The Hampshire company has four 3t Kubota KX030-4 mini excavators, operating out of its Winchester HQ and second depot in Southampton, and two more on order from Lester Wilder.

The forestry business has become an increasingly important sector for the company, which pairs the excavators with a wide range of chippers, stump grinders and tree shears, also delivered in the custom livery.

“We just wanted something that stood out as a brand,” said managing director Max Pearce. “We’ve always been with Kubota, from day one. We’ve got 67 Kubota machines on the fleet in total, from 0.8-3t.

“We looked at other manufacturers, but Kubota had everything we were looking for in our machines. Kubota is just that step ahead.”

Exsel Plant & Tool was established in 2005, by Pearce’s father. Max took over the business in 2019 and immediately started to expand and drive the company into new areas. The firm now has customers across civil engineering, house building and many other construction sectors, along with the growing forestry division.

The company entered the forestry business, as Pearce had friends in the sector who couldn’t get the machinery and service that they required. The move has been a big success with equipment on long-term hire across the country.

Getting Kubota to provide a factory-finished machine in grey and black, was not the easiest task at first, but the manufacturer is now happy to deliver machines in this eye-catching paint scheme. Indeed, the black and grey mini excavators have made such an impact, that other local businesses have enquired if they too can have a dedicated livery.

With the forestry machines on longer term hire contracts, they can be in use across the UK. Exsel does have its own service engineers, however the company also uses dealer back-up, particularly when machines are working further afield.

“We cover about 90% of the country with these machines,” said Pearce. “Lister Wilder’s network of depots has been really good for us though, providing back-up when needed. We maintain and look after the machines ourselves, but if a machine goes down, there’s a replacement available straight away.”

One of the attractions of the Kubota excavators has been their residual value when the time comes to change. The black and grey colour scheme is no barrier to used equipment demand and the company has no concerns about resale values.

“We normally update our machinery on a three-year cycle, just as a personal preference. You’re not looking at any major maintenance at three years,” said Mr Pearce. “The Kubotas hold their value really well.”

Charlie King, managing director of Lister Wilder, said: “We’ve really enjoyed working with Max and the team at Exsel Plant and Tool Hire. They run a highly professional operation, with a clear focus on quality equipment and customer service, that aligns closely with our own values at Lister Wilder.

“Supplying Exsel with Kubota mini excavators has been a great fit and it’s been fantastic to see how confidently the team has integrated these machines into their hire fleet. We look forward to continuing to support Exsel’s growth.”