Giving a second life to a favorite piece of equipment
By Tom Jackson
In today’s tough economy, not all contractors are confident about committing to the purchase of a new machine. Buying used equipment is one option. But what do you do if you can’t find a used replacement for the most dependable machine in your fleet, a machine your operators know and love, one that has delivered bankable results for years?
For compost and recycling contractor Hawaiian Earth Products, that machine was their Volvo L220E wheel loader. But after 14,000 hours, typically the end point in a machine’s first lifecycle, the company was facing a tough decision. After penciling out the numbers, they decided to refurbish rather than replace the L220E, and they shipped it to the West Coast where the work was done by Clyde West Equipment in Seattle, Volvo’s Certified Refurbishment Center in the Pacific Northwest.
Volvo’s refurb program is dealer based, a “bottom- up program as opposed to top down,” says Kevin Stock, product manager for Volvo Construction Equipment. Local dealers know the local customers, applications and conditions and are best suited to guide the machine’s owners through the many decisions involved, he says.
The process starts with a thorough inspection of the machine. “The Volvo Care Inspection is used on every machine that goes through the process,” Stock says. It starts with a test run/performance check and includes tests and inspections of all the major systems and components – electrical, hydraulic, engine, brakes, steering frame and cab.
“A lot of our customers have said they didn’t expect such a thorough inspection before the process begins,” Stock says. “But this is a key element. We want to be upfront with the customer and explain what is included.” The inspection can also uncover smaller problems the customer may not have realized he had, and it gives him the opportunity to fix them all at once at a lower cost, than if he were to fix them one by one during a longer period of time.
