John Deere history leads to E140 excavator

The Tasmanian-based Williams family – John, Jermaine and Hamish – has been using machinery from American firm John Deere across its dairy farm and agri business for years.

With such a massive fleet – 13 tractors alone – asset management is always a vital part of the equation, and with an excavator up for renewal the family visited a new John Deere dealership, RDO Equipment in Launceston.

In no time, the family became the first E140 excavator owners on Australian shores and hasn’t looked back since.

“I guess it was a bit of a gamble as the excavator was new to Australia, but the hydraulics have been a standout, along with the cab,” said Jermaine. “It’s spacious and has great visibility for our operators. It’s also easy to access for servicing, meaning little downtime for us.”

The 14-tonne E140 has a digging depth of nearly six metres, and net power of 84kW. The cab has a touchscreen monitor which provides quick access to machine settings and diagnostics, and the wide-open ground-level access and grouped service points make it fast and easy to perform daily checks.

“We definitely love John Deere and the way their machines work,” Jermaine said. “Dad started the contracting business to help optimise use of the machinery we were running on farm, and we’ve kept it going for all these years.

“RDO Equipment has been exactly what we’ve wanted from a dealer. They’re honest and timely, which we really value in our partners, and I never need to chase them on anything. If we have any issues, they’ll handle it straight away.”

For more information on RDO’s range of John Deere excavators, visit www.rdoequipment.com.au/excavators.