BUILT ON TRUST

Dig Dig UK are a long-standing Rototilt customer. With tiltrotators on their machines from as far back as 2009, still working just as well as their brand new, recently fitted RC4 unit. Which is suitable for excavators between 10 and 16 ton operating weight.

“WHEN I FIRST BOUGHT A ROTOTILT TILTROTATOR IN 2009 IT WAS A BIG RISK TO TAKE ONE ON, BUT IT WAS THE BEST THING I’VE EVER DONE. DEFINITELY A MUST…”

Operating on multiple sites in the North-West of England, Dig Dig UK is utilising their comprehensive arsenal of Rototilt tiltrotators to their full potential. Owner of Dig Dig UK, and machine operator, Steve Morton, showed Awesome Earthmovers first around a site they’re working on and then to their base of operations where a brand-new Hitachi 135US excavator has recently been fitted with a new RC4 Tiltrotator, supplied via Rototilt distributor Mellor Plant UK Ltd.

“When I first bought a Rototilt Tiltrotator in 2009 it was a big risk to take one on, but it was the best thing I’ve ever done. Definitely a must… Over 16 years I can’t name more than 10 spare parts needed” stated Steve Morton of Dig Dig UK.

Steve founded Dig Dig UK, a plant hire and groundworks business based in the Northwest of England, in late 2007. Steve thanks an early adoption of Rototilt’s – then unknown products – for his successes, claiming they cut operation times in half and that without them many of the jobs they undertook would have been impossible.

Littleborough Spillway

Awesome Earthmovers visited Dig Dig UK working on site in the small English town of Littleborough. Operators were running a 14T Hitachi 135US excavator fitted with an RC4 Tiltrotator. During wet weather Littleborough is particularly prone to flooding, and Dig Dig UK were tasked with minimising this risk to the town.

By combining two existing streams into a large spillway, the plan was to contain excess water in this newly formed channel, controlled by automatic valves. When there is too much water flowing into the channel, the valves close creating a temporary wetland, and once the risk is mitigated the valves open again to free the natural flow of the streams.

The machines on site at the time were being used to create the spillway. This large area needed to be, at its shallowest, five to seven metres deep and at its deepest up to ten metres deep, with a banked edge to allow water to accumulate without spilling over. The banked edge would ordinarily be a particularly difficult challenge with an operator having to readjust their machine parallel to the edge every time they wanted to reposition. However, with a Rototilt RC4 tiltrotator, operators can programme the angle of their bucket from within the cab, setting an exact 18.5-degree tilt to create a perfect bank. This bank was then coated with stone and a covering to ensure it is watertight.

Awesome Earthmovers caught up with machine operator James Renfrew who only had positive feedback for the new Rototilt unit:

“I had not operated a Rototilt prior to 2018, I was just a normal operator working with a quick hitch. Since starting to work with Rototilt in 2018, it opened up so many more opportunities for you as an operator and what you can do with one machine. You have to rewire your brain a little bit because you’ve learned through experience the way to do it the old-fashioned way but when you factor in one of these it just brings a whole new level of possibilities.”

Rototilt tiltrotators expand the ways in which a machine can operate, with increased efficiency, safety, agility and precision.

A New Machine and Rototilt’s wider capabilities with Powerhand

Dig Dig UK is based on a farm on the outskirts of Preston, where their newest Hitachi has recently been fitted with a new RC4 Tiltrotator and Powerhand grapple saw intended for the removal of a tree stump.

This was Steve Morton’s first time operating the new machine and grapple saw together, but the precision of the RC4 unit coupled with the bespoke milling of the Powerhand grapple saw made lining up the angle easy. Despite the RC4 being on the more compact size of the range it can handle breakout force of up to 125 kN.

“ACCEPTING THE TECHNOLOGIES AVAILABLE TO US NOW, TO MAKE US MORE EFFICIENT ”

Steve Morton Owner Dig Dig UK

Powerhand’s Excavator Grapple Saws are Ideal for forestry site clearance, cross-cutting oversized timber, or managing windblown areas, the Powerhand Grapple Saw is engineered to handle tough jobs with precision and ease.

A choice of either a 0.404″ or 3/4″ pitch harvester chain saw cassette attached to a high-quality grapple made up of Hardox tines, allows operators the perfect combination of power and precision. Every product in the Powerhand range has evolved from working closely with customers, over many years, to create products that excel at the task in hand.

Combining innovative features with over 30 years of industry knowledge, Powerhand has created the highest quality attachments.

The Rototilt Network: Mellor Plant UK Ltd

Dig Dig UK were supplied by Mellor Plant UK Ltd for this new Rototilt unit. Rototilt has a country wide network of distributors offering sales and aftermarket. The benefits of such a large network allow Rototilt to service customers of all requirements as well as boosting their availability. Distributors offer a 24/7 service meaning operators running Rototilt units supplied by the network will always be supported.

Mellor Plant UK Ltd specifically received high praise from Dig Dig UK owner Steve Morton:

“Perfect, couldn’t think of a better team, if you’ve got a problem and phone them in the morning they’ll be out in the afternoon”

Mellor Plant UK Ltd also has a team of dedicated Rototilt engineers with fully equipped service vans for on site support and modern workshop facilities for installs.

As well as a vast supply of Rototilt units, Mellor Plant UK Ltd also specialise in new Yanmar machinery, quality used plant machinery, and are also stockists of new JPM Trailers, Intermercato & Conquip Attachments. Whilst the forward-thinking family business supply the North-West of England with an excellent array of equipment, they also specialise in repairs and servicing; fully CFTS accredited the engineers at Mellor Plant are qualified to carry out full LOLER and PUWER inspections.

Gordon Hayes director at Mellor Plant UK Ltd states “Here at Mellor Plant we pride ourselves with our attention to detail and our loyal repeat customer base which is backed up by our amazing team, from our knowledgeable service and parts department to our extremely experienced engineers who go above and beyond to meet customers needs.”

Conclusion

James Renfrew has been operating heavy machinery for over 23 years, seven of which have been with Dig Dig UK. James is one of many operators who have embraced a shift in the industry caused by tiltrotators:

“As a modern machine driver you’ve got to be thinking outside of the box with what you want to do and how you want to do it, accepting the technologies available to us now, to make us more efficient”

There are many options for those in the market for a Tiltrotator, but you’ll struggle to find one more capable than a Rototilt.