FANTASTIC RUN WITH KOMATSU LOADERS

Komatsu Wheel Loaders have been reliable for Keoh

One of Victoria's oldest companies Keogh Transport, founded in 1898 has had an outstanding run with its Komatsu Loaders, including a WA120-2 purchased in the mid 1980's and has "never spent a cent on"

Keogh Transport is a family-owned and operated company now being operated by fourth-generation members of the family, Greg and Michael Keogh. For much of its history, the company which began operations in the horse-and-cart days hauling salt, briquettes and other materials has specialised in hauling gypsum for the state's major quarry companies.

Gypsum haulage for Gypsum Resources Australia (GRA) makes up about 90% of its work, with the remainder of its work today being carting material for landfill and recycling plants.

Keogh Transport's Komatsu loaders include the mid-1980s vintage WA120-2, a WA470-3H purchased in 2000, and a WA380-3H for its waste management operations that it's had since 2002.

"The WA120 was our primary loader until 2000, and today it's a backup loader for the WA470," said Greg.

"We've hardly ever needed to do any maintenance on the WA120 since we got it; the engine, hydraulics, transmission and steering are all good. "It hasn't cost us a bob; nothing has ever gone wrong with her.

"We've kept up the maintenance on the brakes, and we had the ram done on it once or twice, but mechanically it hasn't put a foot wrong.

"It will still lift around 7 tonnes no problem, and if we need it to do a day's work, it can easily handle 1000 tonnes a day," he said.

"About the only thing that needs doing at the moment is a seal kit through it, and the battery's now a bit run down."

Greg's comments were backed up by his father Brian Keogh, who purchased the WA120 from the SECV at Yallourn in the mid-1980s when it only had about 3000 hours on it. "It's been the best machine we've ever owned," he said. "Over the years, it's done an enormous amount of work, and we've never spent a cent on the motor; never touched it.

"Certainly because it's all been gypsum work, there's been no rocks or really tough digging, but the amount of tonnages that it's done over the years has just been fantastic," said Brian. The company has had a similar performance from its 12 year old WA470. "It's been fantastic as well," Greg Keogh said. "It's now got around 18,000 hours on it, and doesn't owe us anything.

"Our relationship with Komatsu has also always been good, and if there's ever an issue, we've been able to sort it out.

"I don't think I would change from Komatsu; I really can't fault them. It's been pretty much a dream run really," said Greg.

Bill Guirguis, Komatsu Australia's Customer Support Sales Representative in Melbourne, who looks after the Keogh Transport account, has recently signed the WA380 and WA470 loaders up with Komatsu service agreements.

It can be seen that, Quality, Reliability and longevity of components are key factors of Komatsu products. Great products backed up with regular scheduled services, which includes KOWA oil sampling to monitor major components condition, has proven its worth. This goes a long way to avoiding costly failures and keeping Komatsu's customers happy and their machines working.

Keogh Transport have been around since 1898.