by Al Dorantes
Bette & Cring construction group headquartered in Latham, NY, recently took delivery of a pair of Doosan DX350LC excavators at the Robert H. Finke & Sons Inc. equipment dealership, in Selkirk, NY. Equipment representatives from both Finke and Sons and from Doosan were on hand as they presented the bright orange machines to Bette & Cring’s crew.

Don Fiacco, Finke Equipment general manager said, “The presentation today was to instruct Bette & Cring’s team how to operate and maintain the equipment. We wanted to show them what’s new and different with the Doosan DX350LCs.” “Doosan offers many standard features that would be options on other brands,” he added. “We took on the Doosan line about a year ago. It is a good product. The customers like them and Doosan equipment is a good bargain for the money.”

Joel Suffish, district sales manager for Doosan, said, “The 350 model excavator is big in the USA. Doosan put the focus on performance and fuel economy.” Suffish explained that the DX350LC is a tier 4 machine. The DX350LC is optimized to provide the ultimate in power delivery and fuel economy, with its tier 4 compliant engines to reduce air pollution. The DX350LC uses an onboard DEF (diesel exhaust fluid). The 20 gallon onboard DEF tank means there is no regeneration burner. Regeneration systems tend not to be user friendly at idle speeds. Suffish added, “Doosan makes its living [by selling products to countries that do not have the kind of aftermarket service that is available in the US], places like India, Asia, and South America. We have to build over and above because they don’t have facilities and parts available like you do at Fink Equipment.”

Jeff “Duffy” Buchanan, general superintendent Bridge Division for Bette & Cring explained, the new excavators are going to two different job sites. One will go to Johnsonville, a $4.2 million bridge over the Hoosic River. The other will go to Exit 31 on the Northway, Elisabethtown, a $10.4 million bridge replacement. “Bette & Cring has been doing business with Finke Equipment for 30 plus years,” he said. “We usually buy used equipment. These two excavators are a big step because they are brand new. We are hoping to get good use out of Doosan; the components seem well made.