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. It has
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 Hitachi Support Chain and managed by 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.”

Related Content

  • New Hitachi Zaxis-5 for hire in Germany
    January 3, 2013
    One of the first new Hitachi Zaxis-5 models in Germany is available as part of official German dealer Kiesel’s rental fleet. The ZX670LCH-5 is working on a six-month assignment at one of Schön + Hippelein’s quarries, near the town of Heidenheim, to the west of Stuttgart in southern Germany. The large excavator has been drafted in to support two Hitachi ZX870H-3 loading shovels – said by Hitachi to be the first of their kind in Germany – at the Calcitwerk Heidenheim limestone quarry. It has been employed to
  • New excavator from Hitachi
    February 17, 2012
    Hitachi's new wheeled excavator offers the latest engine and advanced hydraulics. The short-tail ZX145W-3 suits applications in confined urban areas as well as on highway projects. The machine has been developed especially for European customers and features an integrated transmission and a reinforced structure.
  • The ideal road construction machine
    November 1, 2023
    Opened in 1955, the A2 is one of the busiest motorways in Switzerland, crossing the Alps and forming the main north-south axis from Basel to Chiasso. On a 3km stretch near the village of Rodi in Ticino, a ZX155W-7 owned by Otto Scerri SA has been employed on a project to replace the central reservation with asphalt, as well as renew the drainage between the two lanes of the highway.
  • Zaxis-5s up to tough test challenge
    April 11, 2013
    Since the new Hitachi Zaxis-5 range was launched at Intermat in April 2012, the ZX250LC-5, ZX290LC-5 and ZX350LC-5 medium excavators, and ZX670LCH-5 and ZX870LCH-5 large machines have been delivered to a wide range of customers for their first assignments all over Europe by Hitachi Construction Machinery (Europe) (HCME). One of the first machines put to work was a ZX250LC-5 working for Trafikk & Anlegg AS on the E18 road construction project between Sandefjord and Tønsberg in Norway. Andres Sœtre has 30 yea