Caterpillar Earth Movers

B.D. Singh, director of Vishal Earthmovers India Pvt. Ltd., understands the rocky terrain of Mumbai, India, and the ways that rock can be moved. He developed a quick and inexpensive control blasting technique and wrote the "Textbook on Explosive Engineering."

Today, his 19-year-old firm is a leader in earth cutting, rock cutting, earth filling and control blasting, with projects for such organizations as Reliance Infrastructure, Ispat, Hindustan Petroleum, Simplex Infrastructures Ltd, Essar, DLF, GVK, Tata, HCC, Jet Airways, L&T and K Raheja Corp. The company has 1, 000 staff and workers and a fleet of 20 excavators, including four Cat 320D machines, which Singh praises for their productivity.

"If two competitor's machines are deployed for a specific task, a single 320D can easily handle the same load, " says Singh. "This is possible due to the excellent digging force of the 320D. It is possible to excavate soft rock directly using the bucket. This is an excellent cost-saving measure.

"Soft rock excavation earns more revenue than soil excavation. Therefore, bucket excavation of soft rocks by the Cat 320D excavators provides more productivity and income.

"I saw the equipment in use in Navi Mumbai for the first time. I was impressed and went in for four second-hand Cat 320D excavators. Comparatively speaking, we found that while other excavators loaded 50 truckloads, the Cat 320D loaded 150 trucks in the same time. This not only saves on fuel, but also saves on time manifold."

State-of-the-art cabs provide maximum comfort and reduced noise levels, ensuring operator productivity. Excellent visibility and easy-to-use controls improve safety and work output.

The used machines have also proven their reliability. Singh says the machine's hydraulic hoses prevent breakdowns because they are designed for high-pressure use, and the "track quality of the 320D is also excellent and shows less wear and tear.

"Downtime leads to delays and affects the business adversely. This is the main reason why I am planning to sell other machines and buy Cat 320D excavators, which have good machine uptime and can be maintained easily."

Local Cat dealer GMMCO is now helping Singh update his fleet, taking his original second-hand Cat machines in trade for four new 320D excavators.