne class DX85R model from the Bridgend based dealer Mason Bros. As part of his research into these replacement machines Andy consulted the most important people on such matters, his operators. Andy said, “I spoke to the boys and they were all very happy with the Doosan machines, sighting a lot more horsepower than on our previous makes, but offering excellent fuel economy and a very high standard of operator comfort which is very important for the lads sitting in the machines all day everyday”.

Most of Andy’s work is in the supply of operated machines but on some occasions he will supply machines on a self-drive basis if he knows the operator. Keeping machines in good order is very important to Andy and to assist with this he runs a bonus scheme for the operators which encourage them to maintain a high level of cleanliness and general maintenance of the kit. We caught up with one of Andy's operators, known only as Dai on a Waterstone Homes development site in Ogmore by Sea. Dai was very complimentary about his new DX140LC-5 describing it as a great all round machine.

Long standing operators like Dai are at the core of the Andy’s business and like many have said to me recently the biggest challenge company’s face is keeping hold of these highly skilled individuals due to the skills shortage in the industry. Fortunately for Andy he has a great team of happy operators who in turn are well looked after.

Doosan has moved away from the old 6 pot in house built engine which used to be popular with some end users in the past and these latest models are now powered by the well proven 4 cylinder Perkins 1204F Tier 4 Final emissions compliant engine which gives the DX140LC-5 a power output rating of 85.9kw (115hp). All the new machines have been specified with Geith fully automatic quick couplers, “boxing ring” fall from height protection and vandal screens supplied by Cab Care. To further enhance safety the machines have also been fitted with a 360 degree camera system with monitors in the cab.

Summarizing Andy said, “So far the Doosan’s are proving to be great machines and have been very well received on the sites, in addition the back up and support we receive from Mason Bros is really second to none and it’s nice to know we have that support behind us which gives us great peace of mind”.

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