Hawkes Group gets equipped for demolition
The Hawkes Group was formed by Reece Hawkes and over the years has grown to become one of the leading Civil Engineering companies in Northamptonshire. Continued growth of the company now sees them branching into the demolition sector, with the aim of being recognised as a true one stop across the local area as well as offering their services nationally.
Hawkes strength lies in their in-house expertise across all sectors. They operate a large and diverse range of plant currently totalling over thirty pieces, having all the equipment required to successfully complete their customer’s developments. Hawkes constantly improve their fleet of plant and machines have recently invested over £2m in new equipment.
Some of their latest acquisitions include a large range of new demolition attachments and the OilQuick automatic quick coupler system from Warrington based attachment specialists ECY Haulmark to add to their growing fleet of demolition machines. One of their current projects is at Milton Keynes hospital where the main contractor is Kier. Hawkes Group Managing Director Reece Hawkes and Demolition Contracts Manager Paul Hollowell spoke from site about how they are utilising the new equipment to achieve the demolition and removal of the former boiler rooms and temporary backup generators which will eventually make way for a brand new hospital training facility.
Having installed their first OilQuick coupler only two weeks ago both where keen to point out what a great impact the introduction of the system was having for them on the site. The main benefits being fewer machines are required, not having to change hydraulic hoses on site, risking oil spills and contamination and the operator remaining safely in the cab whilst making attachments changes.
With the site being quite small there is only space for a limited number of machines, in this instance an Hitachi Zaxis 250 fitted with an OilQuick OQ80 automatic quick coupler. The second machine on site is a Doosan DX420 currently fitted with a brand new Furukawa FXJ375 hydraulic breaker, although this machine will also be fitted with a further OilQuick OQ80 coupler, currently on order.
With the Zaxis 250 equipped with OilQuick, a variety of the new hydraulic attachments can be utilised on this site, namely a VTN CI3000 scrap shear for removal of the steel beams within the structure, a VTN FP24 dedicated concrete pulverisor for the concrete processing and a VTN MD210 selector grab for removal of roofing sheets and the general sorting of all waste materials.
Reece commented “We are the first demolition company in Northamptonshire to install the OilQuick system onto our machines. All attachments can be selected as required making OilQuick profitable when having to make only two to three changes per day. We like to invest in new plant where possible and new innovations such as OilQuick, as it gives us an advantage to winning contracts. Although the initial cost to install can be high, you can soon see the benefits. We chose to install the OQ80 as we can then utilise all the attachments we use for demolition between the 30 tonne and 42 tonne machines and shall continue to install OilQuick to all of our new demolition machines in the future”.
Reece continued “We first came across ECY Haulmark when they were exhibiting at the Demo Expo event in Reading last summer and we did a deal on a new VTN MD selector grab there and then at the show. The level of service and support they have shown us since then has prompted us to do continued business with them. They are certainly knowledgeable in their field and understand which products will best suit our needs.