Growth sees strong partnership formed with East Coast Civil and RDO Equipment

Family business East Coast Civil has seen a lot of change and growth over the past 20 years, but one thing that has helped them ride the waves of business success is strong business partners – like RDO Equipment.

East Coast Civil, based in the Logan Shire of Queensland, started operating as a civil contracting company in the late 90s, overseen by Mark McLachlan. Today, his son Sam works alongside Mark running the business, which has expanded to plant hire as well as civil contracting, working on projects as far north as Airlie Beach and the Whitsundays.

Sam says in the last two years in particular, the business has seen growth thanks to the momentum of infrastructure projects in the region, like the Brisbane, Toowoomba and Gold Coast airport developments, the Brisbane green bridge construction and the residential housing boom.

“As with any business, it can be very cyclical and we have to ride the good and bad times, but things are looking good at the moment, and we’re excited to continue to see growth.

“South-East Queensland is starting to feel the momentum of a lot of the infrastructure announcements, which has allowed us to grow and take on more staff, and upgrade our equipment,” Sam says.

This growth has seen Sam and East Coast Civil add another John Deere 670GP Grader to their fleet, purchased through RDO Equipment.

“Our first John Deere Grader was bought nearly 10 years ago from the previous Australian dealer, but our operators have been requesting we get another as they just love the machine and find it easy to work with.

“This was our first time working with RDO Equipment, and the service and support has been phenomenal. They’ve answered our questions and handled issues really quickly and treated us like we’ve been a customer for years. They’re very in touch and connected with their customers.”

Sam says they considered a number of factors before deciding to purchase another 670GP Grader.

“The weight of the machine stood out for us. It’s weighted in the right parts, which makes manoeuvrability a lot easier. The horsepower is incredible, thanks to the bigger sized motor, but the big one is the hydraulics. John Deere machines have that in spades. The touch-sensitive control allows you to feel what you’re doing and where you’re moving – it’s a big gamechanger,” Sam says.

“The quality and productivity of the machine, combined with the service and support from the RDO Equipment team means we will definitely look to add more to our fleet and work with them again.”