When bushfire season comes to the south of Western Australia, tough, reliable and safe equipment for quickly building firebreaks and clearing burning trees and other material is essential. A fleet of seven Komatsu dozers play a front line role in bushfire fighting with the State’s Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC) in what are some of the toughest and most extreme conditions earthmoving equipment have to work.
In WA, responsibility for bushfire fighting and control rests with DEC. Its Komatsu dozers play a key role in bushfire management, both during the bushfire season, and in preparing for it during winter and spring. DEC operates a fleet of seven D65EX dozers, two D65EX-15 “long tracks” delivered in the past 12 months, and five D65EX-12s delivered over the past seven years, plus three WA320-5 loaders, a WA320-3 and two WA380-3s. All machines have a range of implements including logging forks and scrub rakes, with the dozers fitted with tree bars and three tyne rippers.
According to Allan Jones, DEC’s fleet operations manager, every season, two or three of the department’s dozers are “caught out” during fire fighting operations, and require major repair works to get them operating again.
“Because of the conditions these machines are working in, it’s very easy for burning materials to be sucked into the engine, which can then result in the wiring looms or hydraulic hoses being burnt out – and having to be replaced before the machines are operational again,” he said. “Komatsu Australia has always been very responsive in working with us to repair any burnt out dozers, so we can get them up and running again – doing things like taking replacement parts off new machines in stock.”
However, during the past two seasons, DEC has been putting protective fire suppressant fibreglass lagging around exposed wiring and hoses to minimise this problem – a move that has been so successful that all existing dozers and its latest D65EX-15 have now been fitted with the protective lagging.
“Hopefully we’ve now pretty much overcome this problem, so that we won’t get burnt out machines, and we won’t have to spend the money in getting two or three dozers repaired each year,” Allan Jones said.
Further information contact Komatsu Australia on 1800 KOMATSU (1800 566 287), visit www.komatsu.com.au or email info@komatsu.com.au
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