Tatana Contracting Ltd has added a new Hyundai HX35Az compact excavator to its extensive Levin-based fleet
If the depth of a company’s expertise can be measured by the scale of its yard and machine fleet, then you know as soon as you pull up at the gate to Tatana Contracting Ltd’s Levin headquarters that this team knows its stuff.
Founded 53 years ago by Johnston ‘Mac’ Tatana as a “one man and his concrete mixer” operation completing kerb and channel work around the district for the Levin Borough Council, today the civil contracting entity has over 40 full time staff and another 5-15 on standby for traffic management duties.
It’s also a true family affair: Mac’s sons Darryl and Bernard now own and run Tatana, with Darryl’s sons Chevy and Raana – together with cousin Cruise Simpson – handling main project management duties. Chevy and Raana’s sister Liat runs the administrative side of the business.
While Tatana Contracting’s core business remains grounded in civil works, drainage, earthworks and infrastructure projects throughout the lower North Island, the company’s appetite for finding cleaner and less disruptive ways to work has also led it into a highly specialised corner of the industry.
Right: Operator Adrian Gordon (left) and Chevy Tatana
In 2013, Darryl and Bernard established Anzel Ltd. Standing for Aquapipe New Zealand Environmental Liners, this sister operation is focused on trenchless pressure-pipe rehabilitation and is unique in New Zealand.
Rather than excavating and replacing damaged water mains in the conventional way, Anzel uses Aquapipe, a cured-in-place pipelining system that renews the inside of an existing pipe with a structural liner. It’s an innovative alternative to the traditional ‘dig and replace’ approach to pipe remediation.
“The process was developed in Canada where their underground pipes are buried deeply because of the perma-frost situation in many areas,” explains Raana, who oversees the Anzel Ltd side of the operation.
“CIPP gives councils and other asset owners a way to repair leaking or ageing pressure pipes without opening up entire road corridors or encroaching on private property. It’s also very useful where you have steep sections and difficult access with a lot of dwellings above, such as in Wellington.
“The liner is installed through small access points and fed out from our specialised trailer unit. It’s then cured in place to create a new pipe within the old one. It’s incredibly strong and is effectively guaranteed for a hundred years. We’ve experimented by running over sections of Aquapipe with heavy trucks and it just bounces back into shape. It’s really impressive material.”
Backed by Tatana Contracting’s long-standing civil construction experience and in-house developed plant, Anzel adds another layer to the family business: one that combines practical contracting know-how with specialist equipment and methods.
As a result of this broad spread of services, the Tatana Contracting yard is enormous and home to plenty of kit.
“We’ve got a lot of gear and we own it all – we don’t believe in financing or hiring stuff. If we can’t invest in it, then we’ll find another way of working until we can,” says Chevy as we walk out into the yard to take a look at the company’s latest acquisition. “Some of our equipment might sit idle for awhile until we need it – but we like to know it’s there and ready to go when its required. We have our own diesel mechanic on staff to make sure it’s all ready to go.”
Surrounded by big equipment, including the innovative Anzel CIPP feeder truck and trailer unit, Tatana Contracting’s new Hyundai HX35Az compact excavator might look diminutive, but it has a role to fulfil just like every other machine in the fleet.
“For our day-to-day drainage work, we’re often in confined spaces, down the side of houses or working along busy arterial roads. It’s not always about the biggest machinery for those types of projects: smaller diggers like this Hyundai are the best tools for the job when you don’t have a huge amount of space to work in,” Chevy continues.
Featuring an operating weight of 3.8 tonnes, the Hyundai HX35Az treads lightly, but still boasts plenty of grunt through its 24.8hp (18.5kW) Stage V Kubota diesel engine and 230kgf/cm² hydraulic system, with two-way auxiliary piping.
The excavator’s zero tailswing design means there’s no overhang, allowing it to rotate through 360° within its own footprint – perfect when the Tatana team is working alongside immovable existing structures. The Hyundai HX35Az measures in at 4783mm in length and 1740mm wide, meaning it’s truly compact and can be loaded onto a tandem trailer or take up minimal room on a flatbed when being transported between job sites.
It might be one of the trusted Korean manufacturer’s smallest models, but that doesn’t mean Tatana Contracting’s Hyundai HX35Az is devoid of ‘big machine’ comfort and technology.
Like every excavator in the range, the cab has been designed with operator comfort in mind. There’s excellent visibility out of the cab, with Hyundai’s 5-inch full-colour LCD display giving the operator access to critical machine functions and data that can’t be seen with the naked eye.
Machine performance is modifiable depending on operator preference, or what the task at hand entails. The hydraulic attachment flow pressure can be monitored and adjusted, while proportional finger-tip control of the dozer blade, which also benefits from an auto ‘float’ function, and optional joystick control of the boom, arm and attachment gives the operator millimetre-precise manoeuvrability.
There’s plenty of standard safety tech onboard too, such as an emergency engine stop switch, an auto safety lock which prevents unintentional machine start-up and movement, and a visible and audible overload warning system. Cylinder guards are standard on the boom, arm, and bucket to provide increased protection on the job. There’s even a password protected ignition key and optional GPS tracking available if desired.
As Darryl Tatana attests, in terms of its feature set the Hyundai HX35Az certainly punches above its compact weight. Backed by heavy-hitting Hyundai distributor Porter Equipment, the new compact excavator made for a solid choice.
“Porters were very easy to deal with and made the whole process of purchasing the new digger straightforward,” he affirms. “This is our first modern Hyundai machine and its impressive the number of features it has for the price. Combine that fact with the service we have had from Porters and adding it to the fleet has been a no-brainer.
“We like to go after the jobs the big guys don’t want to handle, and as a result we often have to think on our toes. We’ve developed methods and adopted technology designed to keep critical water infrastructure working with minimal disruption. But at the end of the day, we also rely on everyday machines that just let our team get on with the job.
“We’re certainly looking forward to getting the new Hyundai out onto the many projects we have underway and in the pipeline in the Horowhenua, Kāpiti and Wellington regions, whether they’re above ground or below: it’s going to be a useful tool for us.”
Images by Cameron Officer
