MD Industries, an electrical contracting business in NSW has added a new M-16U Huski Construction Equipment mini excavator to its fleet.

MD Industries director and project manager Matt De Bono started his electrical trade 20 years ago and self-started his current business, which he describes as “multi-disciplinary” 15 years ago.

“We are mainly electrical contractors but we cover a lot of fields and also do project work, providing entire customer solutions such as demolition, fit-outs, a whole range of works,” he says.

“Because we cover so many areas, we can wrap it up as a package: do all the excavations, trenching, footings, the civil works, concreting, and of course the electrical side of things. We also provide 24-hour everyday quick response.”

At the moment, MD Industries is focused on building a network of electric car-charging stations throughout NSW and when it’s completed in June 2021, people will be able to find one every 150km.

Given the regional nature of the network, MD Industries faced logistical challenges in terms of transporting a 2.5t excavator to job sites, as Matt explains: “We go to some pretty far-flung places and it was just too big, heavy and expensive for towing. We were hiring excavators in rural areas but the further we went; it was getting harder and harder to find machines. We were travelling an hour just to get a machine and then an hour back.”

A key feature of the M-16U Huski mini excavator is its exceptional power according to Matt. He considered buying the smallest mini excavator in the Huski range but liaison with Huski Construction Equipment area sales manager – construction Peter Bower says that the business could choose a higher-tonnage machine without compromising its transport requirements.

“We needed a smaller machine but one that could also meet our needs in terms of power,” he says.

“We looked at the smallest one in the range but after speaking with Peter we realised we could go up in size in order to allow for it doing that bit more, without it affecting our transport.

“The new 1.6t Huski is in a different class to our larger machine but for the size of it, it is very powerful and more so than the 1.6t equivalent from another brand. It performs very well, having excellent break-out force for its size.”