Mecalac 9MWR
at Evert Dierckx

Evert Dierckx specializes in earthworks and landscaping. For his one-man company, he was looking for a machine that met some conditions; He wanted to be able to lift a lot in a small space, visibility had to be good and the machine should not be too high for transport. It also had to be strong in travel, because Dierckx had a unique concept in mind. It became the Mecalac 9MWR. An uncommon choice for some, for Dierckx exactly what he needed.

1,300 running hours later, we visited Evert at a yard where he was working. Marco de Roij of Ahlmann Nederland, Mecalac's distributor in Belgium and the Netherlands, also stopped by. Together with Marco, we watched while Dierckx finished the last minutes of that day.

Use it as a shovel

“I’m always surprised by how compact the machine is,” says De Roij. “The machine comes standard with two-wheel and four-wheel steering and crab steering.” To level the ground, Dierckx uses the machine like a front-end loader. “You don’t see many people doing this in that situation. That’s because the Mecalac is essentially a combination of a wheel loader and an excavator. By working this way, you’re compacting and leveling at the same time, and you’re also a lot faster. That’s what makes the machine unique right away. That’s also why it has that boom design. It’s built for pushing. That’s why you have that lower cylinder: it ensures the machine is strong enough to hold the boom in place. If the cylinder were at the top, as on regular excavators, you’d eventually just push right through it when you start shoveling like you would with a front loader.”

Stable machine

Dierckx explains that it took him a long time to make his decision. “I compared several machines, but the investment was higher, and the extra return more than makes up for it.”
With the 9MWR, he can lift a lot of weight and still maneuver that weight in a small space. De Roij elaborates on that as well. “The combination of the articulation point at the top, the cylinder located at the bottom, and the fact that you can pull the boom back so far that it acts as a counterweight makes the machine strong and stable. On most excavators in this weight class, the boom is positioned entirely in front of the cab. When you lift, the weight remains in front as well. Here, you first move the weight backward and then lift. The pivot point of the bucket arm is located behind the dozer blade. Combined with the lowered slewing ring, this makes the machine extremely stable.”

Dierckx adds another point: “The wheels are in a square. With just about all other brands, it's a rectangle. This means that when I have to lift something heavy and raise my blade, I can turn and drive off. Another has to drive backwards more often because with a lot of weight you can't swing - there's a risk of tipping over. That's especially a plus in urban areas. You can get close, lift a lot, slew and drive off. You can just do so much more.”

The concept of the Mecalac pays for itself. After all, you only need one machine, whereas otherwise you would need both a wheel loader and a crawler excavator. De Roij says the 9MWR is equipped with a separate hydrostatic pump with a much heavier travel motor to transfer the forces released by shovel work.

Mecalac 9MWR with a trailer

These days, swivel-tilt attachments are also being used more and more. Dierckx agrees: “That’s a definite added value in terms of flexibility.” The swivel-tilt attachment allows the operator to do more on their own and reduces the need to call on a contractor. But Dierckx took it a step further. “Partly thanks to the powerful travel motor, I can attach a trailer to the back of the machine. I use it quite a bit. For example, if you need to clean up a job site, you don’t have to call in someone with a tractor and a dumper. So it saves on labor. Another example: a bike path needed to be graded. A large crane couldn’t fit in there, but I was able to work with my machine and carry material in the trailer. This combination has really become a way for me to stand out in the industry. I can do much more in tight spaces, and I often don’t need an extra machine thanks to my setup.”

Not everyone immediately recognizes the power of Mecalac

Both Dierckx and De Roij agree: not everyone immediately recognizes Mecalac’s strengths. “It’s not a machine you can judge in five minutes,” says Dierckx. “You have to give it a chance, and that’s what I did. You also can’t think like a crane operator who just wants to move mountains of sand. You simply have to work with it differently.”
De Roij adds: “Sometimes people focus mainly on the price tag. But then I say: you have to calculate carefully and take everything into account. What does an alternative cost in terms of extra labor or machines?”

Dierckx now has 1,300 hours on his counter. “I am satisfied with the service - as far as I needed it at all - the salespeople, and the machine itself. It is depreciated at five years, but I hope to use it twice as long.”
Dierckx also believes in the future of this type of machine: “There is less and less space on construction sites. You have to look at compact machines.”