LoDril Debuts in Australia

The first LoDril drilling attachment to be sold in Australia has recently been commissioned in Sydney. This unit is a LMFB-12M which has been mounted on a CAT 315 excavator for its new owner KPS Constructions Pty Ltd.

KPS is a young expanding company, founded by Kenneth O'Sullivan in 1999 and based in Ashfield NSW. They specialise in the use of the wet mix 'Shortcrete' process for the construction of walls on a wide range of projects from domestic housing applications to large infrastructure jobs. They are also extensively involved in the installation of temporary & permanent ground and rock anchors, soil nails and rock bolts.

Bay Shore Systems Incorporated manufactures the LoDril in their factory in Rathdrum, Idaho USA. For the commissioning of this attachment they sent over a very experienced commissioning engineer, Josh Hunt, who worked with the Pilequip technicians in the Vineyard workshop to install the unit onto the excavator in just four days. The Sales Manager of Bay Shore Systems, Adam Minatre, whose father Herb Minatre originally founded the company in the Bay district of San Francisco over 25 years ago, also came to Australia to assist with the training of the KPS operators and advise on servicing and maintenance procedures.

The LoDril provides the customer with an alternative to the more traditional purpose built crawler based drilling rigs that are commonly used throughout the construction industry. The attachment itself is much more economical than buying a full crawler based rig, especially it if can be matched up with a suitable excavator that may already be in the owners fleet and is underutilised. Even if an excavator has to be purchased specifically for the base unit, market prices are such that the total capital outlay may be considerably less than the alternative. Comparitively short lead times for the LoDril attachments are also an attraction currently in the strong growth market that exists for this type of equipment.

Pilequip Australia Pty Ltd has been appointed as the exclusive agent/distributor for Bay Shore Systems in Australia and New Zealand. Managing Director, Peter Goodman, visited the Idaho fabrication shop in March this year to inspect the manufacturing facilities and meet the key personnel at Bay Shore Systems. This visit will be followed up with more visits by the Pilequip management and technical team in the near future as sales increase.

The very first LoDril in the region has been successfully operating for the Fletcher - Brian Perry Group in Auckland, New Zealand for over 12 months.