Buying over a hundred backhoe loader models from one well-known brand during a period of some seventeen years should imply a certain sense of brand loyalty and this is indeed the case with a well-established Gauteng construction company.

Jodan Construction started its life as a small plant hire concern in 2005 in Centurion. Founded by the present Group CEO, Nico Pretorius, and his father, Wiesie Pretorius, Jodan Construction has grown into a multi-disciplinary construction company now confidently reflecting its 9CE and 9GB classification of capabilities to add to its Level 1 Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment status. The Jodan Construction Group is headed up by Nico, the Group CEO, Dave Bennet, the CEO, Wilhelm du Toit, the Operations Director and Walter Ramapala who is the Director of Business Development.

Working all over South Africa, Jodan Construction has successfully completed projects in township and housing developments, private property development such as shopping malls and office parks, mining infrastructure and roads and bridges.

Explaining the Jodan Construction Group’s success is the General Manager: Plant and Logistics, Sagay Naicker. “We believe we, as a company, are known for employing the best people who are innovative thinkers resulting in projects being completed on time and on budget. Where necessary, we deploy new and well-maintained mechanical equipment that offers maximum uptime through quality design, build and regular maintenance that works hand in hand with successful project delivery.”

There is no mistaking Jodan Construction’s well branded fleet which consists of backhoe loaders, graders, excavators, compaction equipment, dozers, recyclers, milling machines and pavers, articulated dump trucks (ADTs) and rigid tipper trucks. Water carts, field service and fuel trucks make up the balance of the line-up.

“We have a long and happy association with especially JCB Backhoe Loaders, of which we’ve owned over a 100 such machines from the time that the company first did only plant hire to the present day,” Sagay explains. “We’ve enjoyed being part of the JCB Backhoe Loader’s evolution from a fairly basic machine to the more powerful and sophisticated machine it is today.”

According to Sagay, every project team within the company relies on the JCB Backhoe Loader’s versatility and multi-tasking abilities whether it be used on major construction sites or in tight confined spaces such as working on road medians.

“We’ve found that we can use the machine’s backhoe bucket to dig trenches for piping and excavate soil for foundations, concrete plinths, septic tanks, V-drains and a host of other uses,” he adds. “The front buckets, especially when multi-purpose buckets are specified coupled with forks, can do even more, such as loading building material and rubble, backfilling trenches and excavated areas, load and unload pallets with bricks, cement, tiles and bulk-bags and levelling areas for landscaping.”

“The multi-purpose 6:1 buckets have been a revelation for us in the variety of tasks they can be used for as both the opening edges have cutting edges while the front edge is equipped with ground-engaging tools.”

Jodan Construction has a general policy of replacing Backhoe Loaders when they have completed 12 000 hours of service, which at a rate of roughly 2 000 hours a year, translates into six years of service. The company has built a reputation of taking good care of its JCB Backhoe Loaders with regular servicing and, as each machine comes with a complete service history, they are sold privately where they are eagerly received with good resale values.

Jodan Construction took delivery of four new JCB 3CX Global Backhoe Loaders fitted with multi-purpose front buckets and forks in May 2022 and these machines were put to work immediately, evenly split between infrastructure projects in Gauteng and coal mining sites in Mpumalanga.

“The JCB Dieselmax 444 4,4 litre turbocharged engine serves us well with its power output of 68,6kW at only 2 200rpm and with impressive torque of 400Nm at 1 400rpm, it still delivers fuel burn of between 11 to 13 litres an hour,” Sagay says. “We’re also very pleased that Bell Equipment is now the South African distributor of JCB equipment and we believe that the Bell-JCB partnership was instrumental in creating a very favourable financing deal through ABSA that made it hard to refuse the offer.”

Sagay is adamant that any machine, no matter how reliable or popular, doesn’t always sell itself. “I’d like to mention the great business relationship we have with Kobus van Niekerk, Bell Equipment’s Sales Representative who calls on us regularly, so maintaining a business relationship even when we aren’t in the market for new equipment,” Sagay smiles. “Kobus also has the pleasing habit of answering his phone wherever he is, and when the time did come for us to buy new Backhoe Loaders, he was the first person to get a call.”

Jodan Construction first bought yellow equipment from Bell Equipment back in 2011 when they acquired four Bell B25D ADTs, which despite their extremely high hours, served the company well. They have since been sold.

Bell Equipment Sales Representative, Kobus van Niekerk, with Jodan Construction’s General Manager: Plant and Logistics, Sagay Naicker, and Bell Equipment Product Support Representative, Ben Spangenberg.