A Cat Amongst the Equines

Taking another look back at one of my articles previously published in Earthmovers Magazine, bringing it to life on the internet unedited and with alternative photos and video.

Pete Cockrem started out as an owner/operator 44 years ago on the 20th October 1975 when he, like so many over the years, purchased a 1970 JCB 3CII backhoe loader and formed Pete Cockrem Plant Hire, back in those days it was a big thing to take the leap into machine ownership, but Pete who hails from Yeovil, Somerset and is now in his 70’s, remains as passionate about the industry today as he was back in those early days.

Pete’s son Andy (47) joined the family business at the age of 20 and has been a partner in the business now for the past 20 years. For many years they traditionally ran two backhoe loaders and a 1.5-tonne mini excavator, but around 3 years ago Andy decided that he wanted to push the business on and had ambitious plans for expansion and today the company employs 7 people and the plant fleet has increased to 6 machine plus supporting kit like dumpers and rollers.

As is the case in most businesses, behind every successful man is a good woman and in Andy’s case its his partner Danni, who has been instrumental in driving the expansion, Andy said, “Ever since Danni came onboard, we have just steadily got bigger, she has really pushed us on! If it wasn’t for her I just couldn’t do it, the paperwork these days is just ridiculous and as we are supplying all the materials for the job here, there is a lot of it, but just before she joined us she said, its no problem, I’ll do the paperwork you just go and run the job and the men, so that’s how we do it”.

Most of their work tends to be for large private estates, the job where we caught up with them was for Chedington Court Estates, but they also do a lot for Ilchester Estates who are the owners of the famous Abbotsbury Swannery in Dorset, working for such large private landowners means there is always something to do and it certainly keeps the team busy.

Historically the company have been big JCB users throughout their existence and currently run a 3CX Contractor backhoe loader, 8-tonne class 85z-1 midi excavator, 2.6-tonne class 8026 mini excavator and a 1.8-tonne 8018 mini excavator.

However, changes are afoot as Andy is keen to try other options on the market, talking about this Andy said, “It’s a really awkward one this, my dad is JCB through and through, always has been and probably always will be, I also grew up with them and I don’t like to knock a British manufacturer, but in my opinion they have stopped trying and are slipping behind other manufacturers in terms of mini excavators. Don’t get me wrong, our JCB 8026 is a brilliant little mini excavator, but I would have to say it’s a bit of a marmite machine, you either love it, or hate it, having said that the new larger X Series machines do look impressive and I feel we would consider one of those in the future if we need a bigger machine”.

Andy continued, “Anyway, we were looking to add another 8-tonner to the fleet and following on from a discussion with our local Caterpillar sales rep Phil Harper who works for Cat Compact dealer Reeds, we decided to take a look at the new Cat Next Generation models. We had a 308 on demo and everyone who drove it was very impressed with it, in my opinion, they call them the next gen, and in that respect, they are exactly what it says on the tin, Cat have moved mini excavators to the next level with the innovative new features that are all included as standard across the range, Phil came up with some very competitive prices and we were convinced it was the way to go for our business and put in our order for the 8-tonner which you see here today”.

The 308 is a completely new addition to the fleet alongside the existing JCB 8-tonner, Andy said they had been thinking about going down the 13/14 tonne route, but figured when this current contract is finally finished, he wouldn’t need to have a larger machine, having said that the potential is always there for a heavier machine in the future if the requirement is there.

“We wanted something that would be versatile, quick and ultimately easy to mover around, our operator Keith Morris asked us to make sure it’s a fast machine, and I must say this really is fast, you also have all the options in there via the monitor to fine tune the machine to individual operators requirements, like speeding up or slowing down the dipper arm movements which is fantastic” said Andy.

Andy and Pete were recently taken up to the Caterpillar Customer & Training Centre in Desford, Leicestershire as guests of Reeds, while visiting the facility they were given the chance to try out a number of new machines including a backhoe loader, Andy said, “I thought the backhoe was very good indeed, dad is on the wheeled digger most of the time, so I need to try and convince him its time for a change of brands, that could be a challenge!”

They also tried out some of the smaller models in the Next Gen mini excavator range and were so impressed they put in an order with Reeds for a new 1.8 tonne class 301.8 which has since been delivered to site.

Talking further about the decision Andy said, “We did look at JCB again, and we were keen to look at Volvo’s 8-tonner, but they wanted us to insure the demo model so I declined that offer. With Reeds it was no problem, they dropped off the 308 demo unit, myself and Keith drove it and we both came to the conclusion that it was light years apart from anything else on the market at the moment, it’s got speed and power, smoothness in operation and the unique features like stick steer and cruise control set it apart, as such it was a bit of a no brainer and my mind was made up!”,

Both machines are working on an ongoing project within the grounds of the Chedington Court Estate, where Pete Cockrem Plant Hire are the main groundwork contractors, building what will be when completed one of the finest equestrian facilities in the UK.

The facility which includes a number of indoor and outdoor horse arenas will be host to a new collaboration between world number two Australian eventing rider and trainer Chris Burton, Ellie Guy Equestrian and the Chedington Court Estate which will be known as the Axnoller Burton Academy. Chris Burton will be based here for the next 4 years and has recently qualified one of his horses for the Olympics in Japan next year.

Andy and his team have already completed a big arena and a cross country course on the lower part of the estate and a dressage arena adjacent to the main building. They are now working on a show jumping arena on the top plateau, everything done here is too the top specification, using the best quality materials and no expense is spared to produce the finest of facilities.

Andy said, “I first came to Chedington Court 2 years ago to put a heat source trench in up through a drive, that was scheduled to be 3 weeks work, but I’ve been here ever since! It’s a great place to be working and I guess it’s a good testament to the quality of our work that we keep being asked to do more”.

Talking about further investment Andy said, “We are also thinking about purchasing a hydraulically driven chain trenching attachment for the 308, we have a significant amount of water/irrigation pipes to put in the ground here covering a lot of land, a chain trencher will do the job so much quicker than conventional bucket excavation and for a relatively small outlay it will be a great tool to have in our arsenal going forward, on this job alone there are many thousands of metres to install so it’s a bit of a no brainer really”.

Talking about the business and his relationship with his father Andy said, “We have kept the name Pete Cockrem Plant Hire as its so long established and its how we are known, Mum says why don’t you add & Son, but I say no, that’s not how it started, dad started the business and I have massive respect for him, he’s 70 years old and still loving it, and we have a great working relationship so why change it”.

None of the machines in the Cockrem fleet are sign written asked why that is Andy said, “We have never bothered with sign writing to be honest we tend to get our work on reputation so we don’t feel it’s necessary to have them signed up”.

Powered by Cat’s own C3.3B 52.4 kw (70.3hp) emissions compliant diesel engine and tipping the scales at 9380.0kgs Cockrem Plant Hire’s 308 sits on 450mm shoes with rubber street pads fitted to minimise damage to paved areas. Its also been supplied with the UK standard long stick (2360mm) and features a Keen fully automatic hydraulic quick coupler which is capable of picking up 3CX style buckets. It also sports 2 x double acting auxiliary circuits and a return to tank drain line and boom and dipper check valves.

Concluding Andy said, “Its early days with our Cat’s but I can’t praise this 308 enough, lovely spacious air-conditioned cab, push button start, and the built in radio, plus the stick steer and cruise functions make it a real pleasure to operate and above all else our dealer Reeds have been extremely helpful all the way through the process, I’m confident these will be the first of many for us”.