Tom Prichard Contracting Limited: Bringing Hybrid technology to Wales
Tom Prichard Contracting Limited became the first construction business in Wales to take on a brand new Komatsu HB215LC-2 Hybrid machine recently, adding to the 25 plus Komatsu’s already in their fleet. This follows a trend that Marubeni Komatsu have been following for some time - Hybrids are turning up everywhere. Not only have they entered the mainstream marketplace, they’re beginning to show up on job sites too.
Established as a plant hire company in 1995, Tom Prichard Contracting Limited are now the first in the industry to add a Hybrid to their fleet. Over the last 20 years, they’ve diversified immensely and now offer a wide range of services including demolition, bulk earthworks, site clearance, ground remediation, recycling, civil engineering, infrastructure services and waste management.
We spoke to Chris Goodfield, Contracts Manager at Tom Prichard who talked us through a few of the problems we had with the current set-up; “Our fuel usage on our own recycling plant was far too high. The way we were doing it before just wasn’t feasible, it just ends up eating into our profits.”
We had an excellent solution for Chris. For those not in the know, Hybrids are the moulding of hydraulic and electric power. We’ve already seen the eco-friendly switch from fuel to electric in the conventional car, but it’s the fusion of hydraulic and electric machines that has given birth to a brand new breed of ecological and sustainable machinery. We’ve see on average 30% lower fuel consumption, (compared to a standard PC210LC-8 Excavator) and less CO² emissions, making it a greener machine.
We’re very flexible with allowing our machines out on demo, including our Hybrid. Chris quotes; “Marubeni-Komatsu and Carole Nicholls, our Area Sales Manager were the only distributors to suggest a Hybrid. No one else came to us and told us we could have a machine on demo, so that was a huge factor during the decision making process, as we actually got to put it through its paces first”.
The Komatsu Hybrid joins Tom Prichard’s ever expanding Komatsu collection, with over 25 plus in the fleet. They’re already looking forward to the potential cost savings. Chris went on to say; “We’ll be running the Hybrid for around 10 hours a day, or 60 hours a week. So, obviously the cost savings were an important issue for us. There is a definite need for us to be more sustainable! We’re hoping for around a 40% cost saving on the Hybrid”
It’s widely regarded that the construction industry has been subject to heavy scrutiny, and as a result, a litany of regulations intended to promote a more sustainable industry have been introduced. With more restrictions set to be introduced, the most cutting-edge, innovative and low emission vehicles will be the difference between a customer winning or losing a contract.