My
My name is José Gomez and I operate a ZX350LC-3 at a quarry in Valais, south-west Switzerland. It is owned by Carrières du Lessus, a family-run company established in 1930, which has ten employees.
Carrières du Lessus specialises in recycling and disposal. It has crushing and screening facilities on site, and extracts iron, aluminium and other metals from waste supplied by local construction companies.
The ZX350LC-3 is used to fill in the quarry with burnt material from a nearby incineration plant. This will help restore the land to its natural state.
HITACHI
I have been working with Hitachi machines for 20 years and have always been happy with them. The fleet at Carrières du Lessus includes ZX130W and ZX470LCH-3 excavators, plus a ZX180W with a raised cab, which I also operate.
Company owner Luc Briquet has been a loyal Hitachi customer since 1980. The ZX350LC-3 is particularly special to him, because he decided to buy it during a trip to Shanghai in 2006. That is why the name of the city is written on the back of the excavator.
Experience
The ZX350LC-3 is fast, powerful and durable. The materials in the quarry are acidic and abrasive for the tracks and undercarriages of the machines, but this excavator copes well in tough working conditions.
Over the past 20 years, I have noticed that Hitachi machines have become more reliable and their quality has improved. I like all the features in the cab, particularly the air conditioning. It can get very hot here in the summer. What impresses me most about the ZX350LC-3 is its precision – it could take the hat off my head without touching me!
SWITZERLAND > ZX350 > WASTE/SCRAP RECYCLING
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My name is Luc Briquet and I am the owner of Carrières du Lessus in Valais, south-west Switzerland. The company was founded by my grandfather in 1930 and now employs 11 people.
Until 1994, our quarry was a valuable source of limestone for road and general construction. In 1994 the regional authorities withdrew our licence to excavate the stone. I had to rethink our business strategy when I knew that the quarry had to close. I needed to find another way to continue the family story here and look towards other potential interests. So I transformed our quarrying business into a recycling and waste disposal company.
We are now refilling the quarry with construction materials such as stone, bricks and concrete. We also process incinerated waste from a nearby plant. Iron, copper and aluminium are extracted using on-site magnetic devices, and then sold to customers in France. The remaining waste is used to fill in the quarry in an approved, environmentally friendly way.
HITACHI
Our history with Hitachi is all about excavators. Our first model was a second-hand 45-tonne UH171, which we bought in 1988. Then we bought a new EX330, which was also very good. Other machines in our fleet have included an EX165 and EX17.
They have all been sold now and replaced with Zaxis excavators. The fleet currently includes a ZX22U-2 mini excavator, ZX130W and ZX180W wheeled excavators, and a ZX350LC-3 and ZX450LCH-3.
Our policy is to replace the machines after 3,000 or 4,000 hours. Technology moves forward every three or four years and our aim is to benefit from all the latest advanced features. This also helps with the resale value, of course.
Experience
The quality of the Zaxis range is very good. They are well finished, reliable and comfortable for our operators. I am very happy with the service we receive from Jean-Marc Probst, Gaston Monney and the rest of the team at the Swiss Hitachi dealer, Probst Maveg. We have a strong relationship, which is based on many years of friendship as well as business.
Overall, it’s a winning combination. I have seen for myself the high levels of discipline and organisation in the Hitachi factory in Japan, and that’s one of the reasons why Hitachi is such a strong brand.