Rocking the Landscapes Down Under

I meet some great people and learn about their businesses over on Instagram, it has definitely become one of my favourite platforms and a very successful one for the Digger Man Blog. I recently had a good chat with Lakota Hilbert who is the owner and operator of Melbourne, Australia based Victorian Rockscapes & Excavation (VRE).

Lakota Hilbert (28) hails from the Western suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria. Like many of us he grew up around heavy equipment and as such has always had a passion for machinery and landscaping.

Lakota left school at the age of 15, and it will come as no surprise that he immediately decided to enter the industry, he started out with an Australian Cert III qualification in sports turf management (greens keeper).

Photo: Lakota Hilbert stands proud with his Volvo ECR88 Pro and the rocks that have become a massive part of his business.

Upon completing his apprenticeship at the age of 19, he took on a few different jobs, until at the age of 21, he took the decision to start up his own business, which was initially called Comfy Living Landscapes. The company was mainly specialising in turf and landscape work, ranging from turf installs on ovals, to turn key house landscape packages.

A few years down the line and Lakota developed a passion for natural rockscapes, something that the company is now well known for, and specialise in creating. Commenting on that side of the business Lakota said, “Creating low carbon, eco-friendly retention wall solutions is now our sole focus, at a fraction of the cost, these walls are becoming more and more popular around this area and further afield”.

The company’s hydraulic excavators of choice all come from the Volvo Construction Equipment stable, of which they are currently running three compact radius models including, the 1.8-tonne class ECR18E, the 3.5-tonne ECR35D topping out with the 9-tonne class ECR88 Pro. A tilting coupler on the ECR88 looks to be a handy piece of kit for when placing rocks with the grab and when landscape finishing. These Volvo excavators are supported by a Wacker Neuson double drum vibratory roller and a 6-tonne Isuzu tipper truck.

Summarizing Lakota said, “I'm very grateful to be able to do what I love every day and am very excited to see what the future holds for VRE as we continue to grow”.

Checkout the latest video on Victorian Rockscapes & Excavations You Tube channel.