LinCon Hire and Sales may be best known for running one of the largest fleets of truck-mounted EWPs in the nation, but the Brisbane-headquartered company is proving it is just as agile as the machines it hires.
Founded in 2001 by director Colleen Lindores, LinCon has grown from a family venture into a market leader, with almost 150 trucks operating across six states, backed by partnerships with European heavyweights Palfinger Platforms and Barin Underbridge Units, and are also service agents for Bronto Skylift, Maeda and Sennebogen cranes.
This year the company is refreshing and expanding that fleet with two headline additions: six Bronto S34XDT platforms and several new Palfinger P750 units. The strategy, said long-time sales manager Tony Fish, is about “having the right tool for every job, not just the biggest one”.
Tony has been with LinCon for over 20 years, starting as a workshop manager, spending 13 years building machines, and moving into sales seven years ago. His hands-on experience makes him the link between customers, the workshop, and overseas original equipment manufacturers: “If something gets tricky, I can email the upper management in Europe and sort it.”
Filling the gap
While the market’s appetite for 70-plus-metre work platforms shows no sign of slowing, Tony believes many contractors are crying out for something more compact. “The 34-metre unit has a 600-kilogram cage and there’s nothing else on the market that size,” he said. “We’ve ordered six and we’ll spread them around Australia so customers don’t have to book a 75-metre machine for a 30-metre job.”
Image: LinCon Hire & Sales.
Delivered on 4×4 MAN chassis, the Bronto S34XDT combines basket, ground and remote controls, giving operators the reach of a mid-sized boom with genuine off-road mobility. Typical applications include telco tower upgrades, distribution line maintenance, tree work and small-span transmission projects. “It means the smaller brands can get gear that matches their budgets and their scopes,” Tony said.
Stretching to 75 metres – with a twist
At the other end of the scale LinCon already fields multiple Palfinger P750s and has more arriving early in 2026. Tony is quick to highlight the model’s unique selling point. “Palfinger was the first to offer 400-degree basket rotation, so you can go up, swing over the roofline, spin the basket and work back toward yourself without repositioning the truck,” he said.
The design gives crews a safe working envelope of 38 metres outreach, making it a favourite on wind-farm substations, facade work and high-voltage crossings where set-up space is limited. LinCon’s P750s ride on off-road 8x8s – a specification chosen, Tony said, because “we’ll take the platform to the job, not the other way around.”
Investment cycle gathers momentum
Supply-chain delays during COVID forced LinCon to import kit sets and mount them locally, but the program is back in full swing. “We’ve just put three more 75-metre units on the road, two more are on the way, and another two Brontos are in the pipeline,” Tony said. “We’re also building five new 48-metre and three new 25-metre TEC Range platforms while always continually looking to update the fleet with the latest models and technology available”.
Behind the numbers is a deliberate renewal cycle. Older equipment is kept in good condition rather than sold into the domestic market to protect residual values and avoid drops in hire rates. “It’s a small market – you don’t want your own gear coming back to undercut you,” Tony said.
Powering the energy transition
Much of the new iron is already spoken for. LinCon has 10 machines working on the 400-kilometre EnergyConnect interconnector near Wagga Wagga and is supporting similar transmission builds linking New South Wales with South Australia, Victoria and Queensland. “Keeping those lines energised is critical – if they’re down, no one’s selling power,” Tony said.
Live-line capability is another niche the company protects. LinCon operates specialised insulated platforms that are “bare-hand” tested to one million volts every six months at the National Measurement Institute in Sydney.
LinCon’s workshop in Brisbane – staffed by technicians who have trained at Palfinger’s platform headquarters in Germany – handles everything from chassis/subframe builds and adjustments to full major inspection rebuilds meeting all Australian standards. The firm is also exploring the option to integrate proximity-alert systems for future retrofits into the already present basket protection sensors on the Palfinger units.
“We’re always looking at the next layer,” Tony said.
Looking ahead
With Australia’s renewable-driven grid rebuild gathering pace and maintenance budgets rising across telecoms, utilities and infrastructure, LinCon’s timing appears sound. The six incoming S34XDTs will give regional contractors an alternative to trailer-mounted cherry pickers, while the expanding cohort of P750s positions the business for mega-projects that demand 70-plus metres of safe reach.
“Our job is to make height access safe and easy, whether that’s 13 metres or 103 metres,” Tony said. “By refreshing the fleet at both ends, we’re making sure nothing is out of reach for our customers – or for us.”