12 Months of Rotation

Taking a look back at one of my articles previously published in Earthmovers, bringing it to life on the internet, un-edited and with alternative images and video.

Based in Lostwithiel, Cornwall, Morcom Construction Ltd was established in 1995 by founder and Managing Director Ross Morcom. The business has grown steadily over the years to become one of the largest groundworks and civil engineering contractors in the region.

The family run business undertakes construction projects for the private and commercial sectors for a wide range of clients, and is also engaged in the building and infrastructure of new housing developments locally.

One of the company’s machine operators is life long plant man Pete Seery, (57) who started his machine operating career in the demolition industry operating a wide range of machines. He later moved onto the rail plant sector working for the once dominant company Hydrex, and it was on that firm that I first came across Pete, as he actually ended up being my boss when I was doing the rail work on a part-time weekend basis.

However, during that time, we had never met in person, only on the end of a phone, as he forwarded me details of the upcoming weekend rail shifts, so for me personally, it was great to actually catch up with him face to face on site in Lostwithiel, coincidentally, not a stone’s throw away from Morcom’s head office.

Pete took up the tale of his journey to this company, “Well, after the rail work finished, I travelled about a bit for work, and even ended up working in Scotland for a while, but in March 2020 Ross Morcom the owner of Morcom Construction, got hold of me to see if I would come on for him as a dozer operator, which I dually did, just as the country went into the Covid lockdown, and I have been here ever since”.

A couple of years ago Pete took delivery of a new 13/14-tonne class Hitachi Zaxis ZX130LCN-7 hydraulic excavator which he is still operating today, but which he has put his own stamp on it.

Having worked on the railway plant previously Pete was well aware of the virtues and benefits of running a machine fitted with a tiltrotator, so he was keen to do some research. Ross asked him to price up a unit, but as we know, they are not cheap, so with that in mind having received a quote from one of the established tilty brands, he decided to look at other alternatives such as tilting couplers and the German built Holp Rototop, which somewhat conveniently was, and is being sold and supported by local dealers MPS (South West) Ltd who are based close by in St Austell.

Jason McCullough the owner of MPS (South West) Ltd provided and fitted a demo Rototop unit for Pete and the Morcom team to evaluate, and within two days of using it, they placed an order for an RT 201 unit which is suitable for excavators from 10 to 18 tonnes, which was duly supplied and fitted with fully proportional rotation lines. In addition, the Rototop is fully integrated with the Leica MC1 3D machine control.

The Hitachi Zaxis ZX130LCN-7 has clocked up 3,500 hours from new and the Rototop has roughly clocked up 1,600 hours of use since fitting, talking about the unit Pete said, “It really is a fantastic piece of kit, a real game changer, solidly built and compared to a full blown tiltrotator so simple in construction, it’s been a real eye opener to see what you can achieve with just rotation and all for a fraction of the cost of a tiltrotator, its been worked hard on this machine and I can honestly say we have had no problems with it whatsoever, I’d go as far as to say it’s pretty much bomb proof!”.

The Rototop takes machine operating to another dimension, and as I discovered during a visit to Holp’s facility in Germany, you can achieve a lot from just rotation alone, once you get your head around it, a lot of cutting angles can be achieved by rotating the bucket, which I must say was quite an eye opener for me personally.

The evidence of Pete’s labours was to be seen all around on this specialist development being undertaken in house by Morcom for six houses on a hillside, in a glorious rural location, which is involving some significant excavation work cutting plateaus into the hillside for the properties to sit on, and the road & services that will eventually serve the properties.

The vast majority of this work has been done by Pete and the Zaxis ZX130LCN-7, assisted by the previously mentioned Leica Geosystems 3D machine control which Morcom as a company is investing in for its machinery, with the technology being supplied, installed and supported by the One Point Survey team

The Leica unit that is fitted in Pete’s Hitachi is interchangeable from machine to machine. Occasionally Pete goes to do a shift on the company’s dozer and as such takes his GPS unit with him, “Its such an easy process, I’m a big fan of GPS and I have embraced the technology over the years and I like to think I was quite instrumental in adopting the systems here on Morcom.

On this job, I have cut everything out here by following the 3D model on the screen, no engineers on site, with minimal groundcrew, most of the time when I’m digging, I’m just doing the work solo, which is safer for everyone and a lot faster than the old ways of excavating, with profiles and travellers and all with pin point accuracy too, it’s a no brainer these days”, said Pete.

With over 40 years of experience under his belt Pete also loves to pass on his knowledge to younger upcoming operators. Pete said, “I’m always keen to show people the ropes as we need more young people in the industry, I’ve been mentoring a lad here called Josh, helping him to get to grips with the technology and he has picked it up quite nicely, which can only be a good thing in my opinion”.

The Hitachi 130 in its various generations has been a staple excavator of choice for groundworks and civil engineering companies in the UK for as long as I can remember. Tipping the scales at 14,300kgs this example was built in 2023 and is powered by the ever-popular Stage V emissions compliant 4-cylinder Isuzu 4JJ1 diesel engine which offers a power output rating of 74kW @2000 rpm and provides a maximum dig depth of 6.06m, and a maximum reach at ground level of 8.79m.

Pete had high praise for the ZX130LCN-7, saying “I have been around machines all my life and I can honestly say this is one of the nicest excavators I have ever operated, like most Hitachi’s its smooth as silk to operate, it has plenty of power, and above all its fast. I think Hitachi’s in general have always been highly regarded in the industry and this one with the additions we have put on it is something special”.

It was great to see an older operator with decades of experience in the seat, embracing the new technology, and keen to take his skills to another level, the Rototop and the addition of GPS machine control is definitely a game changing move for Morcom Construction and I feel confident that more units will join the fleet in due course.

Checkout our You Tube short video clip.