Digger can go where others can’t
When its wet and a big excavator can’t get in, Dennis Newton has the answer with a two tonne excavator that can shrink its tracks to fit in places other machines can’t go.
His business operates as D. Newton Contracting.
“It doesn’t make a mess and doesn’t slip on hill tracks,” said owner/operator Dennis Newton. The excavator went over a swing bridge to complete a job recently.
A special feature is a swivel boom which can dig in line by bending itself in a narrow spot. Cleaning out covered yards using a tip truck that can go into places where a car can go together with the excavator is keeping Dennis busy.
“When sheep manure gets too high and gates won’t open, I get called in,” he said.
His compact excavator is ideal for small landscaping jobs, levelling out driveways, preparing for culvert pipes. It has three buckets: one for trenching, one for digging and one for clean-up work.
Access is a bonus for his machine which only takes half the width of most farm tracks, which means Dennis can stay away from the edge and also avoid slipping.
He is looking to expand his scope of work to cover the Tararua District and is prepared to go anywhere by negotiation with reasonable transport costs just covering mileage.
Dennis has been around heavy machinery all his working life, completing an apprenticeship as a heavy machinery diesel mechanic. He has spent the last four years working overseas in mines in South Australia working on heavy equipment — diggers and trucks.
“It brought me up to speed with maintenance programmes, what’s good machinery and what’s not. At the end of last year I bought the excavator and continue to meet the needs of a niche market.
“Locally I am kept busy at the lime pit getting small quantities of lime for lifestyle blocks and have got to know all the farmers around Makuri,” says Dennis.