EVANS Engineering Solutions is poised for further growth in 2024 after the Dunbar-based company became the largest seller of Steelwrist tiltrotators in the UK over the past year.
MD Gareth Evans told Project Plant that business is booming, with the firm responsible for securing the sale of some 50 tiltrotator units to date, along with a number of hitch and install kits on top of that.
The company is likely to recruit a new member of staff early next year to help keep up with demand and bolster the flourishing partnership with the attachments manufacturer even further.
“We’re the biggest buyer of Steelwrist in the whole of the UK,” Gareth said. “The Scottish market seems to be the way forward for Steelwrist. It’s a massive market for us. People here respond well to good customer service.
“We have quite a lot of clout with Steelwrist because we are their biggest buyer. They listen to us when we bring suggestions to the board.”
As well as new machines, Evans also takes in older Steelwrist units to strip down and refurbish. Shot blasting and painting services are available with a view to restoring units to ‘as new’ condition.
Gareth revealed that Steelwrist X18 tiltrotators for excavators between 14 and 16-tonnes remain the most popular models in Scotland, closely followed by the X26 for machines ranging from 20-25-tonnes. Evans recently sold one of the first Steelwrist X32 units in Scotland to David Smith Contractors in Fraserburgh. This model is designed for excavators in the 30-tonne range.
One thing tiltrotator models of all sizes have in common, according to Gareth, is that customers are looking for them to do more than ever before.
“We’re getting a lot more requests for dozer blade control and track steering,” Gareth added. “If a machine has a two-piece boom, customers want all of that on the joystick. If a customer has a duck, they’re wanting wheel steering put on. It’s not just a case of chucking a tiltrotator on and walking away. There’s a lot of innovation with GPS. The tiltrotator talks to the GPS system so customers are getting full advantage of the machine.
“Steelwrist has brought out a new Quantum control system which allows us to access the tiltrotator remotely. If there’s an issue, we can access it remotely over the laptop and provide feedback on what the problem could be and how we can assist them.”
Looking ahead to 2024, Gareth revealed the plan is for further growth and to use customer feedback to help drive innovation.
“The plan is to keep growing and working with customers, listening to what they’ve got to say, and what they want from the tiltrotators and control systems,” he stated. “The tiltrotators are very good but the control system behind it and what possibilities they can make the machine do is a big part of it and that’s where we tie in with them.”
