Profile: Tracks Concrete

Date: 12.06.2023

Tracks Concrete has been offering a wide range of services to the Bay of Plenty for more than 40 years

Tracks Concrete were major contractors on Bay of Plenty Regional Council’s Rangitāiki Floodway project

The company has grown to more than 50 locals — concrete placers, mechanics, machine operators, and traffic management crews, to name a few.

Built from the ground up, Whakatane-based Tracks Concrete was started in 1980 by Kevin Dodds (Baz), and in 2002, Ken Young became a director. The company has shown itself to be reliable and efficient, extending its professional expertise across the Bay of Plenty region.

"Supporting local people, companies, and communities is something we pride ourselves on and is what drives us to succeed," says Ken Young, director at Tracks Concrete.

Starting with a small fleet of machinery working solely on concrete placing, the business now has 14 excavators (1.7 to 23.5 tonnes) and a diverse fleet of equipment, allowing Tracks Concrete to work on a range of major and minor civil construction projects.

Getting stuck in on the Rangitāiki Floodway project

One project currently underway is the Bay of Plenty Regional Council’s Rangitāiki Floodway multi-stage operation, designed to take the pressure off the Rangitāiki River in a flood event and help protect the Edgecumbe community.

Tracks Concrete contributed to Stage 5A, which involved shaping and rebuilding the stopbanks, allowing water to exit into the Rangitāiki River mouth at two places, instead of one.

The work required transporting approved construction fill, dismantling the existing stopbank, uplifting and stockpiling cut material, and construction of the new stopbank. Ken says the job was made more efficient with the use of their gear from Doherty Couplers and Attachments.

The original Sumitomo, complete with Doherty’s first hydraulic bucket clamp

"We placed the rip rap with a D-Lock hydraulic hitch and were able to swiftly change buckets and bucket thumbs to perform more precise works. Having Doherty Attachments on our machines allow us to change each attachment quickly when the job requires a different approach."

Tracks Concrete’s first purchase from Doherty was back in 2006. "Doherty was new to the market and being a local Bay of Plenty company based in Tauranga, we decided to give them a go and have been using them ever since," Ken says.

Ken believes they have acquired more than 50 Doherty products over the years, including weed and trenching buckets, ripper hooks, and bucket clamps — the brand’s excellent productivity and efficiency are why Tracks Concrete haven’t looked back, he says.

Recent changes to New Zealand’s health and safety regulations have placed significant additional costs on the operation of any business and highlight the importance of using quality equipment.

"With the perfect record we’ve had with our attachments, we plan to continue using them in the future," says Ken.

For more details, call 07 574 3000 or email nzsales@dohertydirect.net.  

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