Jon Hagelburg knows machines. He has operated and repaired drill rigs since 2004.
He also knows a thing or two about trucks having run his own heavy haulage company for a stint.
It was when Spot On Excavations, an outfit based in North Richmond, New South Wales, he has helmed since 2013, shifted from predominant ‘pit and pipe’ work to horizontal directional drilling that the company fortunes began to change, and significantly so from 2020 onwards – lockdown years where essential workers were given the opportunity during COVID to sink or swim.
Not content to tread water, Hagelburg saw his business take off.
At first it began with Grundy shots on the back of a D6x6 “baby machine”, a Vermeer Navigator, mainly completing works for metropolitan fibre networks associated with the Optus expansion.
Public peering exchanges on PIPE Networks for TPG Telecom soon followed. When the NBN finally came calling the changes wrought across operations were seismic.
“When we started doing kilometres and kilometres of work with the 6×6 we were pushing the envelope,” Hagelburg recalled.
“It was obvious we needed something bigger.”
With that decision made, he purchased a D20x22 S3 at an auction. It blew up inside the first six weeks of owning it.
“That hurt me pretty bad,” said Hagelburg. “So, I went out and bought another drill — an old beaten up D24x40 and then I rebuilt that machine, painted it up and got it where it needed to be.”
He added, “That was my moneymaker that machine.”
Growth in the business enabled better cashflow outcomes. This, in turn, helped facilitate further investments in operational assets.
Spot On Excavations now runs three brand-new drills. The first of which was a Vermeer 40×55 dirt rig.
“We were working it pretty hard and often in tough ground,” said Hagelburg.
“It seemed like an appropriate time to buy a rock drill.”
The Vermeer 40×55 DR, more specifically, handles this application.
It floats around on different assignments, versatile enough to do power, communications, sewer and water utilities projects.
“We pretty much chase the rock with that machine,” said Hagelburg. “Because it’s worth so much money, too, it needs to be working.”
Another new drill, a Vermeer 23×30 purpose-built for smaller diameter groundwork was also added to the fleet.
In that sense partnering with Vermeer Australia has helped the business scale up when it needed to.
A big project undertaken in Canberra at present, defined by smaller excavations, requires both of the new dirt drills on hand.
These drills proved, shortly after, to be a shrewd investment. Almost immediately, the scope of work on offer for Spot On Excavations broadened.
To the point it now handles much bigger pipeline projects and sewer mains.
Only last week the business installed 570mm diameter pipe with a 770mm cut.
“That’s opened the door to doing rail stuff with multiple pipe and rail power [contracts],” added Hagelburg.
In addition to owning its own diggers and bobcats, the company runs a workshop which functions on more than just maintenance and repairs.
It also handles Spot On Excavations’ own builds inhouse. In fact, the business has been able to build four vacuum excavation trucks — two Kenworth K200s, a Kenworth T300 and a 2015 MAN.
Each vac truck tows a drill on a tag trailer allowing operations, in an era where skilled labour is hard to come by, to rely less on personnel. They have 16 staff at the moment.
“Finding good people with a strong work ethic can be very hard,” added Hagelburg.
Hence the need for his own traffic control and location sidelines that run in conjunction with the excavation offering.
Staff might come and go, according to Hagelburg, the only difference is they usually come back.
“They often find out the grass isn’t any greener,” he said.
“Staff are rewarded for their extra efforts. We recognise they make sacrifices. Nothing goes unnoticed.”
One of his best staff is Mark Dunsmore. He has been with Spot On Excavations since 2021. Hagelburg described his project manager as a gamechanger.
“He’s so switched on and he’s really helped me build this company into what it is today,” he said.
“Guys like that are worth their weight in gold. He’s here on Sundays. He’s been on a rig and running the crews. This year was meant to be his change working in the office full time but if we’re short-staffed, he’s out in the field. You wouldn’t get a more loyal person than him.”
Notwithstanding Jon himself, who refuses to look elsewhere other than Vermeer for his drills.
He has declined several overtures to evaluate new equipment for an extended period. He was even taken on a factory tour in Iowa, all expenses paid, after he purchased the Vermeer 40×55 DR.
Official Australian distributor, RDO Equipment, provides support both technical and aftersales that Hagelburg cannot fault.
“For service, you can’t beat it. They’ll come in on Saturday, early morning, whenever you need them to be there and they will be there for you,” he said.
“Area Manager Andrew Falvo gives unbelievable support to us. He’ll drive a part through the night to me so I can keep working the next day.”
Even on the older machines, which naturally require extra care, Hagelburg can fondly recall specific examples of when the Vermeer team came to the rescue.
On one occasion, he won’t soon forget, he blew up an ancient drive motor halfway through the pullback on the Central Coast.
It was one of those shots an operator can’t afford to leave according to Hagelburg.
“I eventually got it disconnected and I brought it all the way down to Vermeer in Eastern Creek,” he said.
“They brought the part in, opened the shop for me, repaired it and I went back and finished pulling the shot that night.”
At that stage, Spot On Excavations hadn’t yet invested in a new machine.
“You don’t get that service anywhere else. Yes, they’re getting their overtime, but they don’t have to,” he told Trenchless Australasia.
“They could have easily said bring it in in the morning and we’ll have a look then. But they didn’t. Stuff like that you never forget. The support that Vermeer give is second-
to-none.”
For more information, visit vermeeraustralia.com.au
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