by Nick Drew | Sun 05 May 2013
Another forward thinking plant man gets the tiltrotator factor
Machine operator Stuart Jamieson, has become the latest convert to the tiltrotator concept, having recently taken delivery of an Engcon EC15B model, which has been mounted on his New Holland E135SR excavator.
Jamieson Contracts are a father & son owned business who are based in Broughshane, County Antrim, in Northern Ireland. They primarily work on private house developments, farm work and some commercial development work. In addition to the New Holland machine, they also run 3 more machines from the JCB stable, including a JS130 13 ton excavator, 8030 3 ton class mini excavator and a 3CX backhoe loader. After seeing tiltrotators being demonstrated at SED in 2009, Stuart had pondered many times on the idea of purchasing one. More recently Stuart got to test drive two of the UK’s most notable brands at the Scotplant show last year. He then fuelled his interest in the concept by reading about them in various earthmoving magazines, and in his own words, after reading about my experience with the Engcon demonstration unit I ran for 7 months for MJL contractors on my old blog, Stuart was hooked.
Stuart decided to put the feelers out with a few dealers, and made contact with Liam Murphy from Korec in Dublin, they sourced a new EC15B direct mount model in England, and offered him a deal that was simply too good to miss, the unit was purchased and fitted some 4 weeks ago.
The unit was fitted to their New Holland/Kobelco E135SR machine, which is in immaculate condition and has over 4000 hours on the meter, which is all credit to Stuart for looking after the machine so well. Stuart, like most of us who have the eye and the imagination for these impressive tools, has not been disappointed with his acquisition, commenting that “it really has changed the way I work with the machine and all for the better too!”
Stuart continued, “Grading is impressive too, no more sticking dirt or stone under the tracks to get the right angle or to level up the tracks, it simply makes the whole process that much faster” Stuart also spoke about the systems advantages when backfilling sewer trenches, “It’s so much easier, as I can turn the bucket sideways and look straight down the trench to see exactly where I am putting the material, as for the extra weight on the end of the arm, I always relate to what Nick said in his reports, you do know it’s on there but you simply adjust your driving style to suit”. Stuart reports that the New Holland has had no issues with the extra weight, as the machine tips the scales at 15 tons.
The first few days were a bit tricky according to Stuart, but now he describes it as being like second nature. Stuart said, “I wouldn’t be without it now as the options it gives us to work are unbelievable, I think we may invest in some additional work tools in the future like a selector grab, and some pallet forks, which will further help us to utilise this machine on site”.
Talking about the inevitable doubters that we have all encountered, Stuart said, “Yes, we have had the usual stone agers saying “you will notice a difference with that on”, “they are no good” and “that will wear out quick”, but how wrong they are! Those of us who have invested in these items of kit will always have the advantage over firms with the conventional set up, in a way we are all trail blazers over here in the UK and Northern Ireland, I for one am delighted to be at the forefront of excavator work tool technology”.