About .. ECHUNGA DAVE
Dave trained as a fitter turner machinist qualifying with trade certificate and advanced trade certificate where design was a large part of the advanced trade section.
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Part of the training involved calculations and design for overhead cranes and gantries including suitable selection of structural members steel choice weld location weld sizes requirement for gussets design of supports manufacturing processes and usability of the completed project. Additional expertise was developed in the areas, including materials selection, machining , fabrication , repairs and rebuilds.
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Time was also spent in the automotive machine and rebuild section where experience was gained in removal, disassembly, cleaning, measuring, machining, balancing, reassembly, instillation and testing of automotive engines of various sizes and capacities 4 cylinder to V8"s.
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Significant experience & expertise has also been gained in the correct use, maintenance, servicing and repair of earth-moving machines, equipment and attachments.
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There is always a requirement for specific attachments in the earth-moving industry and my experience in design and construction has been used to good effect in making attachments for multiple roles as well as single use items to improve safety for workers and clients
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SERVICES
BUILDING WHAT ' YOU NEED '
not what they want to sell you
Metal Fabrication
Fabrication of steels includes measuring,
cutting,
folding,
punching and
welding to form a desired finished product.
This can be done for a single item, a handful or large production runs.
Echunga Dave is set up to help you out with single items and small to medium production runs.
The complexity of the item to be produced can dictate the final numbers to be produced in a timely manner
Some of the simpler items we make are ordered in batches of thousands.
When there is an item you require being made please email me a request so we can discuss the best outcome for you
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CUTTING
Multiple cutting options are available depending on the desired result and they include, Cold Saw, Bandsaw, Oxy gas, plasma, guillotine and cropper.
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FOLDING
Folding may mostly be associated with sheetmetal work but is also used with bar stock work and heavier gauge materials
ROLLING
Square tube up to 50 mm and pipe up to 75mm can also rolled to form gentle radius curves or complete circles for function or decorative work.
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WELDING
There are multiple types of welding available at Echunga Dave including MMA, MIG, TIG, DC and OXY.
Materials used in the weld process include steel, silicone bronze, aluminium, hardfacing, nickel and stainless.
Repairs are also performed on cast iron which requires extra skills to normal mild steel welding.
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Trailers & Horse Floats
The world of trailers has changed in recent years with the influx of imported imitations of what could have been a trailer.
When the main aim is cheapest, design and quality are the first things to be ignored.
I did some work on an imported trailer for a customer that was only 8 years old.
I removed the bolt on A frame and half the chassis and got a part barrow of rust and scrap.
There is an emphasis on design and strength in our trailers and horse floats.
With advice and encouragement from The float man ( now retired) we are now making floats with ideas from the successful Acacia range.
There are already some improvements Included that make it easier for you to use.
Vehicle & Chassis
Adjustments
Modifications to chassis are sometimes needed for adjustments and improvements.
These can involve shortening, lengthening and strengthening.
Four wheel drives and light trucks are quite common donors for lengthening to add to their usefulness as work vehicles.
Once modified these vehicles can be enhanced further with tool boxes, built in water and fuel tanks.
A Customer was repairing an old caravan and had been advised to replace the chassis as they were too weak.
We saved her thousands of dollars and a lot of time by strengthening the chassis and floor.
She was then able to continue repairing the van knowing there would no longer be any flex in the frame around the windows where the leaks had caused rot and mould.
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Earthmoving Equipment Repairs & Modifications
With years of experience working in the earthmoving industry and having run my own equipment I am able to help you with maintenance and repairs on ground engaging tools including hardfacing build up and replacing wear plates.
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A common item requiring build up sometimes over looked are post hole augers. A layer of hard facing on new augers that is replaced as it smoothes out stops the auger wearing unevenly and end up boring cones in the ground.
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The cutting edge needs to be the widest part of an auger but it takes the most wear.
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Wear parts are there to save the main body of the item ie bucket, auger, ripper etc and save time, fuel and money when in good working condition. ECHUNGA dave can build up these parts and hard face to save you money.
Machinery Repairs & Safety Improvements
With repairs required due to normal wear and tear as well as damage adjustment measures, there is always room and the need for maintenance and improvement modifications to equipment.
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Older machines may require upgrades to access points, safety railings and walkways to improve worker safety.
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Slashers need wear strips replaced and can have the sides modified to the flip up easy clear option.
As they wear over time gearbox pulley and bearing mounts need repairs and replacement.
All these functions and more can be performed efficiently by ECHUNGA dave.
Mechanical Repairs
Regular scheduling is the reliable way to budget for maintenance expenses but things can still go bang.
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When this happens we can help with repairs involving bearings, rams, bushes, motors and engines.
This may involve replacement or rebuild.
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Rebuilding can be from small gearboxes up to and including internal combustion engines both petrol and diesel.
ABOUT ... Echunga Dave
Dave trained as a fitter turner machinist qualifying with trade certificate and advanced trade certificate where design was a large part of the advanced trade section.
Part of the training involved calculations and design for overhead cranes and gantries including suitable selection of structural members steel choice weld location weld sizes requirement for gussets design of supports manufacturing processes and usability of the completed project. Additional expertise was developed in the areas, including materials selection, machining , fabrication , repairs and rebuilds.
​
Time was also spent in the automotive machine and rebuild section where experience was gained in removal, disassembly, cleaning, measuring, machining, balancing, reassembly, instillation and testing of automotive engines of various sizes and capacities 4 cylinder to V8"s.
Significant experience & expertise has also been gained in the correct use, maintenance, servicing and repair of earth-moving machines, equipment and attachments.
There is always a requirement for specific attachments in the earth-moving industry and my experience in design and construction has been used to good effect in making attachments for multiple roles as well as single use items to improve safety for workers and clients.
PROJECTS
Chassis mods
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Extensions.
This is a GQ Patrol ute that needed a chassis extension to fit a full width tool box as well as the usual tray equipment the filled the standard tray.
An extension of 600mm was added into the original chassis.
This involved cutting and extending the Chassis, driveshaft, brake lines and electrical wiring.
Once all the structural, mechanical and electrical work was completed and passed by the certifying engineer, the tray was also extended and more toolboxes were added to complete the unit.
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pic 9, 10 & 11 are the making and instillation of a truss for the front axle on a jeep.
This job required the fabrication of the truss to fit around existing protrusions as well as raising and strengthening suspension mounts to accommodate the raised suspension
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Production runs
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Orchard netting hoops.
An economical way of preventing bird predation of orchard crops has been to place bird netting over the trees to reduce damage.
This can require a lot of labour installing and removing the netting especially at harvest time when everything is already very busy.
An affordable permanent solution is to install hoops to spread the netting over the trees on which the netting stays permanently attached.
The netting is easily lowered when required till harvest time then is simply raised and secured till next season being more efficient with time and resources whilst still being effective.
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Trays, Boxes, Drawers
Storage solutions
Options, options, options.
To better fit your parts and tools you may need to raise existing boxes to fit drawers underneath, make more use of the same space or have access from more locations.
Or a new tray can be built to make the most of all available space with drawers built in by making the tray structure suit the available space. Drawers from both sides and the rear with boxes on top or deep boxes accessible from above-whatever best suits your needs.
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P.T.O. and Interchange
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Versatile Prime Mover
Need hydraulics for semi tipper and a tray to move machines!
This started with the install of a P.T.O. for the hydraulic pump with the controls and make a split hydraulic / fuel tank.
The need also arose for a tay to carry a machine without needing an extra trailer.
So the interchange system was installed allowing the original turntable to be mounted or a tray with the possible addition of a water tank run off the hydraulics or various different tray /box configurations utilising only one rego.
This makes a versatile and economical package,
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Slasher mods
Maintenance and upgrades.
This slasher came in for some repairs replacements and upgrades.
The skids had worn out and needed replacing, the front supports were not there so new ones were made and new lift up sides were incorporated to allow for easy cleaning and a better finish in certain areas of the orchard.
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Safety improvements
Steps and rails.
An older machine needs some improvements to the original design and construction to make it easier to use and safer to operate around an orchard.
After assessing all the parameters of the machines movements and abilities some steps were designed and installed and all the rails were raised to to above waist height to prevent falls from this machine
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Caravan Chassis upgrade
Strengthening upgrade.
A customer had purchased a Caravan that was in need of repair as a project.
Due to the original design focusing on a light weight chassis with the flooring expected to add strength to the structure - rigidity declined with age.
This van was flexing a lot and caused all the joints to leak especially around windows and critical framework areas.
A common option is remove the entire van from the chassis - make a whole new chassis and replace van.This encourages a complete rebuild of the caravan-major exercise.
Upon consultation with the owner they understood the improvements available and cost savings by strengthening the existing framework.
When this was done as seen with before and after pics there was no spring in the floor or movement around the door and windows.
She was then able to complete the original work on the van and start using it as intended without huge delays.
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Import Trailer Disasters
There's more out there!
Pic one shows the remains of the Draw bar and Chassis of a bolt together trailer that is an aged 8 years old.
These trailers normally have more paint than steel but there's not much of either left here.
Do you see the unique wear pattern on these tyres - trendy eh.
To get this type of wear u need a rusted out chassis, half the bolts clamping thin air so the trailer can dance from side to side as it waddles down the road.
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The next trailer shows material too thin, bad weld location and this is what happens when you apply the brakes.
Well better than that just drive gently with a 3500kg rated trailer at half capacity less than a year old and around a corner in the hills and the paint will snap,
I rang the supplier for this person and explained the situation and described the damage and he asked me to drive it down to him so he could look at it!!! I'M NOT JOKING.!
Instead the owner got a mobile welder to fixit on the side of the road .
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pic 11 &12 are the structural connection between trailer and the tow vehicle one side separated and the other in counselling - just hanging in there.
i do actually repair these just so the roads are safer- better if, made in australia to be used in australia
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Boat fit out
Lock up storage in boat
Being an open boat, secure storage is a scarce thing.
The requirement for this boat was - casting decks, flat floor and as much storage as possible.
To begin with a few factory parts were removed to make way for the customers design.
Starting with the bow, a front casting deck was designed to incorporate an drained anchor well and an access hatch with a solar panel on the flip side.
Stepping down was made possible by using the original seat which incorporated a lift up lid for battery storage with the foam removed.
The timber floor was removed and and a new structure was installed to support the floor doors.This was designed to allow room for a port side locker and starboard console.
The rear casting deck involved removing the rear seat and raising the seat height to allow the space for a large 110l fridge.
Tie down mesh was installed in all possible locations to prevent cargo damaging the hull in transit on the water of on the road.
Foam
As previously noted some flotation foam was removed from the seats to make room for storage capacity.
The foam from rear seat was reinstalled at the sides with additional foam due to the extra seat height.
The front seat foam was reused at the sides of storage area and forward.
The under floor sections below the console and port storage were filled with new extra foam as were all corners past the anchor well and beside the front solar hatch.
This boat now has more flat standing areas. more lock up storage and more flotation than the original factory open boat.
No manufacturer was interested in performing this work on an affordable open tinny, only interested on a CUSTOM plate boat where the electronics cost more than this weekender -fisher -camper did all up.
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CONTACT
Enquiries
For any enquiries, questions or commendations, please sms: 0412 781 744 or fill out the following form
Location : Echunga
Product Pick-up & Delivery Service
All locations - City / Metro / Hills / Country