ROTOTILT is poised to make further inroads in the north of Scotland with newly appointed dealer Derek Ryrie, which is covering Orkney and Shetland for the tiltrotator manufacturer.
Manager Aiden Cursiter reached out to Rototilt as part of the company’s plans to strengthen the construction equipment aspect of the business. Derek Ryrie started out as an agricultural spares and hydraulic hose manufacturing business, before expanding into areas including hand and power tools, garage equipment, performance and tuning parts, and automotive spares.
The firm is now moving more into the plant sector. As well as Rototilt, Derek Ryrie is also working with attachments specialist Titus Solutions.
Aiden told Project Plant he has already sold two Rototilts – one in Orkney and one in Shetland – and has high hopes that it will become the brand of choice in that part of the world, especially now there’s a locally based company with the ability to service the product.
“The first Rototilt was sold to Tulloch Developments in Shetland,” he explained. “It was an R4 with a Rototilt RG800 gripper. We also sold Tulloch six attachments from Titus.
“The tiltrotator has gone to work on a multi-million-pound wind farm project, which Tulloch will be involved in for the next two years. It’s working with a Volvo EWR150E wheeled excavator, which has been used for tasks such as grading and road work. The feedback has been good; everything has been going fine.”
The R4 model is designed for excavators between 10-16 tonnes and is described as being built to cope with harsh environments. The tiltrotator can handle breakout torques of up to 163 kNm and features a rotation sensor designed to offer more precise positioning with RPS.
Aiden revealed he initially contacted Rototilt after being impressed by watching videos of the company’s products online. To his surprise, he got a response, and the wheels were put in motion for Derek Ryrie to join the Rototilt dealer family.
“Orkney is not very well covered on the plant side of things,” Aiden added. “I saw a gap in the market. As well as the sale to Tulloch in Shetland, I’ve just sold my first Rototilt in Orkney and we’ll be hosting an open day later this month for people to come and learn more about the products.
“There are a lot of tiltrotators in Orkney. Orkney is pretty good at supporting local businesses. There’s been nobody selling tiltrotators and backing them up (locally). I certainly think when people come to buy new machines, they’re going to come to us become we’re on the island. We’ll be doing all the warranty and aftermarket support with S Sinclair Engineering being our service and fitting partner.”
Aiden added that tiltrotators are becoming increasingly mainstream on the islands, even on smaller machines. Everyone, he explained, is looking to get as much work done as quickly as possible, with tiltrotators proving an invaluable tool in helping to achieve that.
He stressed that due to remote locations of construction sites in Orkney and Shetland, equipment reliability is of paramount importance. This is where he believes Rototilt is in a league of its own, heaping praise on the build quality of the tiltrotator models.
“They seem to have the innovation where the equipment is built to last, built to be serviced, and built to be fixed when something goes wrong. With the dealer network that Rototilt has built up, it’s just like a big family. When you buy a Rototilt, you’re not just buying the tiltrotator; you’re buying the service and support that comes along after it.”
