Hazell Bros was founded in 1944 by brothers Donald and Rowley Hazell as a transport business operating in Southern Tasmania.  

In the 1950s, Hazell Bros became involved in earthmoving projects and by the 1970s a civil construction arm began. Over the next 30 years the business continued to expand throughout Tasmania adding two dolerite quarries, seven concrete batch plants, a commercial building business and a crane company to the portfolio.  

We caught up with Plant Manager Tony Wischnevsky at the Burleigh Heads office in Queensland. Tony has over 35 years’ experience in the industry and first started working for the company in 2010 when his previous employer, Lund Constructions, was bought out by Hazell Bros.

“Hazell Bros was extremely good to all staff when they took over the company. They honoured all benefits and long service leave per the previous contracts”,Tony says.

In 2010, Hazell Bros expanded into Victoria and Queensland acquiring civil construction and plant hire operations and in 2013, was awarded a five-year contract with Nyrstar Port Pirie (SA) for materials handling and dust suppression activities. Today Hazell Bros remains a family business with four core business functions: Civil Construction, Quarries, Concrete, and Industrial and Asset Services.

In 2018 Hazell Bros became one of the first Australian companies to purchase a Hidromek excavator.

Tony explains some of the reasons behind the decision to purchase a Hidromek “One of the reasons we chose Hidromek was to try something different. It is an advantage in the market to be able to offer a brand our competitors can’t offer. It’s a point of difference”.

Being a large contractor Hazell Bros has a very detailed approach and process for purchasing new equipment.

Tony continues to explain the thorough research that goes into newequipment purchases “We always start by reviewing the service manual and ensureall specs are in line with our business requirements. We were happy with thereview of the manual, so the next step was for our Plant Supervisor Jason Hazellto inspect one of the HMK 300LC units in Melbourne. He was very impressed, andhis feedback was that the machine had a very solid build structure”.

“Some of the key things we take into consideration is the undercarriage strength and the strength of the doors. There can’t be any wobble and the structure has to be flexible” Tony explains.

The Hidromek excavator was delivered to Hazell Bros in 2018. “Our 3 top operators have all operated the machine now and they are all very impressed with it. We can safely say we’ve tested it properly now as it has been operated in wet soil with a large bucket” Tony says.

Tony continues “Some of its best features is it’s very balanced and comfortable to operate. Our operators find that the controls are very fine and smooth compared to other machines. Fuel efficiency is good whichis another key aspect we consider”.

Onetrak’s Regional Manager David Stuart said “The feedback I’m getting from the operators is excellent. They’re all very impressed with the smoothness of operation, comfort and the breakout force”.

Onetrak now has a branch in Queensland with sales,service, parts & rental – covering all aspects of the equipment purchase.

“Aftersales is also absolutely essential. Now that Onetrak has a branch in Queensland we’ve got that covered from a dealer support perspective” Tony says.

Tony visited the Hidromek factories in Turkey in November this year. “I was very interested to see how the excavator booms and dippers were built. Hidromek manufacture every part of the machines in the factoryand that is very rare” Tony concludes.

‍