It’s a small world in the plant game!

Thu 31 Oct 2013

It’s a small world in the plant game!

Last Saturday I was contacted by Rob Bartlett, of Sturminster Newton based Bartlett Contractors Ltd, with an offer of a few weeks work operating their Caterpillar 312E hydraulic excavator, on a job in a remote water treatment works in Newton Ferrers, South Devon. At the time I recalled how I had done a couple of blog posts on this company in the past, and I was delighted to take on the job for another company who are as passionate about plant as I am. I thought nothing more of it until I turned up on site on Monday morning and discovered that the customer I was going to be on hire to, M. J. Smith, had also featured within the pages of my old blog!

It all soon became quite clear that these two company’s owners are good friends and often work together on various jobs around the country from time to time. Of course Mike Smith is a big Engcon tiltrotator fan, and has been something of a trailblazer for the concept here in the South West. Mike bought his first tiltrotator back in 2004, and currently runs four units, which are fitted to his Volvo excavators, which include two EC140C’s, one EC140D and a EC210C, and are all busy working on the golf course construction jobs that his company specialise in on a national and international basis. Mike is seen here at the controls of his latest acquisition, the EC140DLC.

The job I am currently working on, involves the formation of two new aerated reed beds, which at first glance looks like an easy job, but it’s proving to be quite a complex job, and yet another example of how much a tiltrotator can benefit the end user during a whole host of tasks, giving the operator that third dimension of scope to work with. Sadly for me, I am still having to cope with the standard UK set up on the Caterpillar, but in the good old British way, I am just getting on with the job the best I can!

I must say this job has been like a breath of fresh air for me, and I am really enjoying it, away from the housing sites that I have spent so much time on in recent years. It also been nice to work with a family firm like M. J. Smith, and I have been very impressed with the attitude and approach to site management from Mike Smith’s daughter Lauren Smith, who is running the job, with a maturity that belies her age of 18 years old. Lauren is also a keen plant fan too, and can often be found operating the company’s rare Winget articulated dumptruck, which I hope to feature, either here or in the magazine at a later date. She is also going to be undertaking a course to become fully qualified to operate the firm’s excavators in the future.

It’s a very encouraging sign to see young people coming into the industry, especially females who have a keen interest in plant and machinery, a situation that is common in places like Australia, Canada and Scandinavia, where its reported that they take much more care of the kit they are put in charge of, and often take greater pride in their standard of work. Another example will be found in the next issue of Earthmovers Magazine with my article on another South West plant operator, Aimee Pooley.

With Mike Smith being a very keen plant man, I suspect this will not be the last time my readers will hear about him on the pages of the Digger Man Blog or Earthmovers. I am looking forward to meeting the man himself next Monday!

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