TODAY, most machinery available on the market is good but what differentiates a brand is the company itself and the level of service it delivers.
That’s according to Natie Ferreira, co-owner of BF Hire, who said this was the reason he and his partner Marius Brink had stuck with Kemach JCB since being introduced to the compact earthmoving equipment specialist in 2016.
That’s when they stumbled upon a good deal on two new JCB 3CX TLBs. With the assistance of Kemach JCB they acquired both machines which led to the formation of BF Digger Hire (the company taking its name from the co-founders’ surnames).
In 2018 Ferreira and Brink made a business decision to establish a new company, BF Hire (Pty) Ltd, together with a strategic business partner, Boland Grondwerke, with whom they have been working for over a year.
“Forming one company was simply a natural progression,” said Ferreira. “BF Hire’s biggest asset is the people that work for us, not our machinery, not money in the bank, not a good cash-flow, it is all about our people. Without them we wouldn’t have been able to build this business. They are our best marketing tool through good and fast work.”
BF Hire currently caters primarily to the agriculture and construction industries in the Western Cape region. Their Kemach JCB fleet now comproses five TLBs (3CX model), three excavators (86C, JS140, JS205) and one skidsteer with broom attachment (JCB 135HD).
“These rugged machines are right at home even in the toughest of conditions, clearing out rivers and dams, installing drainage, building dams, ridging, performing various odd jobs on farms and even developing mini soccer pitches for the Worcester community.”
Commenting on the efficiency of the 3CX TLB, one of the best-selling TLBs in the world, Ferreira said: “Equipped with the ‘Torque Lock’ Powershift gearbox option, our 3CX TLBs can travel up to 55 km/h on the road. Moreover, while travelling between jobs, these remarkable machines save us around 30% on fuel. The fact that we are therefore able to move the machines by road without having to use a truck and lowbed delivers massive savings for BF Hire.”
He added that in comparison to other brands that he has cross-hired in the past, his JCB machines trump them all in the fuel-consumption department. “Our JCB 86C midi-excavator astonishes us with the fuel consumption we get from its Kohler engine. This little machine averages around 4.2 l/h.”
Operator comfort and safety are amongst the first factors the partners take into account before buying a new machine and they rate Kemach JCB machinery better than the rest of the market.