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. 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