As a young kid, Michael Steadman, Director of MD Group (formerly Mr Dig Earthmoving), loved trucks, diggers, and everything to do with earthmoving. Those childhood passions have been converted into an ever-growing empire and Michael continues to be that kid playing in a sandpit – but with bigger toys!
MD Group is a small, family business located on the Sunshine Coast who have evolved from focusing on small projects such as fast-food outlets and car park builds to chasing large, civil projects containing bulk earthworks. In operation for nine years, their eight-strong staff of operators, civil allrounders, office staff, and a foreman, have established themselves with a reputation of providing high-quality commercial civil works throughout South East Queensland.
Being a small business, Michael is often found onsite working with the foreman to achieve efficient and quality workmanship in a professional and safe manner. MD Group pride themselves on completing projects to deadline and have not yet missed a delivery or handover date. When it comes to meeting these high standards, Michael can’t speak highly enough of his staff “Our awesome team works tirelessly day in, day out and really dig deep when push comes to shove.”
Another factor in MD Group’s proven efficient service is the fact they own all their own machines, eliminating any downtime waiting on contractors. Their fleet is now predominantly made up of excavators, along with skid steers, dozers, drotts, rollers, moxy trucks, water carts, and tippers. Having always run CAT machines, MD Group acquired their first John Deere 26 tonne excavator a year ago and haven’t looked back. The E260LC came fitted with a Doherty D-Lock tilt coupler as Michael had always admired how well-built and solid their hitches looked, “even the paintwork is quality – the operators really like the finish and just how well presented the hitch looks on the machine,” he adds. The Doherty tilt hitches were pivotal when working on a large earthworks and stormwater project in Yandina recently. MD Group were up against it with a great deal of rain and large amounts of ground remediation, but the versatility of Doherty’s hitches meant they could tackle multiple jobs on site – digging trenches, lifting culverts into place, and the final trim on roadways. “The durability and functionality of the hitches made them easy to use and reliable, which is what you need on the big projects,” Michael comments.
These days, with products often being made to order and lengthy lead times, MD Group has found Doherty’s turnaround time to be second to none, backed up by brilliant after sales support – a strong business relationship which Michael values highly, saying, “With Doherty, anything we need, they have had it sorted straight away – we can’t ask for much more than that.”
For Michael, relationships, both internal and external, are fundamental to growing a successful business. “There are many people that have come and gone who have helped us get to the stages we are today.” He will not shy away from acknowledging that good people are what have enabled him to continue being that passionate kid playing in the sandpit.
Doherty Couplers & Attachments is one of the few manufacturers globally to offer quick couplers 100% compliant to Australian standard AS13031:2023, WorkCover NSW Position paper WC01783, European EN474 standard, ISO 13031 International standard and all major contractor policies. The main feature of the D-Lock coupler is its Dual Pin Locking plus system (DPL+) ensuring attachments remain securely engaged on both pins in the event of loss of engagement force. In addition, the primary jaw safety lock is backed up by an independent heavy-duty compression spring preventing the primary lock from releasing. Compact in design and powerful, the D-Lock Tilt Coupler incorporates a precision-built actuator with up to 180 degrees of tilt and is virtually maintenance-free.
For more information contact:
Doherty Couplers and Attachments
Freephone AU: 1800 057 021
Email: [email protected]
