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German engineering is demolishing the competition.

This past summer, Priestly Demolition began using its KTEG KMC 500P demolition excavator, taking down a concrete silo in record time.

The machine, the first one to operate in Canada, required only about four hours from arrival at the site, including setup, taking apart the silo and being reloaded on the transport truck. Several hours were shaved off the job.

“The KMC 500P removes the need for multiple machines onsite,” says Ryan Priestly, company owner and CEO.

KTEG stands for Kenki Technology Group, a jointly-funded company based in Germany and owned by Hitachi Construction Machinery and Kiesel Technology.

The Canadian dealer for KTEG is Wajax.

The KMC 500P is built on a Hitachi excavator base, has a 52,600 kilogram operating weight, 28-metre reach and can carry a 3,000 kilogram attachment.

Priestly wouldn’t say what it cost but did indicate it will pay for itself quickly.

Fitted with an OilQuick coupler, the machine can be assembled within minutes.

“The coupler acts like a magnet,” Priestly says.

So switching from a high-reach boom to a standard boom is a quick process.

Used on excavators, OilQuick allows operators to rapidly change between work tools, such as a hydraulic hammer or magnet, steel shears, sorting grapple, compactor or sorting bucket.

Beyond the speedy aspect, the process is safer because a technician is no longer needed to hook up or disconnect pins or hydraulic lines, Priestly says.

With its head office in King, Ont. and divisions in Alberta and Virginia, Priestly does a lot of work in downtown Toronto and across North America. The KMC 500P’s value cannot be overstated in tight urban settings.

Assembling a high-reach machine in a building-dense, narrow-street city isn’t easy. Road closings, or the use of parking lots, are often required.

Not so with the KMC 500P.

“There’s much quicker in and out times,” Priestly says.

Thirty minutes to an hour, under ideal conditions, are typically required to assemble a high-reach excavator. It’s minutes with the OilQuick coupler.

Currently, the KMC 500P is in Ottawa, dismantling the roof of an airplane hangar, says Connie Clearwater, Priestly Demolition’s communications director.

Priestly became aware of KTEG after travelling to the Coreum, near Frankfurt, Germany. The Coreum is an exhibition and testing site that features over 50 brands of machinery and technology.

Priestly and two company operators viewed the KTEG line and were impressed with the KMC 500P. An order was placed.

Since arriving via ship, the KMC 500P has been in high demand.

There’s been only one challenge, Clearwater says with a laugh.

“The operating manual is in German.”