Howzit, undercarriage warriors. Ralph in Benoni and Justin in Cato Ridge here. Between us we’ve measured more than 1 200 sets of 20–45 tonne undercarriages in the last eight years, and we’ve got bad news and good news. Bad news: the average South African 40-tonner is throwing away R800 000–R1.4 million on undercarriage every 6 000–8 000 hours because of lazy habits and dealer scare tactics. Good news: the top 10 % of operators in this country are getting 11 000–15 000+ hours

Howzit, legends of the dig. Ralph in Benoni and Justin in Cato Ridge here. Between us we’ve personally stripped 47 Komatsu PC400-series (Dash-6 right up to Dash-8M0) and 38 Hitachi ZX450/ZX470/ZX490 machines since 2018. That’s 85 complete 40-tonne carcasses turned into pallets of parts that are earning contractors money from Kathu to Kitwe right now. We’re not brand fan-boys. We sell whatever walks through the gate. But when the numbers are this one-sided, we have to call it.

Howzit, legends. Ralph here from the Benoni yard. Right now I’ve got three final drives on the bench: one that came in yesterday completely seized, one that’s leaking like a politician’s promise, and one that’s perfect inside despite 14 000 hours. All three are from 30–40 tonne machines. All three could have been saved for pocket money. In the last 18 months we’ve sold 87 final drives out of these two yards. Every single failure story starts with one (or more) of the same sev

If someone has ever handed you a R280 000 + VAT quote for a brand-new main hydraulic pump and told you “it’s the only safe option”, then congratulations: you’ve just been sold the most expensive myth in South African earthmoving. My name is Ralph – I run the Benoni yard in Gauteng and I’ve got a Komatsu K3V180 pump sitting on the bench right now that we pulled out of a PC400-6 two weeks ago. It’s cleaned, resealed, photographed from every angle and priced at R36 500 ex-VAT. T