A ninth Hyundai loader and over a decade of loyalty — how Greenfingers Growing Mixes is powering productivity across the upper North Island
Regular readers who can remember back to November 2022 will recall our visit to Kamo-based Greenfingers Growing Mixes Ltd (DOW363), where we were onsite just north of Whangārei, looking at how their new Hyundai HL740XT wheel loader fitted into the operation.
Stepping forward to the present day, once again we’re back in Greenfingers territory, this time to take a look at their most recent arrival, the latest model in the Korean-made marque, the impressive-looking Hyundai HL940XT.
Tipping the scales at just over 13.4-tonnes, the wheel loader, at the time of our visit, is three weeks into its working life and loader operator Percy Paki is settling nicely into the operator’s seat.
Bulk product handling
As described by the name of the business, a key focus is the sale of growing mixes and landscape supplies, which are sold to commercial nurseries and landscape yards from Hamilton through to Northland – a sizeable geographical area and customer base.
While the landscape supply yard and its satellite yard closer to central Whangārei are busy operations with smaller wheel loaders servicing their needs, it’s primarily the bulk product supply side of the business that keeps the fleet of four larger Hyundai wheel loaders on their toes. It’s here the machines are tasked with processing thousands of tonnes of growing mixes each year.
Utilising its 145hp(108kW)@2100rpm Hyundai HE6.7 Tier3 engine, the new HL940XT will be using that power primarily to load bulk truck and trailer units, along with pushing up and maintaining stockpiles. During winter, the storage area of the main yard, along with another site nearby, is often bulging with raw products waiting their turn to be processed into specialised mixes.
The HL940XT comes fitted as standard with a 2.3 cubic metre bucket, which in the case of Greenfingers had Porter Equipment extend in-house prior to delivery out to three cubic metres to enable faster handling of materials.
“Almost all the products we handle is light but bulky, so the machine is more than capable of handling the larger bucket,” says company director Murray Cole.
XT (extended) version
With one of its roles as mentioned earlier being the loading of bulk truck and trailer units, the parallel Z-bar extended loader (HL940XT) version was chosen by Greenfingers to allow for an easier dump clearance over the top of some of the higher sided trucks, which at 4425mm, is 605mm, more than the standard HL940 model.
“With the sides of trucks getting higher, one of the key features for us was the extended loader configuration, which gives more dump clearance than our previous machine,” says Murray.
The latest machine is the ninth Hyundai wheel loader to enter the Greenfingers fleet since 2007, and Murray puts that down to the reliability of the brand and the ability for the machines to operate fairly easily around the tight confines of the indoor processing plant as well as in a yard situation.
“The work can be quite varied here, so machines that different operators can climb into and be familiar with is important,” says Murray. “It’s one of the reasons we try to stay with one brand.”
Reducing operator fatigue
Right: Operator Percy Paki
The HL940XT looks like a great place to spend a shift, with the latest model hosting a new air conditioning system, sound proofing down to 71dB, soft end stop – which slows the bucket down at the end of its stroke to prevent shock vibration, along with a host of other features designed to reduce operator fatigue and help with more efficient operating.
A radar system is fitted to identify rear obstacles, with multiple cameras for monitoring around the machine, and a detection system to alert the operator for people in the vicinity also help ensure the HL940XT is one of the safest wheel loaders on the market.
Led back to Hyundai
Murray says that they did look at other options prior to making the latest purchase, but the pricing differential and known backup service Porter Equipment provides led them back to Hyundai.
“We generally hold onto our wheel loaders until they reach around 10,000 hours,” says Murray. “We will then trade the oldest one off and replace it with a new machine.”
“We find that Porter’s has a package that works for us, with the affordability of the machinery and having a service branch nearby. If an issue does occur, they can be here, usually in 15 minutes.”
While the selection of wheel loaders can be wide and varied, it seems Greenfingers Growing Mixes has found the Hyundai HL940XT with the extended reach for loading high-sided trucks is a solution that works both practically and financially for their business. It appears that the Hyundai brand will feature as part of the asset list for some time yet.
For more information, visit porterce.com
Images by Ed and supplied