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Higham celebrates a decade of groundworks success

Northamptonshire-based Higham Groundworks has added an HD Hyundai HX145A LCR excavator to its rapidly growing fleet of equipment. The company, which celebrated 10 years in business during summer 2024, has three of the 15.4-tonne compact radius machines, along with four conventional tailswing HX140A L excavators.

Working exclusively for housebuilder Snowdon Homes, the company operates on sites throughout the East Midlands and East Anglia. Based in Higham Ferrers, Northants, the business has grown to employ more than 50 staff, completing a range of groundworks and civils projects for the house building firm.

All of the HX145A LCR and HX140A L excavators have been supplied by local dealer Willowbrook Plant, in the firm’s standard high specification. This includes full safety rails, auxiliary piping and HD Hyundai’s Advanced Around View Monitoring (AAVM) system, which employs four cameras positioned around the machine to give the operator a 360° view of the working area. This also includes Intelligent Moving Object Detection (IMOD) that informs the operator when people or objects are detected within the excavators working range.

Perhaps the most noticeable visual feature of the machines, is Higham’s distinctive all-white counterweight design. It certainly makes the machines stand out on site and is repeated on smaller plant within the fleet. Two of the company’s HX145A LCR machines have been equipped with an optional dozer blade, to provide additional stability when lifting, and the machines are used with a range of attachments, including pallet forks to unload road transport on site.

“The zero tailswing design really helps on some of our more confined sites,’ said Groundworks Director Adrian Webster. “We’ve gone from working on sites with three or four houses, to much larger sites with 40-plus. They are a really good machine.”

Willowbrook Plant takes care of all service and maintenance work on the excavators, supplying the machines with a four-year, 5,000-hour warranty. Higham’s plant manager also utilises the HD Hyundai HiMate telematic system, to monitor machine location, performance and operation.

“We started with one Hyundai, which we ran for more than six years, it was good as gold,” said Mr Webster. “When the time came to change, we traded it in for another Hyundai. Usually, four years is the time that we trade in now.”

The company has expanded to meet the needs of the rapidly growing housebuilder, with sites across Milton Keynes, Melton Mowbray and into Cambridgeshire. Having a single supplier, in Willowbrook Plant, leaves Higham’s leadership team free to concentrate on building the business and meeting Snowdon’s needs.

The HX145A LCR is a reduced swing radius crawler excavator that tips the scales at 15.4 tonnes. Powered by a 100kW (134hp) Stage V 3.8-litre Cummins engine, the machine boasts HD Hyundai’s EPIC (Electric Pump Independent Control) hydraulic system, with a dedicated lifting mode. Auto engine shutdown, an Eco gauge and Eco report help to minimise fuel use while maximising machine output.

Despite its compact dimensions, the reduced radius machine boasts the same spacious cab as all A-Series excavators, which is 13% larger than on previous models. An 8’ display with centralised switches makes it easy for the operator to assess machine operating condition and to set working modes.

For Higham Groundworks, the HX145A LCR is the perfect machine for its many housebuilding sites. The compact radius excavator has the digging power and lifting capability, with the operator comfort and low running costs, to meet the contractors’ changing needs, as the company continues to expand into its second decade in business.

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