Shannonside Civil Engineering is a big fan of Hitachi excavators. Over the past ten years it has used more than 200 and it has just bought a ZX225US-7 and ZX350-7 to add to its fleet of more than 100 Zaxis models ranging from three to 30 tonnes.
“Since I moved here in the 1980s from Ireland, I have operated and supervised Hitachi machines, from the UH063 and EX150,” says managing director Brendan Carty, who founded Shannonside in 2004. “They were all reliable and user-friendly. When I set up my own company, there was no doubt what colour the machines would be. I like the fact that the machines go to work site-ready. We’re not waiting a week for other suppliers to come and calibrate the bucket, for example.”
Brendan is not the only advocate of Hitachi construction equipment within the company – the operators are also enthusiastic about the brand. Tim Philpotts has worked for Shannonside for eight years and was the first to work with the company’s Zaxis-7 models.
“I’ve been working with the ZX225USLC-7 since July 2023. It’s versatile enough to fit into any space, but also big enough to make an impact,” he says. “The layout of the cab is good, with controls in easy reach – everything is where you need it to be. And the Engcon tiltrotator makes life easier, as less movement of the machine is required, and it makes it quicker to do the work.”
Like all the latest Zaxis-7 machines, the two recent additions to its Hitachi fleet are are equipped with Leica Geosystems machine control and Engcon tiltrotators, supplied by HCMUK’s Hitachi connected technology team. They are currently working alongside two other medium excavators, a ZX130-6 and ZX225USLC-6, on a housing development for Persimmon Homes in Cheltenham. Shannonside is responsible for preparing the infrastructure, roads and drainage system for 260 houses, and the project is expected to last four years.
Carty’s Midlands-based company specialises in housing, infrastructure, and commercial projects, and operates on multiple sites within an 80-mile radius of its Redditch headquarters.
