"A beautiful little tractor"...
Is how Mal Pearse describes the Komatsu D65EX-16 dozer that he’s recently purchased for his Moranbah sand plant operation in the central Queensland coal fields.
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Earlier this year his company, Mal's Plant Hire, purchased a new Komatsu HM300-2 articulated dump truck and the D65EX-16 dozer for his sand plant operation, which supplies the local batch plants, as well as mine sites and construction projects in the region.
Mal is a big fan of his new dozer, which he repeatedly refers to as "a beautiful little tractor".
"It's good on fuel, and has plenty of power and heaps of push," he said.
The dozer is primarily used for pushing gravel and sand at the plant, along with some land clearing and raking as required.
Mal's HM300-2 is used for hauling sand from the main pit to the stockpile area, with haul distances from one to one and a half kilometres.
"The sand is a bit wet, and it's a bit heavy going, but she does a good job of hauling the sand," he said.
"And our operators seem to like both machines; they are comfortable and easy to operate."
In addition to the two latest machines, Mal also runs a Komatsu WA500-3 wheel loader and a PC200-7 excavator, both of which he has owned for more than 10 years.
"That motor in the WA500 has done some hours, and it's still going well. And that little 20 tonner has done over 10,000 hours and also is still doing very well," Mal said.
"I've used a fair bit of gear over my working lifetime, and I don't mind Komatsu gear at all. They make very good loaders and excavators."
Mal has a fixed-price service agreement on his two latest Komatsu machines and is full of praise for his local Komatsu field service technician, Steve Kendal.
"He is a very good fitter, and the only one I want out here working on the gear.
"You can ask him a question, and he knows what he's talking about; he's a real credit to Komatsu," said Mal.