“THEY ARE A VERY WELL-MADE MACHINE, VERY
WELL
BALANCED,
POWERFUL
AND
SMOOTH...
”
The company was formed in October 2020 by Jean-Philippe Messa and in just four short years has grown on the back of delivering high quality projects throughout the region.
For anyone who has visited the area, its picturesque scenery is criss-crossed with narrow winding roads leading across the mountainous region and through the valley itself. Access to many of the residential properties situated on the mountainsides can only be achieved along very tight tracks. With cars getting bigger and many of these properties requiring maintenance and refurbishment works, Jean-Philippe undertakes large volumes of road building works and upgrading of service connections to bring the properties up to date. He is also involved in landscaping works and regularly works within the region’s vineyards.
We met up with Jean-Philippe as he was part way through a project near Stosswihr [AV1] on the Vosges mountains where he was undertaking a full package of road construction, services and landscaping to a recently constructed property.
Jean-Philippe has invested significant sums of money into building up his fleet of compact and agricultural equipment designed to make his work more productive, and it was the largest investment that he was using for this project, his Liebherr R 914 Compact excavator. ‘I purchased the Liebherr as they are built locally, and I have always tried to support local businesses.’ He explains. ‘They are a very well-made machine, very well balanced, powerful and smooth.’
The R 914 Compact is the smallest crawler excavator in the Liebherr range manufactured at Liebherr France in Colmar. With an operating weight ranging from 14 to 18 tonnes depending on specification, the compact size of the machine can be misleading as the machine packs a punch way above its weight and size.
As is typical for Liebherr excavators, there is a huge range of options for customers to choose from when specifying their machine. The R 914 Compact comes with two undercarriage choices. Both measure 3.730m in length and can be specified with or without a powerful dozer blade option. Jean-Philippe has opted for the dozer blade version and with some of his projects being carried out on completed roadways, he has opted for a 500mm track shoe with rubber pads in between the grousers to reduce potential damage to road surfaces.
Digging equipment on the Liebherr can vary with factory options of a 4.6m mono boom, 4.85m two-piece boom, 4.3m offset mono boom and finally a 4.9m two-piece offset boom available. Each option is available with a choice of four stick options from 2.05m to 2.65m. Choosing a two-piece boom with 2.25m stick has given Jean-Philippe a machine with perfect capabilities for the majority of the work he undertakes. ‘Having a two-piece boom allows me to squeeze the machine into some very tight locations.’ He comments. ‘As you can see, some of my work requires some heavy lifting and with the versatility of the two-piece boom and shorter stick, I am able to accomplish these operations easily and safely.’ Jean-Philippe runs a variety of attachments with his Liebherr and has opted to add a Likufix hydraulic coupler to his machine to allow quick and easy attachment changeover. ‘Having the Likufix saves me time when I need to swap from a bucket to my grab.’ He comments. ‘There is no more messing about connecting hoses which means I can always stay safely in the cab. There is also the benefit of a reduction in damage to hoses as they are now all routed neatly down the stick and through the Likufix and transferred into headstock of the grab.’ With this particular specification the R 914 Compact boasts an impressive ground level reach of over 8.5m and a dig depth of 5.3m and coupled with a breakout force of 89Kn, makes the excavator a powerful performer.
The compact upper structure neatly hides away the cooling pack and engine along the offside of the machine under a rounded one-piece bonnet. Once raised, the bonnet provides cover for any service work needing to be carried out. The 3.6 litre, 4-cylinder, Deutz engine delivers 122hp and meets current StageV emissions regulations through a simple yet effective DPF, DOC and SCR system. Unlike many compact tail swing excavators, the R 914 has a door behind the cab to allow safe and easy access to the upper structure, fuel and AdBlue tanks and the hydraulic pump.
The cab has impressed Jean-Philippe for its space, comfort and layout. ‘The cab offers the operator everything they need.’ He commented. ‘It’s a very comfortable working environment with ample space. Everything is easy to read and easy to navigate. I particularly liked the fact that the joysticks are so smooth and responsive and with the Liebherr mini joysticks too, I’m able to control my attachments with ease. Everything is possible from the joysticks except foot translation. This is particularly an advantage when working on a slope to better control the machine.
At the time of our visit Jean-Philippe was part way through the construction of a stone wall to hold back the earth bank around the house. ‘I undertake a lot of work similar to this around the region where we cut the slopes back to put in a road.’ He explains.
With a trench cut out and compacted to provide a suitable base, Jean-Philippe was able to pick out suitable rocks to provide a solid base on which to build the wall. ‘It is not just a case of placing any stones into the wall.’ He explains. ‘I want them to sit right and to look right and it takes a lot of swapping stones and manipulating each one so that the wall not only looks correct but will also provide a strong and stable support for the bank behind.’
As each layer of stone is placed into position, Jean-Philippe uses the Martin grab to drag and compact the soil allowing the next layer of stone to be stepped back slightly. Working close to the property and on a relatively narrow platform, it is easy to see why he has chosen the Liebherr. Even on the narrow tracks, there is a minimal rear overhang giving him full confidence in slewing around wherever he is. Having the ability to extend or tuck in the two-piece boom adds further versatility allowing him to reach the stones he has stocked to one side and also place them into position with minimal tracking.
Overall, Jean-Philippe is very happy with his purchase. ‘In the 12 months I have had the excavator it has proved to be a very reliable and fuel-efficient machine. It has made my working day easier and allows me to tackle an even wider range of projects with confidence. If I have to do it again, I will choose Liebherr again.’
Jean-Philippe Messa Owner / Operator Messa Prestation TP Agri