Swiss army knife for diggers

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Although his company specialises in tree surgery and woodland management, Jon also takes on general excavation work. Before his recent purchase he had one Kubota digger with a range of attachments but felt this was rather limited. “I suppose I wanted a digger that was more like a Swiss Army Knife,” jokes Jon. This led him to look at tiltrotators and whilst searching online he noticed that Engcon’s name turned up more than any other manufacturer. He decided to check out Engcon’s website for a second-hand system but the one he fancied had gone before he had a chance to buy it. Luckily, Eddie Warrener, a well-known UK Engcon enthusiast, told Jon that Shaun Gratton, an owner/operator in Staffordshire, was selling a Komatsu PC27, complete with an Engcon tiltrotator. This time Jon didn’t hang around and bought Shaun’s system without even going to see it!

Time saving

After using it for just a few weeks, Jon says he wouldn’t be without his Engcon system as it saves him so much time on site. Previously, he had used his digger with a grabber to feed his wood chipper. Now, with a tiltrotator attached, the grabber is much more flexible and he can get a job done in less than half the time. “The customer gets their job done quickly and efficiently and I make more money for less work! ” says Jon with a smile. Having a tiltrotator has also improved productivity – and profitability – when he’s doing excavation work. He refers to a recent project to dig footings for a developer in Surrey: “I had two days to complete the job but finished in less than one - allowing the developer to get the concrete poured a day early, which was a great result all round.”

Access all areas

Another benefit of having a tiltrotator is the ability to operate in confined spaces – a real advantage for Jon when he’s working on sites in south west London where access can be tricky. Greater flexibility on site has also meant that he often doesn’t need to hire a second excavator as he can do so much more with the one he’s got.

In order to maximise the time he’s been able to save since getting an Engcon system, Jon has decided it’s time to switch from charging a day rate to project pricing. Summing up he says: “I’m absolutely delighted with my tiltrotator and so are my customers because I can work faster and price more competitively. Word is already getting around and more work is coming in all the time!”