Mellex is a family run business, trading for over 20 years, the company places utmost importance on giving a good and reliable service to its customers. A belief in open communication and the desire to go above and beyond, has seen the Mellex Group expand significantly over the past few years. The diverse range of services offered by the company encompasses haulage and heavy recovery, construction and plant hire and a range of energy and environmental services.
Headquartered on the West Coast of Scotland in Ardrishaig near Lochgilphead, the group have built up an enviable reputation for delivering customer expectations. With a view on growth, the opportunity in 2021 to expand into the Central Belt with the acquisition of Leggat Plant Ltd, Bridgend Hire Ltd and Bridgend Training Ltd – 3 companies based in Barrhead, Glasgow that incorporate crane hire, plant hire and a well-established training facility was one the company couldn’t resist.
Already running a successful plant hire operation from their Ardrishaig base, Mellex Group had been purchasing excavators from just two manufacturers. With the introduction of their Central Belt operations, Director Darran Mellish wanted to explore further alternatives in the plant hire sector and offer his customers a wider choice of machinery. “We looked at what was available and liked the look, feel and build quality of the SK130LC-11Kobelco excavator at Molson.” Darran commented. “We have dealt with the Molson team before, and they are friendly and easy going. There was no pressure selling from the team, they let us make our own decisions as we knew exactly what we wanted. The SK130 Kobelco excavator just seemed to be the right fit for us. They have the servicing and back-up available to give us and our customers the peace of mind we expect and a range of machinery no other dealers can match.”
Since the SK130LC Kobelco excavator’s launch onto the UK market just three years ago, it has quickly found friends across the construction, civil engineering, and plant hire sectors. Built with the traditional Kobelco excavator quality through and through, the arrival of the standard tail swing machine gave the manufacturer an option for the more cost-conscious hire market than that of the well-established SK140 compact tail swing Kobelco excavator.
Depending on specification, the SK130LC Kobelco excavator’s operating weight varies between 14 and 17 tonnes. Powered by a tried and trusted three litre, four-cylinder Isuzu diesel engine which pumps out 105hp, the Kobelco excavatormeets current StageV regulations on emissions with just the help of an SCR system. With fuel efficiency at its heart, the SK130LC Kobelco excavator can achieve maximum torque of 375Nm at just 1800rpm which means the engine doesn’t work as hard, less fuel is burned, and it is quieter in operation. Two, 130 litre per minute displacement pumps provide the hydraulic power for the machine and allow multiple functions to be carried out at once without compromise. Access to the engine, pump bay, and cooling packs is first class thanks to the wide opening doors and engine hood and allows for easy servicing when required.
The full-size cabin provides a pleasant space for an operator to spend a shift in. The dash 11 version of the Kobelco excavator has been upgraded with revised switching, an automotive style jog wheel to control functions on the new 10-Inch colour monitor and an improved Grammer seat. The new monitor has an easy-to-operate menu screen and recognisable icons to assist the operator to select the most important information when it is required. The system also allows the storage of pre-sets for a variety of hydraulic attachments making swapping them over quicker and easier.
Amongst the options offered for the SK130LC Kobelco excavator are a dozer blade and two boom options, including a two-piece boom. The standard specification offered by Molson does away with the added extras and concentrates on the core plant hire and groundworks users who require a standard 4.68m mono boom and 2.84m stick. Offering an impressive dig depth of 6m and a ground level reach of almost 9m, the standard equipment on the machine is ideal for the sector they are targeting and provides impressive breakout figures of 105.4Kn. For those wanting to add heavier attachments such as tiltrotators to the machine, a shorter, 2.38m dipper stick can be specified. The basic specification of the machine includes energy saving LED lighting both inside and outside of the machine and a FOPS guard over the roof window in the cab.
Prior to its delivery, the Molson team fitted the Kobelco excavator with Geith quick coupler, hi-viz points of contact including steps and handrails, orange and green beacons, allowing it to go straight to work.
We met up with Darran and the SK130LC Kobelco excavator as it was undertaking a reduced-level dig at one of their yards. “We are having to extend the yard as the company is growing and we need the added space!” Darran commented. “The Kobelco excavator has been performing very well since it arrived, the operator loves the comfort in the cab and I’m liking the fuel efficiency we are getting from it!”
