Cover story: Attach2 attachments

Date: 20.11.2023

South Island-based Quantum Landscaping and Siteworks are using Attach2 attachments on their equipment

You never know what you will get with the weather down in Southland, and that can come with its challenges. Rain, hail, or snow, Matt Pope is out with his crew, running the landscaping on subdivisions and other commercial and residential jobs.

The team is always excited about seeing the first break in the ground, and with work in both Invercargill and Queenstown, they get their fair share of job variety as well as beautiful scenery. You can’t get much better office views than that.

Matt is the director of Quantum Landscaping and Siteworks, where we caught up with him onsite on a beautiful day in Invercargill. It’s here Matt and his crew are working on the siteworks for a community centre and a public BMX track for teens.

"Southland folks are hardy and will still be wearing shorts and t-shirts no matter the weather, always with a smile on their face," quips Matt.

Snow and rainfall aren’t the only obstacles the company has faced; navigating a relatively new business through a pandemic, fast growth of the company, and local staff shortages all resulted in some hurdles to overcome.

With a strong family foundation and an emphasis on lasting relationships and quality products, Quantum Landscaping is busier and better than ever.

An early addiction

The business has four excavators, a skid steer, and five trucks

Matt started the company in October 2019 and currently has four excavators, a skid steer, five trucks, and 13 staff to look after, but his interest in machines came much earlier.
Operating machines as a young fella, Matt says he got in his first digger when he was about six years old.

"I’ve grown up in the industry since I was six. I absolutely love machines and think I was loading trucks at about 10 years old on the farm. I’ve been in them ever since, probably addicted to them a wee bit.

"Being in the game for such a long time, I think it’s a really good culture to be in and a great gift to learn as well."

Fostering a family atmosphere and culture at the company was important to Matt. He describes his wife as the backbone of the business; the entire 13 staff are also heavily involved. No matter how big they get, Matt plans to continue to implement that structure, as he knows that the value of relationships goes a long way.

From the ground up

Matt Pope

The company started with landscaping and has now also moved into earthworks and construction. Matt and the team like to be able to start a project from the ground up, and then to see it all completed at the end, "doing all the flash wee edits, the final trims and making it all look beautiful when we finish," Matt explains.

"Moving from residential to commercial sites, the team now works on bigger projects, such as subdivisions, house pads, and large earthworks."

Sharing the love

To do the big jobs, Quantum Landscaping and Siteworks needed larger gear. Running a three-tonne truck right up to six-wheeler trucks and trailers, the company moves a lot of dirt and gravel around a lot of places.

"We like to have quality equipment that’s not going to be breaking down constantly.

It also has to look presentable to our clients. The boys are proud of what they drive and what they operate," says Matt.

Sharing his love of machines has come naturally for Matt, who utilises the company’s Facebook page to show them off as well as the projects the team is working on.

"We’re quite big on social media. We love to get out there and be proud of what we do," he says.

Using social media has proved successful in not only building an engaged following of fellow machine lovers but also enabling the company to get more clients. Showcasing the before and after images and videos of work sites has led to more jobs for the company, so they plan to keep doing it.

Overcoming hurdles

Matt is a fan of the heli-tilt

Dealing with the weather down in Southland has been quite the learning curve for the company, but it has made them adaptable.

"Yesterday it was pouring down, and we had close to 140mm of rain; today’s nice and sunny. Dealing with that is a good challenge to have. We can have great summers as well, so we love it down here. It’s crisp but it’s fun to deal with," says Matt.

The business also has had its fair share of challenges, including navigating through COVID as a new, small company; thankfully, they came out the other side of that and now have plenty of work.

As the company broke new ground and moved into bigger projects, they needed
to expand. The business went from one to 13 staff in total. Making sure they are doing a top-quality job as well as growing at the same time has been a good challenge to deal with.

The company also had to contend with a labour shortage.

"We’ve had a big staffing shortage in Southland, and I think right across New Zealand. It’s been hard to find quality people, but we’re getting there. We’ve got a good range of staff with different qualifications. We’ve got operators, we’ve got builders, we’ve got our labourers as well, and they’re just so supportive."

Relationships are key

Matt likes the quality of A2 gear and how it is built

Other than their can-do spirit and the close-knit family company values, Quantum Landscaping and Siteworks are known for their quality. They are determined to do a great job for their clients, be it big or small.

"We like to build an ongoing relationship with our clients and customers. We’re not just going to be there to do the job. Obviously, we want quality gear to go with that as well. We love to see smiles on our client’s face after the work’s all done."

When Matt needed to run high-performance gear on his machines, he decided to approach Attach 2 Equipment.

"Originally when we started with our first machine, it was a second-hand purchase, and we had an attachment on there with a tilt bucket. We didn’t really like it; it was sort of falling to bits and wasn’t the greatest product, so when we were looking at what we were to buy in our second machine, which was the Cat 1.8, we decided to go with A2 attachments."

Matt had previously worked with the attachments on some excavators he had operated.

"I like the quality of them and how they are built. We now have three excavators with Attach2. We’ve got the mini-tilt and two heli-tilts and we’re absolutely loving them. The Caterpillar has done 1000 hours with the mini-tilt attachment. It’s been a fantastic machine and a fantastic coupler — an absolute beast of a weapon."

Matt adds that once they had the attachments, his boys were in the machines straight away, getting them working; no instruction manual reading was required.

"They’re straightforward to use and I like simple gear."

This simplicity extends to the ease and speed of getting the buckets on and off the machine. Matt is also a fan of the angle of the heli-tilts, which come in especially handy in the landscaping side of things.Matt adds that although he has never had to use the after-service team for any warranty claims, any time he has rang to ask any questions, the team at Attach2 has been handy and helpful.

"We like relationships and Attach2 is definitely a relationship-based business.

My wife Debs and I love to have that friendly relationship with people; we’re not just buying something — we’re in the long run with them.

"We like to surround ourselves with good companies that are going to walk on that journey with us as well."

Future growth and partnerships

The Cat has done 1000 hours with the mini tilt attachment

Matt envisions a bright future, with plans to keep expanding his business into the central markets and to grow his relationship with clients, old and new.

Cultivating strong partnerships remains a priority to help build the future of his company. The team will continue to be proud of and share their love of machines and are looking to expand their fleet in the future.

"We want to keep bringing in new machines down in Southland and Central. We’re going to be putting Attach2 attachments on them because we love the back-up service and the relationship we have with the team there."

For more information, visit attach2.com.  

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