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Develon demolition machines are increasingly popular in the Czech Republic

The demolition of old buildings is an important industry in the Czech Republic. In many towns and villages there are various 'brownfields' from the past - whether they are the remains of industrial or agricultural production, disused municipal buildings or large private buildings. Unnecessary buildings need to be dealt with before they can be given a new lease of life by architects and valuable land put to further use. Demolition is usually carried out by professional companies with specialised equipment.

A number of factors play a role in the selection of the method of removal, such as the height of the building, the size of the surrounding area for safe demolition, the material of the building structure and many others. Demolition by blasting is regularly publicised, but in practice this method is more rare. Owners more often opt for demolition by demolition equipment, which is also a suitable method in terms of subsequent sorting and recycling of demolished materials. Small buildings such as houses can also be dismantled using conventional construction equipment. However, as the height increases, special machinery must be used. The Develon brand, formerly Doosan Construction Equipment, has offered a wide range of equipment for many years for these applications, and these now include a range of four new specialist demolition machines.

The four demolition machines from Develon are available in the Czech Republic through its importer GARNEA a.s. and covers operating weights up to 71 tonne and a reach of up to 31 m. These are the DX140RDM-7, DX245DM-7, DX380DM-7 and the top-of-the-range DX530DM-7. All the models meet the Stage V emission standard and vary in size, weight and range. They have a maximum payload capacity of up to 3 tonne at the boom and have power outputs up to 380 HP.

All four machines offer perfect flexibility thanks to their modular boom design and hydraulic locking mechanism. A cab tilt of up to 30° is available for better operator visibility.  The DX140RDM-7 is available with either a monolithic or interchangeable boom on request. The DX245DM-7, DX380DM-7 and DX530DM-7 always have an interchangeable boom, which not only increases the machine's availability but also significantly simplifies transport. This is also facilitated by the low transport width of the machines from 2.5 m thanks to the extendable chassis. The customer can thus choose from a range of solutions depending on the project they need to handle.

"High reach demolition excavators have a firm place in the heavy equipment market thanks to their variability. The uniqueness of the Develon model range lies, among other things, in the fact that it offers more compact machines than is common. Customers can thus benefit from the advantages of this concept in a much wider range of demolition projects," adds Jan Breburda, Product Manager for Special Applications at Develon.

Develon demolition machines have found their way to a number of Czech customers. GARNEA a.s. and its partners take care of many machines all over the Czech Republic. Josef Veselý from František Čeliš EVROPS a.s. summarises the situation in the demolition market as follows: “Our customers carry out demolition work on buildings, halls or production plants mainly using special demolition shears, which are part of the demolition package and are used to dismantle these buildings."

Demolition with a Develon DX380DM-7 machine has been carried out by PERENA Liberec on the site of a former Tesla factory.  "The advantage of this excavator for us was especially its versatility. The excavator has a long boom with a reach of 23 m and if necessary, the boom can be easily replaced with a standard boom and the demolition machine can be used to load rubble and dismantled material from the demolition.  This saves us in terms of financial costs and time, as otherwise another machine would have to be used to load the demolition. Another reason for purchasing this excavator was the very comfortable operator's cab, easy operation and last but not least the availability of service and its expertise," says František Drešer, Managing Director of PERENA Liberec s.r.o.

The main requirement of Prodemi s.r.o. when choosing a demolition machine was its compactness: 'We chose the Develon demolition excavator because it was the only brand that could offer this special machine in the weight category up to 30 tonne,' explains the Managing Director of Prodemi s.r.o., Dušan Mihalik. "Thanks to its compact dimensions, the machine can be used on smaller demolition sites where large machines cannot fit, but conventional excavators would not be able to do the job safely and efficiently."

Another important factor that Dušan Mihalik mentions as key is the way the boom is changed: "Thanks to the variable boom, one machine can carry out demolition and then clean up after itself or load straight into the crusher, so there is no need for another machine on site for these operations. Meanwhile, changing the boom is a breeze for two people. After a short training session, our workers can do it in 40 minutes."

Another Develon machine works at TREPART s.r.o. from Prague. The DX235DM-5 has a reach of 18 m and a weight of 28.7 tonnes (today it has been replaced in Develon's range by the Stage V compliant model - the DX245DM-7). “We were very pleasantly surprised by the smallest Develon demolition excavator at the time. It is a really compact and lightweight excavator, but with a reach of up to 18 m. We often work in city centres, where compact dimensions are a great advantage. With the DX235DM-5, we routinely dismantle apartment blocks with up to four storeys and other buildings to be demolished," says the Managing Director of TREPART s.r.o., Pavel Pátek.

The success of specialized excavators in the Czech demolition market would not be possible without perfect service. This is taken care of with great care by the importer, GARNEA a.s., with its network of partners throughout the Czech Republic. "We provide our customers with round-the-clock technical advice and service vehicles with certified service technicians. The telematics system MY DEVELON also contributes to the most worry-free operation, thanks to which we can have a perfect overview of the machine even remotely," concludes Vít Brůžek, Product Manager for Develon excavators at GARNEA a.s.

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