A Cornishman for All Seasons

Mon 22 Jul 2019

A Cornishman for All Seasons

Having been born in the cathedral city of Truro proud Cornishman Olly Swiggs (32) has certainly packed a lot into his life especially where plant and machinery is concerned. Olly had been exposed to the plant game virtually from day one. In those days his mum was working for English China Clay (ECC) and was involved in the purchasing and allocation of plant that was being run by Western Excavating in the clay pits in Nanpean. During school holidays, like many others, young Olly would go to work with his dad who was a builder by trade. Olly was on the sites trying to learn the general building trade, but his attention was always drawn to the diggers that were working in close proximity. But it didn’t stop there, Olly’s grandad was also a plant man, operating dozers for ECC out at the Rocks Pit in Bugle. As a side line he also owned a 1990 model JCB 3CX Sitemaster and it was on this machine that Olly first got “hands on” with a machine, which convinced him that the plant industry was the career path he really wanted to tread.

On leaving school Olly went on to further education at Duchy College at Roswarne in Cambourne, where he studied land-based engineering for a year, during that time he managed to secure himself a one day a week work placement position with Finning at Nanpean, where he got the bug for engineering, maintenance and repairing of plant. This temporary position eventually led to Olly being offered a full-time apprenticeship with the Caterpillar dealer. Olly takes up the story, “After qualifying from my 4-year apprenticeship term, I stayed on for a further 6 years which saw me working on various different types of mining machinery at the China Clay pits which by this time had been taken over by Imerys. This was a great time for me, the work was brilliant and I learnt a wealth of knowledge from so many of the older guys that I worked with there, I still have massive respect for them all to this day!”

Olly on an overseas assignment. Photo Courtesy of Olly Swiggs. “After serving 10 years with Finning and having listened to the older guys stories about working abroad, I was keen for myself to go and see what it was like. After a few attempts I eventually got an opportunity to go to Ghana, working for a Canadian company called Golden Star Resources, where I took up a position as a mine maintenance supervisor. They had 3 mine sites on the go there and were running anything from small backhoe loader up to a Cat 922G which was my favourite machine of all. There were also dozens of Cat D10 dozers, Cat 777’s and Liebherr 994 face shovels, it was incredible, I learnt so much out there”. Olly continued, “After around 2 years of working in Ghana, the price of gold started to drop, so I then ventured off to the Middle East where I got a job working for Jordon Tractor, who were Caterpillar dealers. I was appointed there as a mining specialist which involved me working with the local mining customers and assisting them to set up their sites. This was another exciting placement which saw me involved in the maintenance of a wide range of Caterpillar equipment including 777D rigid haulers, 988G wheeled loading shovels and 6030 face shovels as well as supporting ancillary equipment”.

Pictured above: Olly spent time in the Middle East gaining invaluable experience whilst out there. Photo Courtesy of Olly Swiggs. After 3 long years working away it was time to come back to his roots and on his return, he regained his job at Finning as a service engineer. Olly soon discovered that the industry as a whole had changed beyond recognition, so he decided he wanted to do something different. This was followed by short spells working for Holt JCB and then as a fitter for a local plant hire firm. Olly quickly discovered that plant driving bug had bitten him again and so he set out to find a seat locally. After a number of attempts to get an opportunity to drive without much success, a good friend of Olly’s, Aaron Dawson, recommended him to the Helston based MJL Group, where he took up the offer of an operating job on a 13-tonne hydraulic excavator. Olly said, “I met some good blokes on MJL who are still mates to this day, one of them is Rob Leaper, who I really look up to as he was always very helpful and offered me few hints and tips along the way that have stayed with me ever since, things like that go a long way in my opinion”.

Pictured above: Like so many who've started in the plant game over the years, Olly's first machine option was the JCB 3CX. Photo Courtesy of Olly Swiggs. Like so many others in the industry Olly began to have a hankering to have his own machine with his name on it. He formed his business OWS Earthmoving around 4 years ago and initially purchased a second hand 2006 model JCB 3CX, however with backhoe loader work in decline with customers preferring to opt for 360-degree excavators, Olly decided to sell the 3CX in favour of a 2013 CASE CX130C hydraulic excavator which he purchased from SJH All Plant up in Peterborough and which he kitted out with a second hand Steelwrist X18 tiltrotator with pup hitch to suit its existing buckets.

The next challenge was to find someone to offer him a regular run of work. With MJL mainly running all their own kit there was unlikely to be an option for him there, however Olly was lucky to be offered his first start as an owner/operator with Liskeard based Champion Groundworks, working on numerous housing sites across Cornwall.

Talking about his business and its expansion over the past 4 years Olly said, “Since establishing myself with my own machine and working all the hours I possibly could to get it off the ground, I have since added a couple of other machines to my portfolio which offer us a lot of flexibility and versatility in terms of the work that we can undertake.

I first added a tidy 2011 model Hitachi ZX85USB-3 that is primarily used in and around partner’s fathers farm and on smaller building jobs that come in from time to time. I have also purchased a Finnish built TMK 300 tree shear that fits this machine which is a great bit of kit for all our tree shearing operations.

“To support our forestry and ground clearance work we also invested in a Cat 299D XHP compact tracked loader, which is a total beast of a machine, with a net engine power output of 79kw (106hp) and a hydraulic oil flow of 150 l/min this machine is able to power some of the most aggressive attachments out there! We run a Fecon mulcher head and a Meri crusher for track refurbishment work, it really is a machine I love running as it’s such a weapon!”.

The most recent addition to the fleet is a brand-new CASE CX130D model which has replaced Olly’s original C Series excavator, this machine has been supplied by local CASE dealership M&M Plant Sales and he has had his existing Steelwrist X18 tiltrotator fitted on it by Steelwrist UK’s Pat Bulcock, whom Olly claims was extremely helpful and knowledgeable all the way through. Olly has nothing but praise for the quality and durability of the Steelwrist product saying, “That unit is nearly 10 years old now and I must say, I’ve given it some right stick in the time I have had it and its still all tight. I just love the whole tiltrotator concept, they just make life so much easier and open up a whole new way of doing things, it’s a no brainer as far as I’m concerned!”.

As for the CASE CX130D itself Olly commented, “The CASE, with its Sumitomo heritage, is a class product, I thought my C Series was a great machine but this D Series is even better, it and the level of service we get from M&M Plant Sales has made a big impression on us and is sure to have a massive influence on our excavator purchasing going forward, its just an all-round great package”. We caught up with Olly and his machines on the farm in Davidstow, Cornwall, where he had all 3 units working in various locations around premises, with the CX130D tidying up banks and hedgerows, the Hitachi ZX85USB was busy trimming back over hanging tree limbs, while the Cat 299D XHP was being used to pile up the cuttings and generally tidy up into manageable heaps.

Asked about his future plans for the business Olly said, “I’m looking to build up a varied customer base that really covers all aspects of machine operating, from building contractors, to the forestry and agricultural sectors, they tell me variety is the spice of life and that’s just how I like it!”. With his drive, ambition and hard work ethic its clear to see that Olly Swiggs definitely has the right attitude to be a long-term success and I’m in no doubt that he will be featured again on this blog in the not too distant future.

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