Muswellbrook family-owned business Eddies Trailers & Fab take a lot of pride in their manufacturing and when it comes to their trailer manufacturing anything is possible.
Trailers, they’re everywhere. On the road, on farms, there’s probably a good chance you’ve got one in your backyard. Trailers are so commonplace that the last word that comes to mind when you think about them is innovation. Until you’ve read this story.
This month we chatted with Eddies Trailers & Fab owner Brandon Edwards and General Manager Gareth Lloyd about the innovative trailers they are creating for local mining companies.
Brandon started up the business two weeks before the pandemic hit and said it’s been a tough few years establishing the business.
“It could not have been worse timing starting up a business before covid hit and it has been rough. Then Gareth came onboard as our GM and he really helped push the company in a new direction.
“A big opportunity came last year when BHP Mt Arthur approached us to design and manufacture mobile facilities trailers for their site. Due to the success of the first two trailers, they then commissioned us to make an additional nine.
“It’s been a big project for us to ensure what we delivered was exactly to the customers requirements and so we are really proud of the success of the project and the feedback we have received.”
The project has also seen the business attract interest from other mining companies and Gareth said they are now working on quite a few different and interesting projects for mines around the region.
“These custom trailers for mining are really inventive projects. They come to us with an idea that we want to try this or would this work, and then we design and manufacture it for them.
“We are currently working on a mobile emergency shower and eye wash trailer. No one around here has anything like it. It’s fully mobile and you can take it out to a remote area where people are working, and it will be right there alongside the workers if they need it.
“We’ve also got a mobile pumping station trailer in the works for managing groundwater, a firefighting trailer designed to be fully transportable and with full foam firefighting capability, plus a canopy style trailer that one mine has requested so they can use it for community events, with all their bits and pieces ready to go and all done up with their own signwriting.
“Another one that is very innovative is a tool cabinet trailer, complete with individualised cabinets for each worker so they don’t have to lug their stuff around. It also has a battery charging station, solar and 240V power available.”
Gareth said what has really pushed their capabilities to the next level is the of the installation of a state-of-the-art Fiber Laser Cutter Machine.
“It’s a significant investment for the business and cutting-edge technology. It’s the only one of its kind in the area as most businesses employ plasma cutters. We are really excited about the new opportunities it will open up for us as well as significantly increasing the quality of the work we do.”
While the trailers for mining companies are an exciting new part of the business, Eddies Trailers & Fab will still be focusing on general fabrication, and of course, customised trailers.
“Nothing is off limits on what we can do. If you can imagine it, we can make it,” said Brandon.
“I’ve even been asked to design a trailer to transport a giraffe!”
