Desert Run earthworks contractor based in Cervantes, WA. Jason Clarke and his wife started Desert Run back in 2013 and currently have a Cat 279D CAT Multi-Terrain Loader, a 3.5t excavator and a 6 wheeler truck. Jason completes all earthworks jobs from small house pads to large commercial builds.
Earlier this year Jason took on a commercial project that involved concrete pad preparation for a chicken farm being built in Cervantes. With 8 sheds, 2 houses, worker’s accommodation, a workshop and a packaging shed, there are a lot of pads to be graded!
Each of the 8 sheds are 132m long by 16.8m wide with a 50mm crown. Traditionally Jason would use a flat laser combined with height pegs to level the pads to grade. Constant checking was required and this would normally take Jason at least 10 hours per shed pad, or 220 square meters per hour.
SITECH WA’s BDM Brad Dalton worked with Jason to come up with the best solution for his needs and budget. Jason had recently acquired a level best box blade for his skid steer. Jason and Brad determined that a Trimble GCS900 Dual Laser guided system for the Cat 279D would provide the functionality required and had an upgrade path to 3D guidance should Jason require it in the future.
After picking up the machine and running through some training at SITECH HQ in Osborne Park, Jason was on his way back to Cervantes to put it to the test.
“Once I got back to site I had trimmed a whole pad to perfection in only 2.5 hours to ±5mm with a 50mm crown. It blew me away how fast, not only the box blade worked but also the Trimble GCS900 system. The Trimble set-up was user friendly, accurate and nice and slow for a nice finish.”
Jason also said “The savings on labour, fuel, my time and concrete saved is massive. I still have a lot to learn as the more I research the more I find the GCS900 system is capable of. The team at SITECH WA thought of everything including sourcing a wiring harness from America to join new & old to make it work to perfection.”
The chicken farm is due to be finished in January next year but Jason has already picked up new jobs that he wouldn’t have even quoted for before investing in Trimble Technology.
