German contractor acquires a Hitachi ZX220W-5 wheeled excavator

German contractor Grötz GmbH and Co. KG has acquired a Hitachi ZX220W-5 wheeled excavator, from local dealer Kiesel, for use on a wide range of projects.

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Hitachi ZX220W-5 is the complete package

A new Hitachi ZX220W-5 wheeled excavator is proving to be a versatile acquisition for German contractor Grötz GmbH & Co. KG. The Gaggenau-based company has already utilised the Zaxis-5 machine for a wide range of projects since its delivery by German Hitachi dealer Kiesel in June last year.

Grötz was founded over 100 years ago, and has 500 employees based at its headquarters and a number of other branches in Germany, France, Switzerland and Poland. This broad base of representation services the requirements of public and private sector customers for civil and structural engineering work, and road, rail and general construction contracts, as well as the supply of aggregates, concrete and asphalt materials.

An excellent relationship

Kiesel and Grötz have enjoyed an excellent long-term working relationship over a period of 40 years, and Kurt Krämer is the dealer’s sales manager for the region. “None of Grötz’s recent machine purchases have been supplied with an extended warranty or service package, because they consider Hitachi machines to be so good that they don’t need the additional cover,” he explains. “The Hitachi fleet is so reliable that some of their Zaxis-3 models have accumulated 8,000 working hours with a clean bill of health.”

An example of a project in which the ZX220W-5 has been employed is a six-week earthmoving and drainage job at the Product Engineering test facility at John Deere’s European Parts Distribution Centre near Bruchsal. Grötz is installing an underground drainage pipe and excavating a sand-based pool that will take away and absorb rainwater from an asphalt training area that was previously susceptible to flooding.

Excavating 800m³ per day, the ZX220W-5 is the ideal machine for this type of work according to foreman Alain von Bonn: “The Hitachi wheeled excavator is a high-quality product and the complete package for carrying out a wide range of tasks, from digging trenches to loading trucks. It also has to work on sand and then move along the asphalt access road to work on a grass area.”

Impressive handling ability

Richard Leibold has worked as an operator for 22 years and joined Grötz in 1999. “I’m really happy with the overall performance of the ZX220W-5,” he says. “It does exactly what I want it to do, and it is powerful, stable, smooth and fast. The power and lifting capacity are also impressive, and the handling is the machine’s best feature – excellent for a machine in this class.

“Everything in the cab is great too, especially the low noise levels, air conditioning and comfortable seat, which is very important in a wheeled excavator. I have a good view of the site, tyres and it’s easy to change attachments. The multi-function monitor is also useful for checking the fuel consumption, service information and the rear-view camera, which I use frequently and especially when swinging around.”