Dino Peacock’s work boots are coated in mud, but his two Isuzu tippers gleam in the morning sun.
“It’s the way we keep them here,” said Dino proudly.
“It does look good when you rock up to a job and you’ve got new gear like this.”
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Dino’s two tippers are engaged in excavation works for his 37-year-young company Clay Excavations, which services non-commercial digs in Nar Nar Goon North, sitting on the outskirts of Pakenham in Melbourne’s southeast.
Dino prefers to keep things close to home, helping his neighbours and nearby farmers with excavation work that varies from horse arenas, earthworks and cuts for farm buildings, driveways and dams. Whether its small or large, ‘local’ is his specialty.
“My customers pay as soon as I finish and with a smile on their face,” Dino reported.
“When I’m not digging with the machinery, I’ll be carting crushed rock for days backwards and forwards in the big tipper, averaging about eight loads a day.”
Digging deep for Clay Excavations
He’s a familiar face down at the nearby Fulton-Hogan quarry, where he collects crushed rock in a steady stream with the larger of his two trucks, a new 6×4 FXY 240-350 Auto.
This big Isuzu unit is equipped with a Hardox Steel tipper body from AA Diesel Bodies; designed for impact strength and durability for load after load. It replaces Clay Excavation’s 2022 Isuzu FXY beavertail, also fitted by AA Diesel Bodies.
Matched with the grunt of the FXY 6×4 platform—which offers a generous Gross Vehicle Mass of 24,000 kg and Gross Combination Mass of 45,000 kg—it’s an unflappable package that can, and does, deliver for Dino all day long.
Aside from a primo performance tipping crushed rock, Dino compliments the comfort level of the cabin and the FXY’s payload and power to tow and load machinery. It’s fitted with Isuzu’s 6UZI-TCC engine producing 257 kw (350PS) @ 2,000 rpm of power and torque of 1,422 Nm @ 1,400 rpm.
“I can pull an 8-tonne tag-along float with a 5.5-tonne excavator or roller on it, plus a posi-track loader on the tipper tray,” Dino said.
“It’s a beautiful drive with the Allison (4430) auto and the airbag suspension which rides better on the road.
“I really love going to work in it… I can drive it all day and don’t feel too weary when I get home.”
Bells and whistles
The standard MyIsuzu Co-Pilot 10.1-inch High-Definition touch screen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility might be over-specified for this self-confessed pen-and-paper man, but Dino enjoys the comfort of the ISRI 6860 air suspension seat—rightfully regarded as one of the best seats in the business.
In comparison, Dino’s NMR 45-150 Tipper with 6-speed Automated Manual Transmission —from Isuzu’s 4.5-tonne GVM Ready-to-Work range—looks like a pint-sized cousin against the shoulder of the beefier FXY.
Its piccolo size doesn’t mean it doesn’t pack a punch though.
The super-efficient 4-cylinder Isuzu common rail engine keeps jobs ticking along nicely and it’s sized just right for tight access spots where a bigger truck wouldn’t have a hope of squeezing in.
The NMR Tipper’s 2.0 cubic metre capacity and car licence nominal payload of 1,695 kg equates to a very practical transport solution, and Dino is well pleased with the versatility it offers Clay Excavations.
At the moment, it’s either Freddy (Dino’s right-hand man) carting machinery or Dino’s daughter behind the wheel, both using a regular car driver’s licence.
It’s strikingly wrapped too, acting as mobile advertising for the business.
“Funnily enough my daughter’s car engine blew-up recently, so she’s been driving our little tipper, clocking up the kilometres… but since it’s got our name stamped all over it, it looks like a big billboard driving around,” Dino said.
“You’ve got to be in it to win it!”
Longstanding loyalty
Whether on the road or working on site, these two tippers are pulling their weight for Clay Excavations. Dino expects them to last out Isuzu’s generous six-year warranty and six years of roadside assistance aftercare package—but admits he enjoys the feel and presence of a new machine beneath him.
The earthmoving man keeps coming back year-on-year to Patterson Cheney Isuzu for the next best and biggest available. He says it’s Isuzu’s reputation for connecting with local businesses like his own and knowing what he needs that leaves him satisfied with service and product. It appears to be a profitable relationship on both sides.
“The people there are lovely, you go in and they treat you as part of a family, I think they’re really good at what they do,” Dino said.
“It’s likely that I’ll end up buying a bigger horsepower Isuzu truck, probably in the next year, and two or three years down the track I’ll have another one again.
“I virtually ordered the FXY 240-350 tipper a week after I bought the beavertail in 2022, that’s how impressed I was with the trucks.”