Terry Stevenson reviews the Hyundai R210LC-9 excavator, the versatile and user-friendly workhorse for Gremara Contractors, Hamilton . . .
Gremara Contractors, a large earthmoving and transport contracting company based in Hamilton, recently updated its 21-tonne Hyundai excavator to the latest R210LC-9 model through Eagle Equipment Ltd. It can do more, and is more powerful and user friendly than the old R210LC-7 model, purchased in 2005.
Company founder, Frank van den Heuvel, first started out with Bobcat and a truck. Now, after 25 years in business, it has around 55 staff operating two sand quarries and a good range of machinery, including 25 truck and trailer units and 11 excavators.
Gremara Contractors covers a wide range of infrastructure work from roading, residential house site construction and cartage, through to handling all of the earthworks for the redevelopment of Hamilton’s new Events Centre. When completed, the sports arena will be able to seat up to 5000 people indoors.
Business development manager Marc van den Heuvel says Gremara Contractors has a replacement policy to upgrade its diggers after 6000-7000 hours to reduce maintenance costs, and to show the operators what may happen if they look after their existing machines.
So why Hyundai?
Marc van den Heuvel explains why the company chose Hyundai. “They are competitively priced and Grant [Hawke] does a fantastic job keeping in touch with us and making sure that we are happy, and the machines are working!”
Eagle Equipment territory manager Grant Hawke explains some of the upgrades compared to the previous model.
“It has an up-rated hydraulic system, an upgraded engine, the cab is bigger with more visibility, it has the Hi-mate GPS, and an air-operated seat that is heated for more comfort.”
Extras
Gremara’s new R210LC-9 is spec’d with a number of extras, including a Groeneveld programmable auto greasing system, which supplier Eagle Equipment fitted onto the machine before delivery. In the future, Gremara Contractors plans to have all new machines fitted with this feature to save time and to ensure nothing is forgotten.
Another extra is a tilt bucket, which is controlled by a pair of right-hand joystick buttons. It was easy to see how useful that feature really is as the operator was busy contouring topsoil on a landscaped mound. The bucket clamp is an additional feature that will help when the operator wants to pick up a heavy item and place it, say on the back of a truck without causing any damage, such as a piece of concrete or a beam.
Roger, the operator, is very impressed with the additional horsepower, saying that all of the jobs are now easier to do.
“It has more power than the last one! My old one had limited power – this now has working power.”
The other main differences the operator has noticed are the rear vision camera, the bigger claw and the self greasing unit. “On the other one I had to grease everything every day – the nipples, the whole lot! This has all the plumbing to self-grease, the only thing I have to grease now is my bucket and that’s it.”
All-access
Access to all compartments was a simple key-turn affair and the doors opened up giving full access for the technicians to the radiators, filters and hydraulics. During my visit it became clear that van den Heuvel really likes to have a local company backing the company’s machinery up. “We looked at other options, but considered the Hyundai excellent in terms of driver comfort. It has a heated seat, air conditioning, an auto greasing system – which we’ll be doing with all our machines from now on, and the service is fantastic too.
We are a Hamilton-based company and we prefer doing business with other local companies than having to source bits and pieces from elsewhere. “We have a Hyundai 770 wheel loader in one of our sandpits and they always have a mechanic ready to come out and check it over, or when something needs doing. Their response time is good.”
Engine and hydraulics
The six-cylinder 6.7-litre Cummins QSB6.7 diesel engine on this machine produces 116kW (155hp) at 2000rpm through a charge-air cooled turbocharger. The four valve head features a central injection system. Maximum torque is rated to 624Nm at 1500rpm from the Tier 3 common rail fuel injected powerplant.
Computer Aided Power Optimisation (CAPO) works the electronics that control the engine and two 222-litre pump hydraulic management system to offer optimised flow rates and engine revs for the work you’re doing.
Eagle Equipment’s Grant Hawke says the operator can set it up for the functions he does. “If he does a lot of trimming, he can play around with the hydraulic pressures on the machine to suit that job application, so the next time he goes back, he just pushes user mode and that will be set up already.” If the remote hydraulic valves remain in neutral for more than four seconds the CAPO controller will automatically reduce engine revs down to 1000rpm to save fuel, and then down to idle speed after 60 seconds. The hydraulic pump flow also drops when in neutral.
Cabin
Inside, the larger cab has a very simple layout but the first thing you’ll notice is the excellent external visibility, particularly since the digger has a ROPS approved cab as standard. Gone is the right-hand vertical centre pillar. The operator now enjoys opening the ceiling skylight to maximum, whereas the previous model was limited to just a few centimetres because of the external ROPS cage.
The operator was very keen to tell me all about how good his plush pneumatic seat was, and its adjustability. And after a brief sit-down, I wouldn’t argue with him either. It is heated too! Other than the 175mm wide digital LCD control screen, there are few control buttons or switches to be seen anywhere. Exactly how it was designed because all of the self-diagnostics, machine settings, monitoring gauges and more are handled by the Computer Aided Power Optimisation (CAPO) system.
The engine has three power modes to programme your work with, as well as a saved operator setting, and three work modes. Although a digital display, the gauges imitate the analogue look so well on the screen that they appear just like the fuel and temperature gauges of old.
The reversing camera display has a normal and a very handy wide angle field of view. The external unit can be located on either of three different places on the machine. Roger’s phone is connected via Bluetooth for hands-free operation while he’s working. There’s a couple of places to put your drink bottle in and a small refrigerator located behind the seat.
The verdict
Gremara Contractors is pleased with its latest purchase, and also has a 12-tonne Hyundai excavator set to arrive in early 2010. “If the prices remain competitive, it [Hyundai] will be our machine of choice,” van den Heuvel says.
Reproduced courtesy of Deals on Wheels Magazine
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