MBD Contracting devotes a big chunk of its time to building rock walls and stopbanks for river protection work. To facilitate this work, MBD owns and operates a number of rock quarries throughout the West Coast and Canterbury regions, where it extracts large rock, which is particularly suited to river protection. It has spent the past 17 years working on the West Coast and Canterbury for major clients such as Fulton Hogan, Kiwirail, Ecan, and local councils. The team has been tasked with carrying out numerous rock protection projects over these years, completing emergency works spread out over 886 kilometres of State Highway, over 300 kilometres of railway track, as well as many kilometres of stopbank infrastructure for local councils. Projects like the KiwiRail River Protection Project has them supplying, carting, and placing large rocks to protect the Kiwirail Midland Line. The rock for this project comes from its Wainihinihi Quarry, and doing the heavy work in the quarry are two new Cat 340 excavators, recently purchased from Terra Cat. “We needed to replace our old digger and wanted to try the Cat brand,” says MBD Contracting director Darren Richardson. "We needed a machine with superior strength and reliability and this is what Cat offers. It’s handling large rocks, sized between one and three metres in diameter, so needs to be strong and durable." "Our first 340 has been extracting rock for the KiwiRail projects since January, and the boys are really happy with it. They say it’s strong, stable, smooth, and quiet. We’ve just received our second Cat 340, and it’s now working in the quarry alongside the first one." Terra Cat industry manager Tim O’Meara says the 340 is a new model for the company, which builds on the Cat 336, a machine that has been a solid performer in the market for the past 15-plus years. “One of the significant differences between the 336 and 340 is that the 340 has a wider undercarriage. This not only makes it more stable, but allows it to deliver a 10 percent larger payload. The engine too is more enhanced, and we can fit it with a 2.3 cubic metre bucket for a four tonne payload, further increasing productivity. It’s an ideal machine for bulking out or loading trucks.”
Tim says Cat is continuing to produce the 336 for those who are happy with the current performance or a lower level of technology, and says the 340 has just stepped up to the next level. "As well as the increased strength and productivity, the 340 offers payload and grade control, off-board reporting, operator assistance, and more. It’s all customisable to suit the operator and job at hand, and the machine is very intuitive." To ensure operators get the most out of their 340, the machine has Operator Coaching as an in-cab system. It recognises specific opportunities for operators to be more productive and prevent unnecessary machine wear and tear, alerting them when inefficient or restricted actions are detected and providing insights and steps to improve. Tim says the Cat 340 offers the best fuel efficiency in its class, making them more cost-effective to run, and it has very low CO2 emissions. “Our Fuel Edge programme guarantees amazing fuel efficiency. We have class-leading fuel efficiency and promise that in the first two years, Cat machines with VisionLink enabled won’t burn more than an agreed amount per hour. We stand behind this claim, and if the fuel burn is higher, you’ll receive a parts credit." "Less fuel burn means less C02 emissions, and VisionLink will also report CO2 output for clients who need to record that."
Originally published in NZ Contractor Magazine June 2024. Reproduced with permission in On The Ground magazine.
