During March, Gradco’s Heavy Haulage team delivered our Komatsu PC850-8 excavator to the Renison Mine site on Tasmania’s rugged west coast.

With the excavator having an all up gross weight of 110 tonnes, we used one of our 140 tonne-rated Kenworth prime movers coupled to a Drake 4x8 swing wing trailer and 2x8 low loader dolly.

The move took a lot of planning and coordination. Accompanying the load were two support vehicles from Transport Tasmania plus two Gradco pilot vehicles, with a second truck joining the load for the steep west coast sections of the trip as a pusher truck.

The excavator was loaded the previous day so the team could have a daylight start. Following a detailed JSEA and job briefing at dawn, the load was on the road for a 12-hour run from Launceston to the Renison mine site.

The load was delivered on time and incident free by our experienced team on what would have to be one of the most challenging routes in the country.

We were also fortunate to have talented Tasmanian photographer Rob Burnett join us to help record this journey.

The Komatsu PC850-8 prior to this was working in the gulf country for MMG Century Mine. This project involved completing a raise of a Tailings Storage Facility. On completion of this project the machine was transported from MMG Century Mine to Tasmania utilising our heavy haulage fleet.