Australian Pump Industries, known to the trade as Aussie Pumps, turned 30 in March this year. Born in a shed in 1993, the family owned company started out with a simple philosophy. They knew they’d be competing with the big corporates and were determined to provide something different to what was already available.
“By different, we mean better,” said Aussie’s chief engineer John Hales. He explains that the idea was to give the customers who bought the product what we, the individuals in the company would want if they were in the truckie’s shoes.
“We see some truck owners buying cheap third world high speed pressure cleaners to keep their rigs clean. We know they’re in for a disappointment when they find the product isn’t built to the standard it should be,” said Hales.
After 30 years of intense product development, the company is now up there with the best, designing, prototyping and building what is claimed to be the world’s best high pressure cleaning equipment, in terms of reliability, safety and performance.
Enter the scud
Aussie’s unique Scud design has a fully welded stainless steel frame that is perfectly balanced and fitted with four steel wheels with flat free tyres. Designed to be easy to push around, they are now available in a range from 3000psi all the way up to 7300psi!
The company started with engine drive machines, using both Honda petrol and Yanmar diesels. They now build a complete comprehensive product range with accessories to make life easier for truckies to clean their gear. These include stainless steel reels with up to 50m of high pressure hose. That’s a gift to anybody cleaning a big vehicle like a B-double or 30,000 litre tanker.
That extra 50m of hose means a range of 100m, i.e. 50m in either direction from the Scud. The pressure cleaner stays in place instead of having to move it or move the truck. “Convenience is important,” said Hales.
Aussie’s Scud range is not just a success in Australia, but around the world with penetration in South East Asia and even in the Middle East.
“You’ll find our machines in Coates and Kennards Hire depots around the country, a clear indication that what we’re building is able to stand up to the rigors of continuous use,” said Hales.
Steam cleaners and hot wash
Aussie also designed a unique range of hot wash and steam cleaners, specifically for transport applications. The Aussie Sizzler, a low cost high quality unit is proving that it’s capable of standing up to even the tough applications in cleaning earthmoving gear and big road transport vehicles.
The slow speed four pole motor drives a 1450 rpm heavy duty triplex pump, fitted with all the protection equipment to make both the machine and the operator safe. The prototype was delivered to a dairy farmer milking 650 cows twice as day five years ago. That’s a serious workout for any hot wash machine. The Sizzler has become a huge success nationwide.
Out of Aussie’s experience in pressure cleaning, they saw that some applications in transport require not just high pressure but also high flow as well.
“Cleaning out a B-double after 300 beef cattle have come out of it is a job and a half!” said Hales.
Aussie developed a 75 litre per minute 40 bar (500 psi) machine they call the Muck Off. It’s powered by either a 13hp Honda electric start petrol engine or a Yanmar 10hp diesel. Delivering that kind of performance makes short work of even those tough jobs.
Truckies feedback essential
“The product development at Aussie is amazing but it depends on feedback from the industry. Our inspiration comes from truckies and people who have to maintain big fleets of road transport equipment. We even find complaints are valuable as it causes us to investigate the problem to the nth degree and come up with solutions. The company is an ISO 9001 certified operation and takes quality seriously.
“Our intense investigation into failures results in a learning process that leads to us developing product lines that outperform all competitors. We owe a great debt to the terrific support we get from the industry, whether they’re interstaters, tip trucks, tanker operators or even bus fleets,” said Hales.
Aussie’s pressure cleaner range is available from their Gold Distributors all over Australia. Many of them started with the company in the first two years and have provided consumers with reliable support and advice. The Aussie Gold Distributor team is claimed to be the best and most ethical pressure cleaner distribution and service network in the country.
Further information on Aussie’s range of pressure cleaning equipment with their policy of “great products at fair prices” is readily available at aussiepumps.com.au.
You can locate your local dealer and pick up a free Pressure Cleaner Safety Training Course. It is available to anybody, irrespective of the brand of pressure cleaner being used, compliments of Aussie Pumps.