Pace Cranes recently announced the return of Patrick Mardaymootoo as service manager.
Patrick Mardaymootoo is no stranger to the crane sector. In the early 80s, his start in the industry began with Australian Crane and Excavator (ACE) which, back then, was the Manitowoc, Grove and Coles crane dealer.
“Paul Heeks was the state manager for ACE at the time and I was the Service Supervisor when we merged with the Tutt Bryant Group as one company into the facility at South Street, Rydalmere,” said Mardaymootoo.
“In 1987, Paul started Pace Cranes and we kept in touch and I joined Pace the following year. We started with crane repairs, buying and selling second-hand cranes. We were doing P&H, Groves Franna and Linmacs, anything would come up, we were working on repairs and maintenance. I started as the field service technician and, as the business grew, I moved on to become the Service Supervisor,” he said.
In 1989 Mardaymootoo became the service manager.
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“Back then mini crawler cranes were a new concept and there wasn’t a lot of demand so we started a rental business, Pace Cranes Hire. This helped get units out into the market which increased the awareness of mini cranes and their benefits.
“We had a service dealership with P&H and also the army contract for maintenance on its cranes which included Tadano’s and P&H cranes. We then added the Senebogen dealership, and later the Shuttlelift and Valla products.,” he said.
“Back then, we had a major focus on service because new crane sales were not as they are now, the focus was on the service and hire departments and whatever new cranes sales we made, were viewed as a bonus. We had a lot of major overhauls on Hitachi and Manitowoc lattice boom crawler cranes. I also took a number of trips to PNG to conduct crane inspections for customers including Newcrest and the Electricity Commission of PNG,” said Patrick.
After 25 years, Mardaymootoo left Pace Cranes in 2013 to become a full time CraneSafe assessor.
“Back in 2002, Anthony Heeks and I became the first crane assessors in NSW when the program started. When I left Pace Cranes, I felt the timing was right for me to widen my horizons and broaden my experience by working for myself for a while. Although I was working for Allcranes and Equipment Inspections, inspecting all makes and models of cranes, telehandlers, drilling and piling equipment,” he said.
During his career in the crane sector, Mardaymootoo has seen terrific changes in crane technology.
“The lifting capacity compared to the weight factor of cranes has seen tremendous advancements and the development of LMI systems has brought in a lot of new technologies in terms of safety of equipment. There is no comparing the intelligent electronic systems that now feature in cranes, including the hydraulic systems, compared to the old technology. The lattice boom crawlers we used to work on had a large engine room with big clutches and now they’re all hydraulically operated,” he said.
Mardaymootoo looks at how cranes are manufactured and the importance of maintenance programs.
“Nowadays, it’s so easy with a crane safe inspection, owners have become very familiar with the process, there are less faults found because the manufacturing processes have become so advanced and the faults you find are minimal compared to 20 years ago.
“You can also see that maintenance regimes with the equipment are a lot more consistent with the manufacturers recommendations compared to a few years back when they thought an oil change in the engine was enough. Nowadays, the technology is more complex, and users know the cranes will continue to perform if they are well maintained,” he said.
He says it used to be the case that when one walked into a yard to conduct a crane inspection it would be possible to be greeted with the notion of ‘here comes trouble again’. However, Mardaymootoo explains that today one is made to feel welcome and develop a relationship with customers. “They are aware that you are there to do a job, not for your sake or the sake of the owner but for the sake of the industry and for the safety of everyone working around the equipment,” he said.
Mardaymootoo said that going back to Pace Cranes as the service manager with the purpose of restructuring and growing the service department and that the company will be focusing not only on their current product line but also working with all brands of equipment.
“There’s been a strong focus on the sales and there’s now a sizeable population of Pace Crane’s products in the market and the plan is to build a service department capable of managing the servicing and repairs of the cranes sold over the years,” he said.