Craneford 10 Years with Komatsu

Damien Crane, owner of Craneford Plumbing, has owned and operated Komatsu excavators since he started his business 10 years ago.

Damien chose Komatsu brand based on his accumulation of experience over his years in the civil and construction industry. "Komatsu was my preferred choice based on a number of important factors," said Damien.

These included: The ongoing running costs, fuel efficiency and longevity of parts The service, warranty and backup technical supportThe overall quality of the machineThe ergonomics, driver comfort and safety for Cranford Plumbing staff.

Craneford Plumbing is based in the Busselton Region in the town of Dunsborough, about 300 km south of Perth. It runs five Komatsu machines: a PC18MR-3, PC55MR-3, PC130-8, PC228US-8 and a long-arm spec PC88MR-8 delivered in early March this year.

The business carries out commercial and industrial plumbing, drainage projects and polyethylene pipe welding works for a mix of private and public sector clients. Including the City of Busselton, Busselton Water, and subcontracting for local contractors and builders.

"One of the things we specialise in is installing anaerobic treatment units or ATUs primarily for properties not connected to mains sewer, which have capacities ranging from 1500 litres a day up to 18,000 litres a day," said Damien.

"In fact, we're installing one of these commercial ones right now for the Uniting Church camp site here in Busselton."

With his latest purchase the PC88MR-8, Damien went for the longer arm to give more flexibility across its operations.

"We researched the Komatsu machines and opted for the advantages of the long boom as it didn't affect the lifting capacity of the material products we are primarily installing."

"Another important reason I chose Komatsu over other brands was because Craneford Plumbing work all over the state, in areas such as Carnarvon, Karratha, Port Headland, Kalgoorlie and Bunbury, so when we go away we want the reliability of the machines to come with us and Komatsu having branches all over the state helps ensure that," Damien said.

"Their service and support is generally pretty good. They are always willing to talk and negotiate."

"Our construction machines are all under maintenance contracts, with Komatsu taking care of the service and maintenance on these. The utility machines are also serviced by Komatsu on a regular and as needed basis."

With his latest machines, Damien has been using Komatsu Finance to fund them.

"Our local Komatsu Finance rep, John Meakins, is excellent," he said.

"We particularly appreciate the current no-payment option for the first three months, which gives you time to start seeing some income from the machine to help ease you into the repayment process; it's very good from a cash flow point of view."

Damien has also been pleased with the KOMTRAX remote monitoring system.

"It is piece of mind for telling me where the machines are located and, based on this, our insurance company discounted our premium due to the machines' locatability," he said.

"The KOMTRAX system reports on every machine's operations, such as lifting, digging, tracking or idling. In addition to this, the fuel report shows every machine's fuel consumption per hour.

"And most importantly, the KOMTRAX monitoring system sends out a SMS if there is an alarm or fault detected with any of our Craneford Plumbing excavators," said Damien.