Across various sites, CJD Equipment’s SDLG wheel loaders provide Teys Australia with the versatility its operations needs.
Teys Australia is an integrated beef processing business that supplies the domestic and international market. Its origins stretch back to 1946 when four Teys brothers opened their first butcher shop in Woolloongabba, Queensland. Today, it operates from 14 locations across Australia, including three feedlots, six beef processing plants, two food manufacturing facilities, a hide processing site and a centralised distribution facility, all of which are strategically located along the eastern seaboard.
The Murgon facility, located about 250 km northwest of Brisbane, is a brining and curing operation that processes around 15,000 hides a week, which are mostly exported and end up primarily as automotive and upholstery leathers. Having utilised the SDLG LG936LA wheel loader from CJD Equipment over the last few years, it performs a variety of tasks around the site and is the ideal utility machine, explains Scott Kapernick, Teys Murgon General Manager.
‘The wheel loader isn’t doing massive hours. It will do ten minutes here, twenty minutes there, then someone else might jump in it for half an hour,’ he said.
‘Because there’s not one operator sitting in it all day, every day, it needs to be easy to operate.
‘We needed something with a good sized bucket, a decent bit of power behind it and a high lift – the SDLG LG936LA ticked all those boxes.’
SDLG LG936LA Wheel Loader at Murgon QLD. Pic John Wilson
Powered by a 123 hp Weichai Deutz diesel engine, the 2,700 kg rated LG936LA wheel loader is highly manoeuvrable. With an air-conditioned steel cab that offers wide visibility and larger operating space, the operator is protected against the elements and enjoys optimum comfort. ‘It’s a very adaptive machine, which is crucial for our operations,’ Kapernick remarks.
Many of the loads the SDLG LG936LA handles around the Murgon sites, like salts for curing and compost waste, aren’t particularly heavy, but it’s highly manoeuvrable and easy to operate in tight quarters, according to Kapernick. ‘We’ve got 200 acres here as well, so we use it to look after the contours and the roadworks around the property. It’s a great allrounder and has become an integral part of our operations,’ he said.
The Teys Australia’s Condamine feedlot in the Western Downs Region of Queensland, around 335 km northwest of Brisbane, also run an SDLG wheel loader – the LG938L. Powered by 130 hp Deutz diesel engine, it has slightly more horsepower than the LG936LA, and is connected to a tropical cooling package, allowing it to work at full capacity in the toughest conditions. The cab interior is vast, ensuring operator comfort. But its versatility is what makes it such an important part of the Condamine facility’s day-to-day operations, explains Phil Lambert, Teys Condamine Feedlot General Manager.
‘We use the LG938L wheel loader for a variety of jobs around the feedlot: batching rations for the cattle, for pen cleaning and moving material from the pens,’ he said.
‘We utilise the wheel loader to unload hay trucks, as well as moving the hay around the site. We also use it to move dirt and manure – just a lot of those jobs that are essential to the operation,’ Lambert notes.
Because of the different applications the SDLG LG938L wheel loader is employed in, the Condamine facility runs it with a variety of attachments. It operates various buckets, as well as a set of hay spears and pallet forks, which are used to unload pallets from trucks and move them around the facility. The LG938L comes standard with a Volvo compatible quick hitch, which has been designed and built to ensure changing attachments is a simple, straightforward process so that downtime is kept to a minimum.
Scott Kapernick (Teys Murgon – General Manager) with the SDLG LG936LA Wheel Loader. Pic John Wilson
There are many challenges associated with operating a large business in a rural setting. It can be difficult to get services to site when they are required, which is why strong partnerships are so vital, relates Lambert.
‘Teys Australia has a great relationship with CJD Equipment and that is why we’ve been working with them for such a long time,’ he said.
‘From a sales perspective, they are professional and upfront. They are competitive around pricing, and they always look to go the extra mile to ensure the right product is delivered on time and in line with our needs.
‘On the servicing side of things, CJD Equipment do all the servicing on our SDLG and Volvo wheel loaders. We have always found the team very professional; they have good technical knowledge around all the machines, and they get here in a timely fashion for critical breakdowns.
‘And, again, from a parts perspective, we couldn’t ask for anymore,’ Lambert remarked.
As Teys Australia continues to grow in the future, Lambert has no doubt that CJD Equipment will continue to provide them with all the support they need.
SDLG LG936LA Wheel Loader at Murgon QLD. Pic John Wilson
