A Cat 950 GC loader ready for work at Flamsteed Equipment's Toowoomba headquarters. The company says the machine is ideal for the bush.
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A Toowoomba-based independent earthmoving and mining equipment dealer is importing new Caterpillar wheel loaders from China which it says are ideal for big players in the pastoral and agricultural sectors.
The US-based global earthmoving giant has a large footprint in China and the first Cat 950 GC loaders rolled out of its Caterpillar Qingzhou Ltd factory in March, 2014.
The Cat 950 GC loader has been designed as a lower-cost, easy-to-operate and high-performance wheel loader.
Australian Cat dealers don't import the machines but some independent dealers including Flamsteed Equipment Pty Ltd in Toowoomba have been importing used Cat 950 GC loaders.
Mark Flamsteed, managing director of Flamsteed Equipment, says his company has now decided to import new machines.
"We have decided to bring in brand new machines and 'spec' them up to suit the pastoral buyer," he said.
"We add a quick hitch, fork attachment, ride control, rear-mounted ripper, tubeless tyres and safety pack (battery and starter isolators, beacon, UHF, fire extinguishers.
"Nobody else in Australia is offering this configuration. We also provide a 12-month, 1000-hour new machine warranty which we carry ourselves. Parts are readily available from the local Cat dealers," he said.
"The 950GC is simple and robust with minimal electronics (three electronic control modules), a Tier 3 engine and a steering wheel.
"The equivalent machine being sold by the Cat dealers comes with joystick control, complex electronics (up to seven ECMs) and a Tier 4 engine.
"This machine is unnecessarily sophisticated for use in the bush. And when it fails, you need to call in the dealer to fix it," Mr Flamsteed said.
He said Flamsteed operated nationally and was ready to sell these machines anywhere in Australia.
Mr Flamsteed believed the machines would be very attractive to pastoralists, cotton and grain farmers and any associated industries.
Paraway Pastoral, which operates 23 cattle and sheep stations on 4.4 million hectares across the country, has bought a new Cat 950 GC loader.
Company plant operator, Jason Collins, has been working the machine on the company's Rocklands Station which straddles the Northern Territory-Queensland border on the Barkly Tableland near the small town of Camooweal.
Mr Collins has just spent 22 days desilting a dam with the machine. He has also used it to rip and load "bush gravel" from red ridges as well as helping build roadworks around the Rocklands headquarters.
The loader has clocked up 400 hours without an issue, he said. And they have bought a set of filters off the shelf from a nearby Cat dealer for the machine's next service.
Flamsteed Equipment, a family-owned and operated company, was established in 1963 and sources quality used equipment worldwide from a network of trusted suppliers, specialising in late-model, low-hour Caterpillar, Komatsu and Hitachi equipment.
Its operations cover new and used equipment and attachment sales, new and used parts and components sales, maintenance and field services and machine rental.
The company only sells quality used equipment with every piece critically inspected by its expert team and in most cases has been operating for less than 5000 hours.
Every machine is covered by a major component warranty.