Deals On Wheels #454

Working DEALS
life easier when unloading the digger. “They
set it up, ready to sell, ready to go to work and
that’s what I liked about it too because I didn’t
have to worry about nothing.
“It was well built,” he adds. “Just pay for it
and get in a drive it.”
Then came the Kevin Clark Excavations
signage, with a dash of purple giving the
truck further eye-catching merit.
“That’s my wife’s favourite colour,” Kevin
says. “That had to go on it, and believe it
or not, it stands out really nice and a lot of
people notice it.
“It’s just like a motor car to drive. I’ve got
a Mercedes-Benz and you can’t tell the
difference. It’s a beautiful truck.”
In somewhat of a surprise, Kevin opted
for an Eaton nine-speed manual ’box in
preference to the Allison auto. His previous
experience with autos in the Isuzu trucks
convinced him that manual was the way to
go, despite the majority of new truck buyers
going down the auto path.
“I’m probably too old fashioned but we
like the manual to be fully in control of the
gearbox,” he explains.
“Sometimes the Isuzus – and they were
pretty good trucks – you’d want to go back a
gear and it wouldn’t change.
“And it just didn’t have the full control as
the manual’s got.
“You put it in low and it just crawls, even
slower than you’re walking. You can crawl
around a job real easy, or back up a steep
driveway in the low reverse.”
WORD OF MOUTH
With wife Valerie handling the office work,
and sons Craig and Damian sharing the
driving and excavator operation, Kevin
spends most of his time organising jobs. But
he also fills in when the boys need a break
whenever and wherever they are.
“If required, we’d go anywhere in the state,
but we don’t get away from Hobart much.”
However, Kevin says he’s rarely looked for
work during the past 32 years, with much
of the business coming through his regular
customers as well as word of mouth. And
some of those site experiences remain firmly
etched in his mind.
“The funniest job I’ve had is when a lady
pulled me over and said, ‘that’s a pretty
excavator, can I hire it?’
“So she got me to move a big pile of dirt
from the front of the house around to the side
of the house. And the husband came home
and said, ‘if you’re free tomorrow you can put
Kevin says that it's just
like a car to drive
Kevin wanted more
gear control, hence the
manual transmission
The colour purple:
Valerie Clark’s
favourite
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