Partnerships formed long ago can lay the foundations for future enterprises not yet conceived at the time.
This is ultimately the origin story of JR Equipment, a body builder on the Gold Coast, that has since 2020, risen to prominence as a prolific supplier in the concrete segment. James Rule is its owner.
As the Australian distributor of Hyundai Everdigm, JR Equipment builds a range of concrete pump trucks for the commercial business sector.
At present it orders approximately 20 trucks from Brown and Hurley, one of the key partnerships it counts on, annually. Good going for a business that was founded during lockdowns when it was left to acquire its initial office furniture on Facebook marketplace and leave money in mailboxes.
“We started off working on the floor, building pumps, the three of us in a tiny little shed,” recalls James.
“Now we’ve got a nice setup and 14 employees.”
The setup is in Stapleton, merely a kilometre from the Brown and Hurley Yatala dealership. That’s important because as James puts it, a truck is a tool for JR Equipment to sell the pump.
“Trucks are a big part of what we do,” he says. “If you don’t have trucks, you can’t sell pumps. Brown and Hurley helped grandfather all the deals that I had prior to launching the business.”
What came ‘prior’ is involved. In sum, James, a qualified auto electrician and second-class welder, worked on concrete pumps in the United Kingdom before moving back to Australia.
He had stints in civil mining and fuel services in Western Australia and worked with John Holland in Sydney.
He eventually found his way back to concrete pumps in Brisbane at a business he oversaw operations before striking out on his own.
Despite having a healthy customer base to work from, supply chain shortages made getting trucks a challenge.
His second truck order, an 8×4 DAF CF530, which was on a ship he was tracking online to Brisbane, didn’t stop as it was supposed to just as he had a half million-dollar concrete pump sitting in his driveway.
“You don’t see the light at the end of the tunnel when you start a new business and you’re trying to impress everyone,” James says.
“There’s immense pressure to make a good impression straight out of the box and when the truck doesn’t land in port and you can’t get paid for the pump because you’ve got no truck that makes it tough.”
Another shipment of DAF trucks was unloaded in Singapore and shunted back. It went on for three and a half months.
Paul Hurley was still at Brown and Hurley at the time and current Dealer Principal Bruce Barnes, was James’ former sales manager.
“Even though we were a tiny outfit back then they were big supporters, helping with PACCAR and they could see the potential of what we were going to be,” says James.
JR Equipment is predisposed to a specification for its 8x4s and DAF happens to provide a highly compatible one for concrete pumps with its standard reduction hubs, heavy axles, heavy springs.
All of it counts when it comes to modifications to the chassis which are conveniently minimal for someone looking to move things around when fitting a 42-metre extendable product.
Incidentally, the 42-metre pump, according to James, is the most common pump they build with.
“Whereas, the model before that, they had to do a lot of modifications inhouse before we could touch it,” he says.
“DAF is being really proactive in designing the truck for the specific concrete pump.”
JR Equipment will preorder pumps and trucks to create a package for customers.
Usually, the pump arrives first. It will be ordered in a specific colour depending on the company it is destined for.
Then JR Equipment will marry it all up to an approved build for the end-user. It can take up to four months to put together a package.
They do smaller 30-metre booms on 6×4 Isuzus having an equally strong partnership at Isuzu Burpengary where Dealer Principal David Windsor has also been a pivotal long-time ally. In boom pump parlance, the numbers refer to vertical reach.
A 51 will go on an 8×4. JR Equipment can legally get 39 tonnes on that configuration as it falls under the SPV classification in Queensland. Maximum allowance weights are generally permitted.
The Isuzu trucks are usually married up with line pumps which work from flexible hoses on a trailer on the ground.
Otherwise, JR Equipment offers 20-metre pumps right through to 51-metre boom pumps and are presently moving into the “big boy” category such as 56- and 61-metre booms which will go on special combinations like 10x4s and 12x4s.
These booms are common on big projects and usually provide the groundwork on high rise buildings and the first few levels before the operator needs to change to a satellite boom.
Anything at or over 51-metres represents an engineering challenge as the boom will be negated by long overhangs and necessitate maximum weight. Absent that, they push the boundaries.
“Everything has to be 100 per cent spot on and made the same every single time,” says James.
“It’s a big achievement to do them. Everyone is out for more output and bigger booms.”
Booms, on this front, have gotten heavier to increase stability. But in doing so designers have needed to remove weight from somewhere.
Everdigm, according to James, found a clever solution he likes by shortening the chassis of the pump in order to facilitate a more stable boom giving the builder an extra 200 kilograms to play with. This new style product is called an external link boom.
The 42-metre boom is, however, the bread and butter of the business. Being that it has the smallest front footprint factoring in the spread of the four big outriggers when opened up.
“The biggest selling point on ours is the footprint is only 6.3-metres across the front from outrigger to outrigger,” explains James.
“It’s not much at all. That makes it the smallest in the whole industry on a 42-metre.”
Once vertical, operators still need to make a horizontal reach. The smaller the footprint, the better the access. Otherwise, they will require a bigger boom which brings additional costs.
The higher you go the more significant they become.
“With a 42 we can get a bit closer and therefore it makes our boom a lot more versatile,” adds James.
“To go from a 42 to a 47 is a major jump in costs just for five additional metres.”
This 42-metre product is always packaged with a DAF truck.
“It’s the best combination hands down,” says James, referring more precisely to an 8×4 CF530.
“It comes in at 32.5 tonne on an 8×4 with a 39-tonne GVM. It’s not heavy. It’s not overloaded. You haven’t got a lot of weight on the front. Your weight distribution is very good on it. You don’t have to modify anything. It basically bolts straight on without many modifications at all. For us, it’s one of the best builds that we do. Everyone loves them.”
This is, in James’ view, also why the DAF CF is the most wanted in Australia in the segment.
He adds, “If you look online for trucks every second big model from a midsize pump upwards is sold on a DAF.”
