Robert Mackenzie and his father Bruce founded Macka’s Sand & Soil Supplies in 1991 with just a single truck and backhoe loader. Thirty years later, the New South Wales, Australia-based company has grown to become one of the East Coast’s largest suppliers of top-shelf sand and soil products to the commercial, construction, grass and turfgrass industries.
Robert and Bruce, now joined by Roberts’s two sons, extract two million tonnes of sand a year from the coast region between Newcastle and Port Stephens to be delivered across Australia and overseas. With such large volumes of sand to remove, screen, process, and load onto trucks, it’s essential the family business has equipment they can count on.
For over a decade, Macka’s has relied on a fleet consisting entirely of machines from Volvo Construction Equipment (Volvo CE), along with the support of Australian Volvo CE dealer CJD Equipment. While Robert has tried competitor machines, he always finds himself coming back to Volvo.
The operators’ choice
“The fuel efficiency and cost savings are great, but the essential factor for me is operator comfort,” he explains. “Our employees love driving Volvo machines, and they stand up to the conditions and workloads. Our operators have always provided great feedback, and they say the machines’ reliability is second to none. Our Volvo fleet and our relationship with CJD Equipment are an integral part of our success.”
The operators’ opinion is important to Robert given the tough conditions and high level of skill required on the job.
“It’s a pretty fast-moving pace on-site and the Volvo machines navigate in and around each other with precision manoeuvring that does justice to the skill and hours that the operators put in,” says Michael Lombardo, general manager of CJD Equipment NSW.
The perfect partnership
Michael has known Robert and his father Bruce for almost 13 years, although Macka’s relationship with CJD Equipment goes back much further than that.
“It’s been a pleasure to work with both Bruce and Rob over the years. During this time, apart from supplying their machinery needs, we have worked together to deliver buckets that meet the maximum efficiency requirement of their loaders. It’s this close type of relationship where we can go the extra mile to meet our client’s expectations that we pride ourselves on here at CJD Equipment,” Lombardo continues.
Macka’s has a mix of different Volvos in the fleet, but the company has become a firm fan of the L220H wheeled loaders in recent years. Working in and around sand dunes and coastal salt-air environments can be very hard on some machinery, but the Volvo L220H wheeled loaders have excelled over long periods.”
Tougher than the competition
Designed with durability in mind, the Volvo L220H is built with a strong frame structure, ideally matched to the Volvo powertrain. The hydraulically driven cooling fan regulates component temperature and can be automatically reversed to permit self-cleaning of the cooling units. For long service life, the brakes are outboard mounted, and the front and rear axles are cooled by the oil circulation.
For simple serviceability, the Volvo cab can be tilted to either a 30° or 70° angle, and the engine hood is operated electronically. Owners can stay one step ahead and check the condition of the brakes using the brake wear indicators, placed on the wheels. To prevent dirt and moisture from entering components, each has replaceable breather filters, located remotely.
For strength in demanding applications, Volvo’s unique Torque Parallel (TP) linkage provides high breakout torque and ultimate parallel movement throughout the entire lifting range. The linkage offers stability during loading and carrying and allows easy filling of the buckets. For long-lasting performance, the lifting arm has double sealing on each of the pins.
“Rob has a wealth of knowledge and market intelligence about what is going on in his immediate area and the greater Newcastle region, where we often sit and discuss over a coffee,” Lombardo says. “Rob allows us to work collaboratively with him throughout his business, from the point of purchase and machine setup through to the level of aftersales support we can offer him, resulting in maximum uptime.”
