Cobra Equipment’s Shantui machines continue to thrive in rural applications, evidenced by their work building farm fences for a contractor and moving materials in a sawmill
With a wide range of equipment, spanning everything from excavators and loaders to graders and dozers, Shantui has something for every operator.
Authorised dealer and distributor of Shantui machinery Cobra Equipment Sales can attest to this, having seen the machines thrive in the earthmoving and construction landscapes, and increasingly in rural applications.
This is evidenced by one of its customers, M&B Farms, a family-owned contracting business specialising in all styles of rural and farm fencing.
Based in the northern New South Wales town of Kyogle, M&B Farms serves the coast and the northern parts of the state with a Shantui SE25SR mini excavator supplied by Cobra Equipment Sales.
M&B Farms
M&B Farms owner Mike Sneath says this machine, which weighs in at only 2.5 tonnes, is easily transportable and ready to tackle any job that is thrown at it.
“As a contractor there’s obviously a lot of travel, so we need to be able to drive our equipment from job to job,” he says.
“Having the Shantui mini excavator means we can put it in a trailer with all the attachments and tow it with a ute.”
Due to the compact nature of the machine, Sneath can rock up to a job and knows he’ll have all the equipment required to build a fence or gateway entry.
To assist him in his jobs, a post hole digger attachment has been fitted to the 19.9 horsepower (14.6kW) mini excavator.
Using the attachment’s auger, Sneath can complete fence-making tasks such as digging holes and installing fence posts.
The Shantui SE25SR also comes with a tilt quick hitch, allowing Sneath to switch between a variety of attachments to suit different sized posts.
One of these attachments is a power head that rams fence posts into the ground after the hole has been dug. With the ability to tilt the quick hitch, Sneath can adjust the hammer to make sure it is directly in line with the post – which is important when working in uneven terrain.
Sneath has a plethora of experience working on rural properties, having been farming for more than 20 years.
Originally working with a tractor, the Shantui mini excavator has provided him with even greater success.
“We always wanted a mini excavator, so we could easily transport it to service smaller jobs,” Sneath says.
“Compared to the tractor, the mini excavator can access tight areas a lot better.”
Cobra Equipment Sales founder George Nason said he was happy to hear this, having recently visited Sneath’s property to see how the mini excavator was performing.
“It’s quicker and easier to manoeuvre than the tractor he was using, particularly in difficult terrain,” Nason says.
“In this application, the 2.5 tonne excavator will do everything that a tractor can, but it’s faster and easier to move around.”
In addition to supplying the ready-to-go Shantui SE25SR, Nason and Cobra Equipment also sourced the post-hole digger attachment for Sneath, making sure the machine would thrive in his field of work.
This speaks to Nason’s dedication to the customer, with the ability to source parts and attachments that are requested.
Another rural customer that has benefited from this dedication is Dan Hanna, of Hanna Timbers.
Hanna Timbers
Based in Whiporie in northern NSW, the family business has been operating a sawmill since 1974 and has been in the timber industry for five generations.
Wheel loaders are integral to the success of the business, with multiple units always kept on site and allocated to different jobs.
This can include anything from loading sawn timber and unloading logs, to moving residues around the site.
A key staple of the fleet is a Shantui SL30W wheel loader, bought from Cobra Equipment Sales.
Weighing in at 10.5 tonnes and with a 130hp (97kW) Cummins engine, Hanna Timbers has been using the Shantui wheel loader to feed logs into the sawmill and load sawn timber onto trucks.
“It’s a good mid-sized loader than can lift materials up to four and five tonnes quite comfortably,” owner Dan Hanna says.
“When you’re loading trucks with timber or picking up logs and feeding them into the mill you’ve got to be precise.
“The cabin allows us to do this, because it provides better vision and height compared to older loaders we’ve had in the past.”
A hydraulic quick hitch also enables Hanna to swap through a range of attachments depending on the task at hand.
Having worked with a variety of different-branded wheel loaders over the years, Hanna says he decided to go with Shantui because of its cost-effective nature.
The brand new SL30W was purchased in 2018 – a time when the used-machinery market was seeing prices going through the roof, Hanna says.
“It was really heating up and I found that prices were too expensive for what you were getting,” he says.
“I decided to switch my attention to a machine that I could get brand new, and more worthy of an investment than some of the other options.”
He adds that the loader has never let him down over the past six years and has been highly durable.
Hanna knows that if he ever does have a problem, he’s is in safe hands, thanks to Cobra Equipment Sales.
“George is always available on the phone and he’s a good communicator,” Hanna says.
“He’s been able to source parts for a lot of our equipment.”
Nason recently checked up on Hanna to see what he thought of the Shantui SL30W wheel loader.
His response was that he’d buy another one in a heartbeat.
For more information on the Shantui machines offered by Cobra Equipment Sales, visit www.cobraequipmentsales.com.au or call 07 3379 9419.