Maharba Builders, a prominent construction and building company operating in the Limpopo Province of South Africa, has recently begun to enhance the performance of its equipment by replacing traditional bushings with Vesconite low-friction no-grease bushings.
This strategic decision stems from the keen insight of Maharba Builders’ leaders, Abraham and Japie van Staden, who drew inspiration from their collective industry experience and the endorsement of Vesconite bushings within their family.
The Van Staden brothers, seasoned professionals in the construction sector, identified the distinct advantages of Vesconite bushings during their tenure at other construction firms. In addition, Japie van Staden’s father-in-law, a skilled fitter and turner, also shared his enthusiasm for the material. The confluence of these influences has propelled Maharba Builders towards the adoption of Vesconite bushings.
A key factor that has piqued Maharba Builders’ interest in Vesconite bushings is their self-lubricating properties. In the demanding environment of construction sites, where equipment maintenance is often challenging, Vesconite’s self-lubricating properties are invaluable. This allows equipment to continue operating smoothly even when greasing intervals are not perfectly adhered to, preventing costly equipment seizures.
A significant step in this transition occurred a month ago when Maharba Builders installed multiple Vesconite bushings on various pieces of equipment, including the H-frames that lift the buckets of a CAT 428F TLB (tractor loader backhoe), CAT 216B skid steer loader, and a Hitachi loader. The positive results from this initial implementation have fueled Maharba Buildersā determination to extend the use of Vesconite bushings to other equipment within the company as needed.
Maharba Builders is actively engaged in several building projects, including three house construction sites, one house renovation site, a shopping complex project, and an abattoir. In support of this transformative change and the requirement to not have machinery idle during repairs, the company orders Vesconite bushing stock and undertakes in-house machining to produce the bushings it needs to its exact requirements.
Japie van Staden expressed his enthusiasm for the shift to Vesconite bushings, saying: āBecause we are on a building site, sometimes staff grease the bushings and sometimes they donāt. Itās easier for me to put something in like Vesconite, that you donāt need to grease every single time. If staff forget to grease, then it is not a problem.ā
The adoption of Vesconite bushings by Maharba Builders marks a pivotal moment in the company’s ongoing commitment to delivering high-quality construction services and should increase its equipment’s longevity and performance.
