May 19, 2020
Mike Simon, owner of a small excavating company in southern Indiana, is also a construction equipment vlogger on his YouTube channel, Dirt Perfect, father, and husband to “Mrs. Dirt Perfect,” who also vlogs about family life as Mike’s wife.
In the Hyundai Construction Equipment booth at CONEXPO-CON/AGG 2020, Mike shared his passion with us on what he likes about Hyundai and the HX145LCRD Compact Radius Excavator.
“๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช ๐๐ช๐ฎ๐จ ๐๐ค๐ก๐ก๐ค๐ฌ ๐ข๐ ๐ค๐ฃ ๐๐ค๐ชT๐ช๐๐ ๐ค๐ง ๐จ๐๐ ๐ข๐ฎ ๐๐๐๐ฃ๐ฃ๐๐ก ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช ๐ ๐ฃ๐ค๐ฌ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฉ ๐ ๐๐ข ๐๐ฃ๐ฉ๐ค ๐๐ค๐ข๐ข๐ค๐ฃ ๐จ๐๐ฃ๐จ๐ ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ง๐๐ฃ๐, ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ซ๐๐ง๐ฎ ๐ฉ๐๐ข๐ ๐ ๐ค๐ฅ๐๐ฃ ๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ฃ๐๐ก ๐ค๐ฃ ๐ค๐ฃ๐ ๐ค๐ ๐ฉ๐๐๐จ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ช๐ฃ๐๐๐ ๐ข๐๐๐๐๐ฃ๐๐จ, ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฉ’๐จ ๐๐ก๐ก ๐ ๐จ๐๐,” ๐จ๐๐ฎ๐จ ๐๐๐ ๐.
Since ConExpo, Mike’s had the HX145LCRD on demo/rental from Hyundai dealer RECO Equipment Inc. and with the help of Tyler Garrity, RECO’s territory manager in Indiana, he has produced a series of videos with the HX145LCRDย on the job and in a comparison against his Volvo 140E excavator.
All videos are being published on Mikeโs YouTube channel, Dirt Perfect, but you can catch the sneak peek of each video 2 days before it goes โpublicโ if you follow Hyundai on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or LinkedIn. Not on social media? Each video will be chronicled here on the Hyundai Construction Equipment website, so check back frequently!
Mike works his first job in the Hyundai HX145LCRD excavator clearing trees in a yard, and almost loses the GoPro camera mounted on the outside of the machine (how he captures all this awesome footage.) That was close!
Mike and his team install their first septic system of the season with the Hyundai HX145LCRD, and show you how it’s compact radius comes in handy working next to a barb wire fence.
After operating the HX145LCRD on a few different jobs, Mike comments in his videos on what he really likes about the machine:
1) Well Balanced:ย “Most impressive and incredibly balancedย compact radius excavator he has ever operated.”
2)ย User Visibility-Friendlyย Display:ย “Theย touchscreen display is well organized and user friendly-unlike competitor machines, all the buttons are in one spot and easy to find.”
3)ย Top-notch 360 View!”
Mike adds a large 5 ft. wide bucket from his 120 excavator onto the Hyundai HX145LCRD to dig a crawl space in the middle of town. The homeowners are pretty particular about their streets, and he talks about how having rubber tracks was an advantage when unloading.
“If the machine didn’t have rubber tracks, I probably would have had to back the trailer up off the road into the grass and use plywood to get the machine off the trailer,” says Mike.ย
Mike installs a pond overflow on a steep hill of a pond dam. The actual overflow of the pond is washed out so they put a pipe in to control the erosion and raise the water level of the dam 18-20 inches. The hill was a little too slippery for rubber tracks, but the HX145LCR’s compact radius came in handy when they had to back up and dig in a tight space close to a fence.
There’s a lot you can learn about owning a small excavation construction company from watching Mike’s HX145LCR jobsite video series. Mike gives friend and YouTube construction influencer Captain Kleenman some seat time in the machine to load out base rock.
I’m really impressed with the Hyundai HX145LCR and grateful for the chance to try it out,”ย saiys Captain Kleenman.
Mike pushes the HX145LCR to it’s limits installing 4,000 lb. retaining blocks to prevent a driveway washout.
Captain Kleenman operates the HX145LCR again and Mike shares his thoughts after operating it for 36 hours on various different jobs.
Mike demonstrates how handy the boom configuration is on the Hyundai HX145LCR while backfilling a 12-foot high retaining wall over at his brother’s house.
Mike using the Hyundai HX145LCR excavator and a 16-foot jib pole to set trusses on a new pole barn.
Juston Thompson, HCEA National Accounts, answers Hyundai questions posted in the comments of Mike’s videos on the HX145LCR.
