The US-made Gradall excavator about to start cleaning out manganese smelting furnaces at Tasmanian Electro Metallurgical Company’s (TEMCO’s) Bell Bay plant typifies its owner in the sense that its appearance suggests not much has changed in 50-odd years. And that, underneath the name badge and shape, a significant transformation has in fact taken place.

An unusual machine with its telescopic boom, in place of a standard excavator knuckle-boom, and extensive range of movement and rotation, the Gradall TRAC 360 has been a versatile performer for Launceston-based company Gradco. The diversified contractor, established by “Dak” Diprose in 1955 and now run by his son Robert and grandsons Oliver and Tom, was among the first to bring Gradall machines into Australia and it has found a range of applications for them and built part of its business around them.

Robert Diprose believes a technological step change will help the company delve deeper into the furnace clean-out market niche pursued with the Gradall unit.

With the help of an AusIndustry grant and the specialised expertise and technical skills of Western Australian company Remote Control Technologies (RCT), Gradco has converted the Gradall TRAC 360 for Teleremote control operation, which is expected to improve furnace clean-out safety and productivity. The company has completed furnace clean-out work previously in Tasmania, South Australia and WA.

Instead of an operator inside a caged-cabin driving the track-mounted excavator in and around the furnace, the unit will be controlled either with line-of-sight remote (outside a furnace) or with tele-remote systems, including RCT’s unique Vision Assist tool, inside the furnace. This eliminates any exposure to heat, volatile slag and fumes.

“Remote controlling the machine and taking the man out of the machine became the next obvious step for us,” Robert Diprose said.

“The machine [Gradall TRAC 360] has the ability to work in height restricted areas. The boom can extend and rotate 360 degrees. We have developed a range of our own attachments and modifications for Gradalls, including a hydraulic quick-hitch mechanism which was an exercise in itself because of the design of the telescopic boom. That means we can drop an attachment and pick it up remotely, and lock it on and off remotely. We can also run bigger breaking hammers on it, which is useful for production on furnace work.”

Gradco can easily remove the excavator’s cabin when working in areas with restricted access heights. All of the machine cabin controls, lights and other indicators, brakes, throttle, and boom function mechanisms were modified by RCT for remote operation. The technology company also fitted additional hydraulic and electric controls to interface with Gradall systems and make the machine compliant with the AS 4240 remote equipment standard. RCT provided training for Gradco operators.

“We’re expecting that there will be other applications for the remote control Gradall,” Robert Diprose said. “In underground [mines] in dangerous areas, or for handling hazardous waste, where an operator can just control the machine from a distance.

“Every time we send the machine out to do a job it attracts attention and interest.”

Gradco has grown steadily on the back of its core business business activities of government construction and maintenance work, civil contracting, contract mining, tailings dam and foreshore dredging, and the furnace clean-out contracts. The company now has about 90 major items of plant and equipment, and some 85 employees.

Robert Diprose said Gradco had been willing to source specialist machinery and skills to service an expanding client base that included state and local governments, underground and opencut mine operators, agri-business owners, and civil construction firms.

“We’ve maintained a fairly steady growth rate over the years,” he said. “We’re still a family-owned company ... and we’re reasonably conservative. I have three of my sons in the business with me.

“We believe we’ve got to have a fairly broad client base in this economic climate, and we certainly have. If mining is down, something else is up. Things have quietened off this year and we’re devoting more effort to our core business right now.

“We’re feeling our way a bit with the [remote control] technology, but as I said we’ve got more furnace cleanout work coming up during February and May this year and the machine seems to get attention wherever we take it.

“We’ve had these Gradalls since the 1950s in one form or another. It’s an expensive machine because it has a lot of moving parts in the telescopic boom. We have a lot of other equipment – the Gradalls represent a relatively small part, but I take a particular interest in it because there were a lot of them around in my time. I started working with my father in the late 1960s and we have used them for everything – everyday earthmoving jobs to the more specialised work.

“The first job we did outside Tasmania was at Whyalla about five years ago, with the Gradall. It was a furnace cleanout job.

“If someone wants a machine for that type of application they’re usually prepared to pay to get it there, so that’s an area where we’ll continue to work outside Tasmania.

“We have a bit of an edge there now.”