Q-Pave Trencor, the Australian dealership for the Trencor range of heavy duty trenchers, a long time player internationally in the pipeline industry, has recently undertaken complete rebuilds on three trenchers which began their strenuous life over fifteen years ago. By most standards these trenchers would not have been considered suitable to undertake a multi-million dollar pipeline contract where reliability is paramount. In remote locations, and for such large projects, new equipment would often be considered the best option.
Q-Pave Trencor has been undertaking rebuild work on variety of equipment over the past couple of years.
“We have seen a ten-fold increase in the level of enquiry for rebuild work,” says Q-Pave Director Paul Commins. “The enquiry rate is going up and people are telling us that in the current market, rebuilding part of their existing fleet is helping them manage capital drain and supply constraints of the new equipment market. We are also hearing that there is a direct taxation benefit in rebuilding existing equipment.”
As a factory store for the Asia Pacific Region, Q-Pave Trencor holds and has access to an unrivalled range of technical support and parts support and can therefore offer a warranty on all rebuild work carried out in their workshop.
Service Manager Tom Anstice notes: “As a factory-authorised rebuild centre and parts store, Q-Pave Trencor is committed to using only genuine original equipment manufacturer parts. We find genuine parts provide the best outcome for our customers and these parts generally carry full warranty support by the manufacturer. On significant projects, our customers don’t want to risk using substandard parts. Our labour and workmanship is guaranteed through our detailed quality management system which again allows us to offer a warranty on all rebuild work.”
Project managers are increasingly warming to the rebuild option as it provides an opportunity to increase the return of investment on projects and provides greater flexibility in
controlling costs – the project manager determines the depth of rebuild work to be undertaken.
Q-Pave Trencor offers a tailored rebuild service that provides a greater level of control to the project manager allowing sufficient input to ensure that the desired outcome and timeframes are achieved. The first step on the road to a rebuild is an initial visual inspection followed by a written report issued to the project manager for consideration.
“We encourage a high level of communication in the early phases of the rebuild program to ensure that the client’s requirements, scope and timeframes are discussed and agreed at the front end. Communication is the key to a successful rebuild project and we work hard at making sure that our customers are well informed on each stage of the process. If we and the customer are reading from the same page, the project outcome is more likely to be successful for all parties and we’ll get the machine back to work quicker,” says Neil Federer.
A purely visual inspection rarely reveals all of the work required to return a tired machine to peak condition, and while Q-Pave Trencor will provide as accurate a quote as possible, additional required work is often discovered during the rebuild. To ensure there are no surprises for the customer Q-Pave Trencor prepare variation quotations for customer approval then supply the customer each fortnight with a committed cost schedule. When the machine is complete Q-Pave Trencor, with the customer present, commissions the machine with a detailed checklist. With the checklist complete – the machines are back to work.
At the beginning of 2008 Q-Pave Trencor rebuilt three trenchers for the AJ Lucas Group – two T780HD bucket wheel trenchers simultaneously and one T1260HD chain trencher. The rebuild of the machines included the replacement of all worn components including sprockets; weld repairs to cracks in the chassis with full NDT testing, new engines, complete hydraulic system overall including new hydraulic pumps and motors, replacement cooling systems and repairs to the hydraulic lift rams with the finishing touches including cab air-conditioning, re-trim and blasting and painting of the whole unit. With full parts and engineering support from the Trencor factory, the project was completed on time and on budget with the machines now hard at work in the Northern Territory – a new lease of life!
“Our customers appreciate that their aging machinery now has a new lease of life, that the rebuild cost is tax effective and their capital outlay is significantly less than that of a new machine and it all comes with a warranty” says Mr Commins.
