60 | TRANSPORT Lowes Industries T T Bernadette Cooney Lowes team keeps operators moving If your transport or logistics business relies on hydraulic systems to lift and shift products and materials, keeping Lowes Industries on your contacts list is a smart move. This expert team of road transport mechanical, hydraulic and electronics engineers has decades of experience in road tanker design and manufacture, as well as knuckle boom cranes, container side lifters, hook lifts, and tail lift maintenance services. Operating out of brand-new purpose-designed premises in Hillsborough, Christchurch, Lowes Industries Ltd serves as the regional service centre for both the Palfinger and Hiab ranges of truck-mounted cranes and equipment. Their highly skilled hydraulics technicians specialise in hydraulic system maintenance and fault diagnosis. Additionally, they maintain Hammar and Patchell side loaders and Zepro tail lifts on behalf of their manufacturers. Maintaining your fleet’s hydraulics in top condition is a strength of Lowes Industries, a family-owned and operated road transport engineering business for over 60 years. John Metcalf, the owner who purchased the business in 2007, asserts that few can match Lowes in knuckle boom crane maintenance and fault diagnosis. “We’re service agents for Hiab and Palfinger for wider Canterbury, and we’re fortunate to have probably the top man in the country on Hiab cranes as our service manager,” says John. “The master franchise holder for Hiab will often use Phillip Sharples, our service manager, to solve problems up and down the country when no one else could.” The fact that Lowes Industries is a service agent for two of the world’s foremost truck crane brands speaks volumes about their capabilities, says John, who is transitioning into retirement after 55 years in mechanical engineering. He handed the reins to his son, Stuart Metcalf, last year. Stuart, a Canterbury University engineering graduate with 16 years of Transport Engineering experience, is now Lowes’ general manager, providing top-notch design and make and maintain services. Lowes Industries also leads in the manufacture of dangerous goods road tankers for fuel and gas distributors. “We design and make tankers to very stringent tank wagon regulations,” says John. “Our design teams work diligently to ensure compliance with the specific codes of practice that govern those industries.” They design and manufacture high-quality, long-lasting fuel, LPG, bulk bitumen, and aviation tankers for large critical mission industries, including Z Energy, BP, Fern Energy, Nelson Petroleum Limited, Allied Petroleum, Rockgas, and Fulton Hogan,to name just a few. Notably, Lowes Industries is New Zealand’s only aircraft refueller manufacturer, creating the best refuellers and bulk tankers for the aviation industry. They achieve this by collaborating with Alfons Haar, a producer of top-tier aviation refuelling equipment. “There aren’t many fuel tankers you see on the road that we haven’t been involved with,” says John. Their technical services division is a skilled team offering comprehensive technical design and manufacturing services, aimed at providing HT and dangerous goods industries with all-of-life maintenance and compliance solutions. Beyond mechanical, Lowes Industries partners with BASE Engineering from the U.S., a world leader in radio remote control technology for fuel tankers. Lowes supplies, installs, and maintains BASE Eng radio remote technologies, which enhance driver safety. “We’ve represented BASE for over 10 years,” says John. “They provide the onboard radio remote tech that allows the driver to leave the scene and shut everything down remotely in case of a tanker incident. It’s a much safer operation.” To ensure the safety and compliance of your DG tankers and refuellers, truck cranes, and lifters, contact Lowes Industries today and benefit from their decades of mechanical engineering experience. Marine work in demand T T Virginia Wright DGI Morgan Marine David Morgan’s first apprenticeship was as a shipwright working with the Stark Brothers in Lyttelton in their boatbuilding and ship repair business. He went on to do a second apprenticeship as a carpenter and in 2015 established his own business, DGI Morgan Ltd. Based in North Canterbury the company specialises in commercial construction, renovation, glazing and maintenance throughout the region. The company has subsidiaries in metal and steel working, and glass and glazing, to manage those more specialised requirements. Given his background and skill set it was not surprising that when the opportunity arose David went back into the marine sector. “Stark Brothers made the decision to close their Marine Maintenance business and we opted to fill the void left by them exiting the market: ship repairs, boat building, fitting and turning, marine engineering, boilermaking, heavy ship repairs and so on,” David says. At first leasing a heavy engineering workshop in Lyttelton to complement their existing workshop in Rangiora, they then purchased the Stark Brothers stock, tools and equipment in 2023 and moved into the Dockside Workshops which Stark Brothers had vacated. MARINE A lot of their work is ship or dry-dock based and the Dockside Workshop is right beside the Port Company owned dry-dock. With specialised, heavy machinery and equipment in situ and ready for use, they’re in an excellent position to continue the provision of marine maintenance such as the steel trawl doors weighing up to five tons that every fishing trawler that net trawls has on the back to hold the nets open. “The aim was and still is to excel and to become New Zealand’s preferred ship repairer, to be the best ship repairer in New Zealand, and to provide an exceptional outcome for our client, staff and ship-owners,” says David. With one of two functioning dry docks in the country right beside their well-equipped workshop and having their own smaller slipway plus access to the Port’s much bigger patent slipway, they have all the facilities they need to follow through with their aim to offer fairly priced, good quality work to the marine industry. Staffing levels across the two arms consistently run over 55. DGI Morgan Ltd. make the most of the ship repair industry having several crossovers with the longer established carpentry division, their steel and sheet metal fabrication, and their glass and glazing divisions, and provide a full range of services across the board to both the marine and the industrial markets. A lot of their work is ship or dry-dock based. COMMERCIAL VEHICLE ACCIDENT REPAIRS 108 Hayton Rd, Wigram, Christchurch, 8042, NZ (03) 343 2001 | christchurch@royans.co.nz www.royans.co.nz Royans Christchurch are proud to support Lowes Industries TRUCK REPAIRS ACCIDENT RESPONSE PAINT & REFINISHING SPECIALISED SERVICES SANDBLASTING CHASIS ALIGNMENT FIBREGLASS REPAIRS FLEET IMAGING POWDER COATING SPECIALIST AUTO ELECTRIC COMMERCIAL SPECIALISTS COMMERCIAL VEHICLE AIR CONDITIONING www.specialistauto.co.nz ph: (03) 348 0996 28 Treffers Rd WIGRAM
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