WIN Excavations
Operating machines since he was 17, Billy Strozer knows a thing or two about the earthmoving industry. Having worked for several companies over the years, Billy settled in for the long haul at a company for a 10-year stretch, before finally going out on his own in 2000.
“After working ten years for the same company, I just wanted to branch out and do my own thing,” explains Billy. “I’ve always kept to the domestic earthmoving and excavation side of things, and have built up a good builder clientele, with some of them being repeat customers for many years now”.
From Then to Now
WIN Excavations started with just one small machine, which has now grown to a fleet of 12, with three trucks and a team of five guys behind him. The company has been servicing the Northern Beaches of NSW for over 30 years, with 99% of their work coming from the Palm Beach to Mosman area.
“We do a lot of stuff like pools, driveways, backyard extensions, that sort of thing,” says Billy. The work has been keeping the guys busy, despite the unprecedented rain Sydney has been seeing, “we have been flat out, and have managed to keep working through most of the rain we have had, only losing a day or two. We also do a lot of demos and rock excavation work so we could just keep going, it was a savour”.
When it came to Billy buying a new machine for the expanding business, he did his research and realised that the Kobelco SK135 is the market leader in its class for good reason.
“Before making a decision on which excavator to purchase, I did some research on the different machines in the market. The Kobelco 14 tonner outshone its competitors, and for a good price. Now after having one, I haven’t looked back, it’s been a great choice,” comments Billy.
Now without AdBlue
The new SK135SR-7 is now available with a Tier 3 engine, with the no requirement for AdBlue making it a popular choice for those in the market.
“The no AdBlue component was a big draw card. We have a couple of trucks that take AdBlue and it’s such a pain, especially when we are doing jobs on the side of a cliff, and other hard to access sites, and have to cart up 20 litres or so of AdBlue. It was another big thing that moved me towards choosing Kobelco.”
Billy continues that the new machine has been easy to operate, “I’ve also found the new SK135 really user friendly, to try and select different modes and pump flows and pressures, you almost need to be a pilot for other machines, but without even picking up the handbook, the Kobelco is so straight forward, you can go straight into the instrument cluster and select whatever attachment you’ve got on at the time and select it to that implement to a T.”
The Series 7 excavators have gained notability for their first-class design and levels of comfort, which wasn’t missed by Billy.
“The cab is absolutely amazing, there is room in the back to put an esky, climate control, a radio, I just find it a really good machine to operate. Having the machine delivered and going straight out to work the next day with it, it’s been really good, I’m really impressed.”
“Power wise, it is absolutely flawless, it’s got immense digging power. A recent job I’ve been working on involved operating off the side of a cliff and pulling a large tree stump out, and it just blitzed it, it just ripped it out with ease. The fuel economy is also impressive, especially when I’m sometimes hammering for 8 hours a day. Using the pump as much as that does, it’s shown itself to be good on fuel, a big tick.”
Service gets Tick of Approval
WIN Excavations’ local Kobelco dealer, Sydney Trucks and Machinery has also got Billy’s tick of approval.
“We recently had our first 50-hour service. We had a call from the dealer asking what day suited us and they were there without a hitch. We deal with Peter for sales, he was great, he would return phone calls and keep me in the loop at all times. In this climate where it is hard to get your hands on a new machine, they were able to provide the machine very quickly, and I needed it promptly. Peter said they could deliver it in 2 weeks, and the machine was delivered to the day.”
“I’ll definitely move forward with Kobelco. I run a range of 1.7 to 6 tonners, so on the next changeover I’ll grab another Kobelco and try out their mini excavator range, then see how we go from there. I’m looking forward to adding more of the new colour to the fleet, the Kobelcos blend in nicely with the scenery.”
