In a recent interview with Earthmovers and Excavators, Warren Batchelor, a fourth-generation family member, shares the story of Wiggins and Batchelor and their latest venture in purchasing a Volvo EC300E Hybrid Excavator from CJD Equipment.
Wiggins and Batchelor began their journey in 1971 off the West Coast of Tasmania. Although they may be a small earthmoving company, they have diligently served the regional area, specialising in road construction and maintenance in quarry and forestry operations and contract work for private landowners. Additionally, Wiggins and Batchelor actively engage in various land conservation and river rehabilitation projects.
“I am the 4th generation in our family business that is Wiggins and Batchelor,” says Warren Batchelor, “it was started by my great grandfather Trevor Wiggins and Grandfather Darrel Batchelor.”
Wiggins and Batchelor’s Experience with the Volvo EC300E Hybrid Excavator
Since purchasing their first Volvo excavator 18 months ago, Wiggins and Bachelor have added a new 30-tonne to the team. “We purchased an ECR145E from CJD Equipment around 18 months ago, and we’ve already done over 2000 hours with it; it’s been reliable and is incredibly fuel efficient.
The service from CJD Equipment was excellent as well.” “So, when it came to purchasing a new 30-tonne machine, we didn’t look elsewhere. We got one price on the Volvo EC300E Hybrid excavator from Kade at CJD Equipment, and that’s what we went with.”
Wiggins and Batchelor primarily work around the North-East Coast, Central Highlands and regional areas of Tasmania for private landowners, local governments and developers and do a lot in quarries and forestry. “We have recently finished a project revegetating a quarry, building it back to the ground. It’s been one of the first projects with our new EC300E Hybrid, and it’s been really exciting to see its capabilities,” shares Warren. “We have a few river rehabilitation projects coming up in the summertime, one involving removing a bridge that was washed away in the floods and installing a crossing through. We also have some forestry work building cable landings.
The EC300E Hybrid has a few projects in front of it for the next 6-12 months; I’m looking forward to putting it to work.” One of the main features that Warren loves about the Volvo products is the fuel efficiency and the quality of the machine. After hanging onto their last 30-tonne excavator for several years, they wanted to ensure their next 30-tonne was reliable.
“We’ve had nothing but a good run from our ECR145E, and we expect the same from our EC300E hybrid excavator“, Warren comments. “And the added features are one thing we love with our Volvo machines; the operator comfort, heated seats, and active control make working on site much easier”.
How Does Volvo’s Onboard Weighing Technology Benefit Contract Work and Reporting for Wiggins and Batchelor?
Doing a lot of contract work means much reporting is involved at the end of the day. For Wiggins and Batchelor, Volvo’s Onboard Weighing means no guessing game. Seamlessly integrated and driven by the 10″ Volvo Co-Pilot display, Onboard Weighing gives real-time insights into the bucket weight, ensuring operators move the suitable material in every pass.
Furthermore, it maintains a comprehensive record of total tonnage per shift or day to provide robust long-term productivity data. “With quarry work and all, we load trucks and provide the drivers with a printed document detailing the contents of their load to ensure compliance with NHVR regulations and that we are within the load limits.” “Onboard Weighing is great; It’s a technology that helps us take the guesswork out of it”. Warren remarks, “Instead of going to a client and guessing the work you have done, we can now show them in real time what we have moved or raised.”
How Does the Volvo EC300E Hybrid Excavator Contribute to Environmental Sustainability in Government Projects?
“We also do lots of work on government projects”, says Warren, “Governments are constantly under pressure to show how they are reducing their environmental footprint on their projects; they need their contractors to do the same thing. “With the fuel efficiency of the EC300E Hybrid excavator and the addition of Ad-blue, we can lower our emissions and reduce our footprint.”
“We just want to show that we are on the front foot with minimising our environmental impact.” The EC300E hybrid excavator features Volvo’s unique hydraulic hybrid technology, which utilises the boom-down motion to charge the accumulator with the stored energy used to drive the assist monitor, which powers the engine system. This offers greater fuel efficiency and a reduction in CO2 emissions. The Volvo E-Series excavator models also harness the new D8M engine with Advanced Combustion Technology. This D8M engine lowers the rated rpm from 1800 to 1600 while also delivering a 5 per cent increase in power.
How does the support system for the Volvo EC300E Hybrid Excavator benefit contractors, particularly in terms of servicing and maintenance?
For Warren, a significant factor in purchasing his new 30-tonne was also the support system behind him. The decision was easy with CJD Equipment’s nationwide servicing network of technicians, workshops, and dealers. “Fortunately for us, we are just down the road from CJD Launceston, which is incredibly handy,” “With our line of work, I’m unavailable during business hours most of the week. Calling CJD’s Field Service Technician, Richard, outside of regular hours has never been a problem. We consider ourselves fortunate to have him as our machine service technician. His work ethic and knowledge of the machines have been excellent.”
