Ruby Civil is an excavation company in Sydney providing high-quality services to commercial and residential clients. Despite being a relatively new company, their experienced team is committed to excellence, flexibility, and customer satisfaction. The majority of the work includes subdivisions, residential work, remediation projects, small rural works, sand and sandstone work and horse arenas.

We were fortunate to have the opportunity to speak with the owner of Ruby Civil Tim McMurtrie and talk about his purchase of the Hidromek HMK145 excavator. Tim has worked on everything from 1.7t to 50t excavators, and currently owns an Posi-track loader, 8t Excavator, Tipper truck and the Hidromek HMK145 excavator.

Tim embarked on a journey to purchase his excavator, making sure he did his research as he was unfamiliar with Hidromek equipment. It started when Tim watched a YouTube video of the Territory Manager from Onetrak conducting a walkthrough of the Hidromek HMK230 Grader. Tim reached out to the Sales team at Moorebank, he was pricing a job that needed a grader and was investigating his options should that job come off. It didn’t, but in the meantime, Tim developed relationships with the Territory Managers that continued over time with regular catch ups over the phone or in person.

On one of these regular catchups, they discussed a new project Tim was quoting. At the time he was hiring another excavator and this was giving him trouble. He received the Territory Managers call while he was working under the hire excavator, trying to sort its issues. They discussed the specifications of the Hidromek excavator and Tim was impressed with how it sounded. The Territory Manager arranged a deal for Tim, giving him the opportunity to assess if the machine suited his needs. This was done by providing an attractive rental price for a trial period.

One of the initial factors that attracted Tim to the Hidromek Excavator was the Isuzu engine. His other machinery also had Isuzu engines, so this made it a smart choice. Tim had initial reservations about the size of the excavator and its ability to handle the attachments he was used to using. On paper the hydraulic setup sounded like it would handle the attachments and the short tail design and counterweight would hopefully provide the stability and high lifting capacity he was looking for.

During the Trial Tim really put the excavator to the test. The site he was working at the time was particularly challenging with extremely steep ground and he was also required to utilise all his attachments including a large hammer and numerous different buckets. He was pleasantly surprised with the way the Hidromek handled these conditions and performed, especially with its stability on these steep slopes. Tim commented on how well the excavators were engineered, easy to manoeuvre, with a lot of thought going into the hydraulics. Tim takes a lot of pride in his equipment and was looking for a machine that was well built and easily maintained, proudly announcing that it was returned without a scratch.

It was important to Tim that the interior of the machine be easily maintained, mentioning that the mats were easy to remove and the interior came up well with a quick wipe down of armour oil. The HMK145 was roomy and comfortable with Tim stating, “I have driven most of the brands in this range and while the cab didn’t have the highest specifications, it had more than was needed and was easily navigated and used.” The decision was an easy one for Tim and he took ownership of a new HMK145excavator in January, putting the air conditioner to the test in the hottest month and was extremely happy with how it performed.

People ask Tim all the time about the excavator and where it is from. The feedback he gets is that it is a great looking machine and moves well, but the general consensus is that it is expensive, but he doesn’t believe they are comparing apples with apples. While the HMK145 is listed as a 14.5T excavator it actually weighs in at 16.8T and size wise it performs above its competition in the 14.5T category. Due to its size, it is also easily transported even on a on a rigid truck, which helps Tim provide better value pricing to his customers.

On one particular job he was required to relocate two water tanks for a customer over a weekend they were away. As they weren’t allowed to track down the driveway and even though this was a tight space, it was able to be delivered right to the site. If he had used his smaller excavator it would have taken a week, but being able to take the HMK145 onto site, he was able to complete the job in a day, saving time and money and allowing the customer to return home to the water fully connected, ready to capture the water from the looming rain event.

Tim really likes the fact he has great relationships with the sales, rental and support staff at both Moorebank and Hallam! “All the staff have been awesome, they treat me with respect as a small business owner, they are flexible and it doesn’t feel like I’m just a number.” At the DDT Expo Tim went to the stand and he spoke with David Hazell the managing Director who thanked him for buying from Onetrak.

Finally, Tim remembered Rhodes the Rental Manager saying, “Tim, once you drive this machine, like many of our customers, I would be surprised if you didn’t come away wanting it!” and for sure he was right.

Onetrak is the official dealer for Hidromek equipment in Australia. Visit www.onetrak.com.au or call 1300 727 520 to get in touch with Onetrak and the team.

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