Lionel Whitnell on Cat 313FL Excavator – Available from £150 Per Week

Wednesday, September 14 th, 2016

Lionel Whitnell, owner of Whitnell Plant is an active member of the increasingly popular Digger Man Blog Facebook page and because of this, Lionel was the first customer in the UK to purchase the new plant hire focused Cat® 313FL GC, following its launch in June 2015.

Having seen the Nick Drew aka Digger Man Blogger video review of the machine, Lionel ordered two units the following Monday morning, that were delivered in July 2015, adding to his existing Caterpillar excavator and dozer hire fleet.

Cat 313FL GC Excavator from £150 per/week promotion has now ended.  Please drop us a line to discover further options available.   

To find out the impact the units have had on his business, Finning News spoke to Lionel and went onsite to visit one of his regular customers, Gene Pugh who has been using the Cat 313F L GC to perform numerous tasks.

Lionel, “Plant hire is a simple business really. You need reliable kit, at the right price, that is capable of performing the tasks that people need doing, so you can make a good return on your investment. So for me that is why the Cat 313FL GC is a compelling proposition. To date, we have achieved the same rates we were getting for the Cat 312’s that the units replaced and have over 85% utilisation, which is still growing.

“For example, we recently got a unit back from a typical building site job, where it was being used for drainage and general works and had 12 people wanting to hire it straight away, either on a self drive or machine and operator package.

“Interestingly, because the machines fit into the 8 tonne and 15 tonne categories for our customers, the type of tasks they are doing are low hours, but high earners for us, with quite a lot of waiting around onsite. This has meant that one unit had its 500 hours service in May 2016 and the other has only just clocked up over 1000 hours.

“I am certainly a fan of the Cat 313FL GC, yes, it is not the Cat 312E, but it is more than capable of doing the tasks people hire it for and with the price difference between the two units, the margins and return we get from the Cat 313FL GC’s are definitely good for business.

“For me, you also have to think about machine residuals and in my experience if you have a Cat, it walks out of the yard and I think this will definitely be the case with these units when I am ready to replace them.

“I have spoke to a great deal of people in the industry about the Cat 313FL GC, both face to face, over the phone and on social media and if anyone wants an honest opinion, I am happy for them to give me a call on 01206 272834.”