Killard Excavation, established in 1999, has managed to avoid the widespread trend of skill shortages to achieve an annual turnover of $49 million. Jerry Daly, Managing Director attributes this, in part, to the company’s fleet of Kobelco excavators.
According to Jerry the route to success lies with supplying good workers with great machines to operate and, given a choice, the operators at Killard prefer Kobelco excavators. Jerry Adds “If you’ve got good, reliable machines they go a long way to keeping operators happy. The Kobelco excavators have plenty of power, are reliable and easy to operate.”
Killard Excavation has grown rapidly over the past couple of years and currently has a fleet of 27 Kobelco excavators including an SK80SR excavator, an SK40SR, 15 SK135SR excavators and has recently expanded from 8 to 10 fuel efficient SK55SR excavators.
Jerry explains that thanks to their precise and responsive controls, the Kobelco SK55SR excavators are perfect for water reticulation work. The SK55SRs ensure workers’ safety when digging around gas and electricity supplies, are excellent for working in small areas and are energy efficient; running 10 hours a day on roughly 30 litres of fuel.
Also helping to sustain and boost the current workloads of Killard Excavation are the SK135SRs. These excavators have really come into their element at a current job at sensitive Aboriginal sites.
The corridor of work at these sensitive sites could be as little as 10 to 40 metres wide. Jerry says that in instances such as these “The SK135SR excavators give pinpoint precision… [allowing] us to provide the high standards required by our clients, including protecting the environment.”
According to Jerry the 13 tonne Kobelco SK135SR has awesome breakout power and is very versatile. Killard often adds rock breakers, augers, knuckle booms and buckets to its excavators, which are mainly used for street and pipe work.
The SK135SR’s provide excellent comfort and safety to Killard’s operators. They offer a comfortable cab seat, plenty of leg room, air conditioning and a clear view from the excavator’s cab.
Jerry says that Killard’s fleet of outstanding machines has been a key element to the company’s success. “The Kobelco excavators are in a class of their own. Our operators prefer to use them over any other brand of excavator,” he adds that “They (the Kobelco excavators) certainly will be a part of our future.”
