A Queensland landscaping business' recent addition of a Toyota Huski skid steer loader has in some instances reduced its labour overheads by the order of 50 percent.
GreenScope Property Services operations manager Craig Gierke said the addition of the Toyota Huski 5SDK5 skid steer loader to his Brisbane-based fleet has allowed him to tackle a wider range of jobs across the South East Queensland region and complete them more efficiently, with half the labour previously needed.
"Having the Huski 5SDK5 loader machine at our fingertips has made a huge difference," said Mr Gierke. "We have been using it for a lot of work, including for bigger jobs and including ground maintenance, softscape and hardscape work. It's a very versatile machine in terms of the things it can do such as preparing surfaces like driveways, rubbish removals, prepping for retainer walls, levelling ground and excavating for drainage. Also putting in soil for gardens and mulching.
"Instead of taking three or four staff onto a job, the Huski loader allows us to take only two. So, those two staff are still able to do the job in the same timeframe as four, but I'm not having to pay out for the extra labour. It's win/win in that respect because there's a definite return-on-investment from the machine."
Mr Gierke said GreenScope Property Services has been keeping proprieties looking their best for over 10 years and that its core business is in real estate. "We deal with everything from government - such as Defence Housing - to residential, but most of our work is with real estate and body corporate. We do a lot of rental and lease property grounds maintenance."
Toyota Material Handling Australia Queensland area sales manager - Earthmoving, Jason Stamp, said Mr Gierke was looking for his first skid steer loader for the business and needed something that would strike a balance between being powerful enough for large jobs yet small and manoeuvrable enough to operate in constricted spaces.
"Craig came to us with a brief that included having a machine that could deal with the tight access of his housing developments clients," Mr Stamp said. "After checking out the Toyota Huski 5SDK5 in our showroom, we gave him a demo unit to use on his sites to ensure he was happy with it and, as it turns out, he was."
Mr Gierke concurred. "We looked at our core work and researched the equipment needed to carry out that our work optimally," said Mr Gierke. "We looked at the spec's and settled on the Huski 5SDK5 because of the access widths we deal with. There's a lot of tight access down the sides of our clients' properties and the five is a happy medium in that it has the power to do the big jobs, but is also nimble enough to get through some pretty snug spaces.
"We were weighing up our options but there aren't many other alternatives to Toyota Huskis in the market and it ticked all the boxes. Toyota Huski is a premium-quality product at a reasonable price point with a very reputable name throughout Australia. Whether it's a car or plant equipment, the Toyota name speaks for itself.
"I also know of other companies who have had a good run out of the Toyota Huskis - they're basically 'bulletproof' - so in the end it was an easy selection for us, given their reputation for reliability and durability, and the excellent after-sales support you get such as with the on-site servicing.
"There's also the great peace-of-mind you get from their guaranteed warranty. Early on, we were using it and found the steering was a bit off. That very day Jason had a Toyota Material Handling Australia technician at our depot. He traced it to one of the steering rods and fixed it straight away so we could get it back on the job site, making money. It's great to know they'll be there should anything go wrong, but we know the quality of the machine so we're not expecting that."
One of Mr Gierke's favourite features of the Huski 5SDK5 is its ability to easily change implements. "I really like being able to change from one implement to another. Whether it's a bucket or an auger, it's easy to take one off and put on another really quickly."
Mr Gierke said he has personally enjoyed operating the Huski 5SDK5 since acquiring it. "It's very user-friendly. It has really good visibility from the seat so it's great when you're doing excavation work. I've been on a lot of loaders and I find it steers well. It's a good thing to operate."
GreenScope Property Services Operations Manager Craig Gierke