When Ross Cook and his family started Coastal Tipper Hire on the Gold Coast 13 years ago, he had little idea that it would grow into a company employing 80 people and operating 50 trucks, seven wheel loaders, five excavators, mobile crushing and screening plant and sand pits, quarries and recycling yards.

All Coast Recycling started in 2004 as a way to secure supply of raw materials, and it processes skip and tipper rubble and returns from concrete agitators to produce scalps for use under slabs, soils, 20 mm bedding material for pipes and 75 mm material used for drainage behind retaining walls and base course for temporary and permanent roads.

These products are supplied to the Gold Coast and Brisbane, and an operation will soon open on the Sunshine Coast.

Because of his past good relationship with Daewoo /Doosan Construction Equipment Australia salesman Drago Leskarac, Cook agreed to trial a Doosan 300DL loader in his Reedy Creek quarry when he was looking for a wheel loader for his Southport recycling yard. Ross looks for reliability, economy, driver comfort and resale value when considering equipment, and looks to replace equipment after three years so that it remains reliable.

The loader works hard, with 10 hour days during the week and six hours on Saturdays, and over 800 hours have been clocked up in a little over five months. Apart from loading trucks (200 – 250 per day), the loader cleans out under the crushers, pushes up stockpiles and carries slabs of concrete (often too big to fit in the bucket) to the crusher.

Operator Peter Jupe says, “The automatic transmission works well, and the loader gets good power to the ground for pushing up stockpiles. “

The loader’s cab comfort also got a tick, with the quietness, roominess and good vision getting special mention, and detail items like the heated external mirrors and the location of the grease points have also impressed Peter.

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Southern Pacific Sands operates one of the largest and most diverse sand mines in South East Queensland at Ningi, east of Caboolture. The mine has in the past operated equipment for long hours, with some machines approaching 20,000 hours, but the appointment of Mick Dickinson as Mine Manager 18 months ago has seen a change in philosophy.

The recent purchase of a 34-tonne hydraulic excavator involved competitive tendering, and Mick looked for a warranty to cover the 8000 hours that he planned to operate the machine before replacing it.

A Doosan DX340LC excavator performed well in competitive trials, and the pricing and support package that Daewoo / Doosan Construction Equipment salesman Drago Leskarac put together clinched the deal.

The DX340LC excavator is used to load 25-tonne dump trucks that take sand to the screening plants and, with a larger mud bucket than its predecessor (2.4 m3 vs. 2.0 m3) and greater digging force, it can load the dump trucks in four passes rather than six. The improved cycle times mean that more trucks can be put on a circuit to improve productivity. Larger dump trucks are being considered for the future.

The hardest job for the DX340LC excavator is accessing underwater sand, which supervisor Steve Powell describes as “hard as concrete.” The excavator works at full reach to dig a bench, then walks onto the bench to dig under water and cast the sand onto the upper level. Automatic lubrication was specified to protect the dipper arm and bucket joints during underwater work.

The Doosan excavator uses a marginally smaller bucket for this, though larger than that used by its predecessor (1.55 m3 vs. 1.45 m3). However, it does not have the same overheating problems in this work and can maintain productivity.

Operator David Adams has been impressed by the smooth feel of the controls, the roominess of the cab and the space and layout of the engine bay for servicing.

Southern Pacific Sands plans to add a second Doosan DX340LC excavator to its fleet in the near future

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