CDA and Wholesale Sands: Right for rehabilitation

Published by Earthmoving Equipment Magazine, October 2026.

A trio of LiuGong machines is impressing with their performance for Queensland-based Wholesale Sands & Recycling.

Machinery is used for a straightforward job at the mining and recycling company: to keep the material moving.

At the company’s Jacobs Well site, trucks arrive, material is shifted and stockpiled, and old mine workings are progressively rehabilitated, even when the weather turns the ground to mud.

With little room for equipment that cannot perform, the progression of LiuGong machines through the Wholesale Sands fleet is a sign of confidence in the brand.

It started with a forklift for the company’s sand-bagging operation, and developed into the use of a dozer working on reclamation duties. Now the business is putting an 870T wheel loader through its paces.

Site and Operations Manager Geoff Gumley said the machines have already demonstrated their worth in different parts of the business.

Wholesale Sands has been supplying sand and soil products to South East Queensland’s building industry since 1990, with the company’s projects having developed alongside the region.

The sand-mining operations over the past 25 years created a lake covering more than 40 hectares at Jacobs Well. Today, a 28ha section is being backfilled as part of the rehabilitation process.

The site accepts approved products by the truckload under a licensed operation and strict environmental guidelines. Its location also provides access to the M1, with its proximity to the motorway an advantage for customers.

“It’s an old sand mine that we’re rehabilitating, and we’re progressively returning it to natural elements through the filling,” Geoff said. “We’ve also got a sand mine over at Norwell, adjacent to Jacobs Well, where we produce high-end sands for the state.”

The Jacobs Well operation presents its own challenges, particularly when the weather changes.

“With the backfill and mud, trucks don’t like wet conditions,” Geoff said. “We are often involved in pulling out bogged trucks. We get a lot of traffic, so it can become a nightmare. The machinery that we have must play a part in freeing the trucks and making sure the job gets done.”

That environment provides a proving ground for the equipment, particularly the dozer.

A dozer that does the job

Wholesale Sands already had two other brands of dozers when LiuGong dealer Construction Distribution Australia introduced Geoff to the LiuGong LD26D.

The 24,000kg model comes with 203Kw of power and a 7.8m³ blade capacity. Its specification includes a high-torque powertrain, heavy-duty undercarriage, and blade-control system intended for demanding ground conditions.

The machine was demonstrated to Wholesale Sands before being purchased. For Geoff, the appeal was less about complexity and more about getting the fundamentals right.

“We now have three bulldozers, LiuGong being the latest one,” he said. “We’ve had it for about two months.

“It’s a good machine. The telematics is such that whenever we have had any issues, the main workshop knows about them immediately, and that’s with me sitting in the seat.

“I’ve had phone calls where I’ve been driving it, and I’ve been told to go and fuel up because I’m running low. This behind-the-scenes side makes LiuGong machines a valuable part of the fleet.”

The LD26D has also impressed Geoff through its ability to get on with the basic task of shoving material.

“The LD26 is a good size machine for what we’ve got here. It’s a machine that will push all day long, and it’s great on fuel. The rippers on the back are a bonus as well,” he said.

“It’s well-engineered. Everything is straightforward, including the greasing and grease lines. Even the way it glides over the mud, considering its weight, is impressive.”

Productivity is another factor. Geoff said the LD26D can carry a substantial amount of material in front of the blade while maintaining the speed required to work efficiently around the site.

“The blade tilt is good, and we can get seven to eight cubic metres behind the blade when it’s doing a good push,” he said. “With the amount of traffic we get through here, second and third gear are pretty well run off their feet, and it still pushes fine in second.

“You can do final trimming with it, too. It’s quick across the floor.”

Geoff was impressed with the machine’s operator environment.

“It’s comfortable and has creature comforts and settings you can adjust,” he said. “Most controls are touchscreen, down to the radio, and you’ve also got the side dial, so everything is easy to access while you’re operating.

“You don’t have to stop and go through menus. You can just reach across with your right hand and everything is at your fingertips while you’re still operating and pushing dirt.”

A forklift that saves time

The first LiuGong machine to enter the Wholesale Sands fleet, the CLG2035H-R forklift, works at the Norwell sand-bagging operation.

Wholesale Sands can dispatch between 40 and 150 bags a day from the operation, and the model was taken on as a second machine to save time when loading trucks and handling bagged sand.

The 5.4t vehicle is powered by a 3.3l Yanmar diesel engine and is designed for material handling applications where manoeuvrability and operator comfort are important.

Geoff said its usefulness comes down to how quickly it can get through the daily work.

“We can send anywhere between 40 and 150 bags out a day, so it’s a good little set-up as we try to get our foot in the door of the industry,” he said.

“The truck drivers and staff love it. It’s capable, quick around the floor, and has all the features we need.”

Wholesale Sands also worked with the LiuGong workshop to equip the machine for its particular operating requirements.

“The LiuGong team decked it out with various mod cons, safety equipment, a fire extinguisher, emergency stops, and a two-way radio,” Geoff said. “One of the things I liked is the way the fork tines could be adjusted to suit different pallets. You just pull the lever and move them in or out. No more getting out of the seat. It’s beautiful.”

Get a load of that

The latest LiuGong addition, the 870T wheel loader, weighs 26t, produces 280hp from its Cummins engine and is equipped with a 4.2m³ bucket.

Designed for applications including quarrying, mining, stockpiling, and material handling, it is being trialled at the company’s Norwell operation.

Geoff has already put the machine to work tidying the floor and loading trucks.

“The 870T has all the bells and whistles and plenty of settings. You can do everything you need to do through the computer, and it has power,” he said.

The loader is also fitted with L5 tyres, rather than the L3 tyres that are fitted on most competing products.

An L5 tyre performs well in harsh, abrasive environments because it features an extra-deep tread and tougher rubber compounds, providing cut resistance, puncture protection, and longer wear life on sharp rock.

“It’s a good-looking machine. I know that’s not the main consideration, but it’s nice and big, with all the safety equipment and the features in the cab,” Geoff said. “The air conditioning is beautiful, especially in the Queensland heat.

“It has great push power and a good bucket size. Ours has a quick hitch, so we can use multiple implements, and it has auxiliary hydraulics as standard.”

The 870T is being used across a range of jobs at Norwell, which make its versatility one of its most useful characteristics.

“We have an array of different jobs we can use it for, including stockpiling, load-out, and sales loading. We do a lot of screening and have our bagging plant and bagging operation, so there are multiple functions,” Geoff said.

“I’m looking forward to putting it to the test a bit more in the near future. I’m sure we’ll have no issues with it, just like we haven’t with the LD26D.”

Steadfast support

For Wholesale Sands, the equipment is only one part of the equation.

At a site where machinery plays a central role in moving material and keeping trucks flowing, downtime can quickly affect the entire operation. That makes access to service support an important part of the purchasing decision.

Geoff said CDA has given him confidence that the machines will be supported when they need it.

“Customer service and after-sales support have been phenomenal. I haven’t had any issues with that, and communication is really good too,” he said.

“There’ve been rare occasions after hours when issues have arisen. I’ve had to make a couple of quick phone calls, and the team picks up the phone and talks you through the problems.

“They get the laptop, do what they need to do, and on one occasion it was rectified within 20 minutes of the phone call. We were back into it.

“We’ve got quite a few machines, and we can’t afford for them to stop and break down. We need to keep them going.”

CDA operates a wide support network with branches in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne, each with a fully equipped workshop, supported by field-service teams.

For CDA representative Wayne Reichow, that infrastructure is an important part of what the company offers its customers.

Responsible for the LiuGong earthmoving range — including excavators, front-end loaders, graders, dump trucks, rollers, forklifts, dozers, and material handlers — Wayne has worked in earthmoving equipment sales for 19 years.

“Support after the sale is a critical consideration for equipment buyers. Hand on heart, CDA provides that with excellence,” he said. “That’s what customers are looking for. That’s what we provide.”

Wayne’s relationship with Wholesale Sands began with the forklift and subsequently developed through the dozer demonstration.

“I’ve known Geoff for a while now. The first machine they purchased from me was the all-terrain forklift,” he said.

“Geoff came into the yard, and I introduced him to everyone in the workshop, as well as our after-sales team, branch manager, and parts manager.

“Geoff then bought the LiuGong forklift for the sand-bagging section of the business and absolutely loved it.

“We then started talking about dozers because they already owned two other brands. We went out on site, had a look at them working, and had a good discussion about the LiuGong LD26D, which was a step up in size from what they had.

“We then progressed to a demonstration with Geoff for a week. CDA is more than happy to let customers test these machines out for themselves.

“Geoff had the dozer on site for a week, and it performed so well that he purchased the machine.”

For Geoff, Wayne’s approach has been as important as the machines themselves.

“Wayne is a local boy from the area, and we met over at Norwell. We just clicked,” he said. “His communication was good. You get some people who just keep handing you information, but Wayne knows when to talk and when to give you time.

“When you’ve got questions or you’re not sure about a machine, he’ll touch base on everything.

“He’s easy to deal with and easy to communicate with. There’s not a time when he hasn’t picked up the phone, and if he hasn’t, it’s within 15 or 20 minutes, and I’ll have a return call or message letting me know what’s going on.

“I’ve got a lot of time for him, and I’m sure we’re going to be mates for a long time.”

A LiuGong fleet?

The relationship gives Wholesale Sands access to a LiuGong range that extends well beyond the three machines currently in its fleet.

The breadth of LiuGong earthmoving equipment provides operators with the opportunity to consolidate machinery across multiple categories through one manufacturer and dealer relationship.

LiuGong is also expanding its electric equipment offering, with electric machines available across a growing selection of categories. For contractors and material-handling businesses looking to reduce emissions, noise or fuel use in appropriate applications, the ability to introduce electric equipment into the same broader machine range provides another option.

At Wholesale Sands, however, the immediate focus is on the 870T. The loader now has to demonstrate that it can handle the variety of jobs required at Norwell, just as the LD26D had to show its value at Jacobs Well, and the CLG2035H-R had to prove itself around the bagging operation.

That gradual approach is consistent with the way Wholesale Sands has built its relationship with LiuGong and CDA.

There has been no wholesale fleet replacement and no single-machine decision made in isolation. Instead, each machine has been given a job, put to work, and assessed on its ability to deliver.

But Geoff reckons the experience so far has created enough confidence to look at what could come next.

“I’m confident it’s going to be like this for the next lot of machinery we go through with them. I trust the guys and the machines to do the job and do it confidently,” he said.

“They’re definitely pointing us in the right direction, and we’re going to lead the way with the LiuGong fleet as it grows.”

Those interested in finding out more about the LiuGong range, please contact your local dealer.

‍