Skip to main content

German Joh. Sahler contractor goes down the Hitachi route

German contractor Joh. Sahler has changed its entire fleet of construction machinery to Hitachi Zaxis excavators. The two ZX38U-5s, ZX48U-3, ZX85USBLC-5, ZX145W-3, ZX170W-5 and ZX190W-3 were ordered by the Leverkusen-based company in June last year and delivered by the country’s authorised Hitachi dealer, Kiesel. Joh. Sahler was founded in 1945 and is now owned by a third-generation family member, Antonius Eisbach, and managed on a day-to-day basis by directors Dietmar Müller and Matthias Schindler.
April 30, 2015 Read time: 3 mins
German contractor Joh. Sahler has changed its entire fleet of construction machinery to Hitachi Zaxis excavators. The two ZX38U-5s, ZX48U-3, ZX85USBLC-5, ZX145W-3, ZX170W-5 and ZX190W-3 were ordered by the Leverkusen-based company in June last year and delivered by the country’s authorised Hitachi dealer, Kiesel.

Joh. Sahler was founded in 1945 and is now owned by a third-generation family member, Antonius Eisbach, and managed on a day-to-day basis by directors Dietmar Müller and Matthias Schindler. It has a team of 50 employees who work on road and sewer construction projects for mostly privately owned clients but also some public sector customers.

All of the new machines are supported by a five-year maintenance and service package provided by 233 Hitachi Support Chain and managed by 7050 Kiesel. “Kiesel contacted us at exactly the right time at the end of 2013, when we first considered changing all of our machines,” said Matthias.

“We wanted to buy established products that our customers would recognise and feel comfortable with. These machines need to be reliable and work well for at least five years and that is why we have invested in the after-sales package.”

The two-piece boom Hitachi ZX170W-5 wheeled excavator is the largest Zaxis-5 machine at Joh. Sahler’s disposal. It was delivered in July and one of its first assignments was a road construction project near Leverkusen. The €450,000 contract to build a roundabout started at the end of September and was scheduled to finish in December. The ZX170W-5 was the only wheeled excavator on the 3,400m² site, which includes 1,500m² of new road, 100m² of new foot and cycle paths and streetlights and the planting of trees.

“The ZX170W-5 is suited to this type of work, and along with the ZX145W-3 and ZX190W-3, we have a range of wheeled excavators to cover the full scale of our operations,” said Matthias. “It is a classic machine for working on roads, as it is fast and versatile, and can be used on and off road. We’re very happy with our current line-up of machines because our maintenance costs are lower than before and there is minimal downtime.”

“I’m really happy with the overall performance of the ZX170W-5,” explained the ZX170W-5’s operator Mario Tietje, who has been with the company for 30 years. “The cab has more than enough space and a comfortable seat, which is important when working on site for the whole day. It is perfectly suited to this type of road construction work and the best feature is the hydraulics, which work quickly and ensure that the machine is easy to operate.”

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Volvo CE US$100 million Americas expansion
    March 22, 2013
    Volvo Construction Equipment president Pal Olney stressed the long-term importance to the company of the North American market while formally recognising the industry giant’s US$100 million expansion programme at its Shippensburg, Pennsylvania facility. Olney cut the ribbon to officially open Volvo CE’s new Americas’ headquarters building. The event also saw the unveiling of the first wheeled loader to roll off the Shippensburg site’s cutting edge assembly line. On the significance of the two big landmarks,
  • Caterpillar eyes better performance in 2015 amid stormy weather
    May 13, 2015
    Caterpillar vice president Paolo Fellin sums up the past year for the global equipment manufacturer and looks at the increasing importance of telematics and machine control. David Arminas reports from Caterpillar’s Demonstration and Learning Centre in Malaga, southern Spain First the good news. Despite the difficulties, especially of the financial markets, 2014 was “a record year for a lot of things” for global heavy equipment maker Caterpillar.Now the bad news. Hang onto your seats because despite some
  • Hitachi restructuring its European factories
    March 14, 2017
    Hitachi Construction Machinery (Europe) NV (HCME) intends to reorganise its European manufacturing operations. The firm has two factories in Oosterhout and Amsterdam and is making the change in a bid to boost both efficiency and competitiveness, with this move planned to be complete by April 2018. The current Oosterhout factory is to focus its entire operation on mini and compact excavators, ranging from 1-8tonnes. Hitachi says that its market share in this segment has risen significantly in recent years
  • Sophisticated machine telematics packages offered
    September 27, 2013
    Several of the major equipment manufacturers now offer sophisticated telematics packages fitted as standard to their machines. Caterpillar and Komatsu were amongst the leaders in this field, allowing a high level of access to a machine's systems and sub-systems for performance monitoring, maintenance management and geofencing purposes for example. To the customer this offers the chance to address fleet running costs and utilisation, reduce the risk of theft and increase overall efficiency. Customers can eve