JIM Godfrey commenced his contracting business in Picton (NSW) 14 years ago. Jim Godfrey Earthmoving (JGE) was a humble business with a single Mustang 940 skidsteer bought from Tutts in those days.

Progress was solid but unspectacular for many years until Jim ventured into excavators five years ago. As Jim puts it "all of a sudden we started to pick up a few good jobs and we kept growing until now it's probably bigger than I feel comfortable with." (His answer to this problem will probably be to put on a manager so that he can stay ‘hands on' with the business.)

Early expansion added tracked loaders and a dozer to the skidsteers, but the fleet now comprises a mixture of skidsteers, mini excavators, larger excavators up to 30t, rollers, graders, tippers and floats - around 40 items of major plant in total. Work is mainly on hourly hire, with councils and the railway providing the bulk of the work.

The business remains based in Picton but a large geographic area is serviced from this base. JGE has a significant investment in workshops, and most servicing is done in-house. As machines are generally replaced early in their life major repairs are generally avoided. Excavators are traded after four years, by which time they have worked between 4000 and 5000 hours.

The relationship with Tutts has remained, although there were times in the past where Jim felt that the support could be improved. Now he is happy with the backup from Tutts, and regards it as being as good as anyone's. Mustangs are widely represented in the skidsteer fleet, there are some Yanmar mini excavators and more recently some Sumitomo excavators and a Vibromax roller, so that Tutts' contribution to the current fleet stands at 14.

Jim was one of the first to invest in the new Sumitomo Neo-Power series 3 excavators and has a 12t SH120-3 and 20t SH200-3. He regards them as a big improvement over previous machines, particularly in the smoothness of operation. The ease of operation is such that Jim believes inexperienced operators can become productive much earlier on these machines.

While fuel economy has improved, he believes that this is more a factor of operator quality, and using a machine in the most appropriate power mode.

Excavators are used with a full range of attachments, from a range of buckets to rippers, grabs, augers, compaction plates and hammers. Jim operates other brands of excavator in his fleet but believes that the Sumitomo is now on a par with any machine on the market.

NOTE: The Sumitomo series 3 machines introduced advanced electronic engine and hydraulic controls, automatic mode selection, extended service intervals and major advances in the operator environment and serviceability.

Source: www.infolink.com.au

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