Founded in 1981 by Stewart Wright, Digga’s first office was a phone booth at a trailer park in Brisbane, Australia. At the time, the fledging company provided earthmoving wear parts to local operators. The company’s success in meeting the demand for maintaining and supplying drilling augers resulted in the construction of a small factory in 1982.
Armed with a rapid growth and expansion strategy, Digga opened additional manufacturing and distribution facilities in Sydney (1989) and Melbourne (1992) to better support its customers’ needs. In 1996, Digga turned its sights to North America and signed agreements to supply gearboxes to major original equipment manufacturer customers in Canada and the U.S.
In fact, for more than a decade, many Canadian and American drilling and foundation operators were using a Digga gear box, but didn’t realize it because it was being sold under other brand names. This changed in 2013, when Digga’s manufacturing facility opened in Dyersville, Iowa, better supporting the company’s North American customers.
“We determined that manufacturing in the U.S. and being able to react quickly to our customers would be key to our success,” said Digga sales manager, Beau Ellingson. “But launching a new brand and expecting customers to trust your product and its quality from day one is challenging. It takes time, so we just kept doing what we do well and waited for our opportunities. In the years since, we’ve worked tirelessly to grow our dealer network, as well as our range of product offerings.”
Digga has what you’re looking for
Digga is a family-owned business that manufactures screw piling drives for every torque interval up to 360,000 foot-pounds for use on mini machines, up to 80-tonne excavators. Building on over four decades in business, Digga offers turnkey solutions complete with machine mounting and boom extensions, torque monitoring equipment, drive tools and alignment aids.
Over the years, the company has consistently grown its sales in the small to mid-size anchor drive range and its complete range of drilling drives. Digga customers are serviced by the company’s professional sales team and a network of dealers across North America.
“We pride ourselves on our team’s product knowledge, fast lead times and after-sales service,” said Ellingson. “We care about our product and our customers, which is one of the big reasons why we’ve been in business for more than 40 years.”
Many of Digga’s competitors claim to be manufacturers, but buy components off the shelf and assemble the equipment. Digga sets itself apart as a manufacturer that provides “the whole box and dice” – an Australian euphemism for being a one-stop shop for clients.
Digga manufactures more than 80 per cent of its components in-house, including cutting its own gears from a solid piece of steel. This allows Digga to control quality and processes during the entire manufacturing operation, which has paid dividends for the company, as its products have become synonymous with “quality” and “performance.”
”The company’s reputation for excellence extends to its industry-leading warranty, which offers up to five years of warranty on select products. The company stands behind its products and will honour the warranty whenever Digga is at fault.
“First and foremost, the way we respond is with the mindset of getting the customer back up and running. That is what sets Digga apart,” said Ellingson.
A deep market
Prior to building its manufacturing facility in Iowa, Digga saw success with its high torque anchor drives sold to Canadian customers. The company has also found great success in the deep foundation market, serving the screw pile and drilling segments, and the company will continue to position itself at the forefront in servicing the industry in Canada.
“We care about our product and our customers, which is one of the big reasons why we’ve been in business for more than 40 years.”
Beau Ellingson, Digga
“We pride ourselves on being able to provide our customers with the complete package,” said Ellingson. “By working with our customers, we’ve developed a full range of mounting solutions to support the industry, including our telescopic skid steer mounts, piling hitch excavator mounts, a full range of gimbal four-way swing mounts and excavator boom extensions that allowing Digga to be the one-stop-shop for screw pile installation equipment.”
Digga’s HALO effect
Digga has been at the forefront of innovation and development of machinery attachments since its inception more than 40 years ago. With a dedicated division of engineers and technical staff committed to designing advanced products, Digga is well-equipped to constantly improve and optimize performance. Digga uses leading-edge technology that has allowed the company to maintain its competitive edge by greatly reducing the cost and time of developing new parts and products.
A good example of Digga’s commitment to innovation is its HALO Auger Alignment System, which offers the operators visual cues in real time to align the auger or pile. HALO was first launched in 2020 for the Australian market and was brought to North America in September 2022. Developed and tested over four years against the rigorous demands of the industry, Digga has engineered HALO to be as tough as the job. The system uses a microprocessor and six sensors to provide accurate readings to +/- 0.25 degrees, even under heavy vibration.
In the drive head hood, HALO provides the operator with a simultaneous clear, 360-degree line of sight to itself and the hole being dug. The system uses a band of LED lights that light up green when the head is plumb. Should the auger move from its plumb position, a sequence of red and green lights will be lit to effortlessly guide the operator back to plumb. The highly accurate inclination green and red LED indicators, which are visible even in daylight, eliminate the need for an in-cab display screen. This means the operator doesn’t need to take their eyes off the job to realign the auger bit.
Digga’s HALO consists of three standard components: the light ring, the sensor and the cable set, which is easily set up and connected to the in-cab cigarette lighter. An additional power supply option is a magnetic battery pack, which can be attached to the machine’s boom or fed back to the cab with an extended cable.
“Say goodbye to guesswork and do-overs. HALO ensures holes are drilled plumb, reducing the number of in-hole angle adjustments which can create an oversized hole,” said Ellingson. “This, in turn, reduces the amount of concrete required to fill the hole and in-hole adjustments that can also cause sideload on the auger bit and auger drive, potentially causing damage and expensive repairs.”
HALO is the first of several cutting-edge products that Digga is developing. Going forward, the company will selectively add to its product range and embrace new technologies. Digga is also committed to expanding its dealer network and growing its footprint with the products it already supplies to the North American market.