IN CONVERSATION
tool carriers for our range of specialised
attachments, which form a critical part of
our business.
Blasting is obviously a key part of your
business. Do you do it all in-house?
Yes, I’m a mining engineer who specialises
in explosives, so we do all blasting in-house.
Do you buy most of your equipment or
hire it?
We buy our own fleet. We use specialised
equipment like hydraulic shears and
hydraulic crushers, where we need to buy
the best quality available globally.
We focus on the long term, so pay a
premium to acquire the best machines
and tools and look after them as best we
can. Our engineers have also designed
and developed our own mechanical
equipment and critical parts like quick
couplers, for example.
Jet Demolition acquires and stocks equipment and attachments continuously to
ensure they can deploy at site immediately once a contract is secured.
Do you stock as big a fleet as possible
in anticipation of being awarded new
contracts?
Our approach is to add to our equipment
fleet and attachments every year. In this
way, we will be ready whenever a project
comes along. To be able to do this, we have
to spend a lot of capital, but that is the
nature of our business.
And you need to convert these machines
after you have bought them?
Yes, we need to convert the excavators,
which is why we have designed specialised
components like couplers that allow us
to change attachments rapidly. We also
have to convert the machines to handle
these specialised tools. The entire hydraulic
system needs to be redone, for example.
Standard attachments are normally
attached to the machines by means of
shafts or pins, and it is a tedious and risky
job hammering them out. We therefore
developed the couplers, making it easier
and safer to change between our assorted
tools. Our first quick coupler was designed
and developed 14 years ago, and it is still
working today. We’ve used extremely high-
strength materials to make basic, but big
and heavy, couplers that make the process
of changing attachments a lot safer and
quicker, and they also last longer.
Do you have special agreements or
contracts with Original Equipment
Manufacturers?
We have a long-term agreement with
Hyundai. We trade in multiple old machines
www.equipmentandhire.co.za
Joe Brinkmann and Daniel Mabasa, workshop manager at Jet Demolition.
at a time and replace them with new ones.
We do our own maintenance, however.
As we modify the equipment and work in
remote regions, it is best to use equipment
from the same range, making it easier to
stock all spare parts in our warehouse.
After how many hours do you trade in
your excavators?
We normally trade them in after about 6 000
hours, which is not really a lot compared to
international practice. Some companies buy
second-hand equipment with more than 9
000 hours on the clock. It’s a bit like a car.
If you trade it in, and it’s reasonably new
and in good condition, there is a market for
it. Besides, when doing a demolition job,
large multinationals don’t want rundown
equipment brought in.
So, a big part of the business is to
maintain and manage the fleet?
Yes, it’s a big part of our business. We need
to look after our equipment. Our machines
and people are critical resources, without
which we cannot exist.
How does someone become involved in
the demolition industry?
Demolition is a specialised field. People
involved in this industry come from a great
variety of backgrounds. To become a blaster,
you either come up through mining or the
military. Civil, structural, and mechanical
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