TOUGH TERRAIN

CAPABILITY STATEMENT

Interactive Capability Statement

All-terrain contracting,
where others won't.

Tough Terrain takes on the groundwork, civil, land-clearing and forestry jobs most contractors turn down — using Menzi Muck walking excavators and expert crews to work steep, soft and remote ground right across New Zealand.

Explore capabilities See the machine

Tough Terrain excavation on challenging ground

All-terrain groundwork · New Zealand

All-terrain contracting, nationwide

Where Others Won't

Piling · Drilling · Excavation

Menzi Muck Walking Excavators

Mulching · Forestry · Land Clearance

Waterways · Dams · Retaining Walls

Tōtika Certified · ISO-Aligned Systems

24/7 Storm Clean-up · Nationwide NZ

§01 — Who We Are

Groundwork for the toughest ground.

Tough Terrain is a New Zealand all-terrain contracting firm built to handle the jobs others won't — complex groundwork, civil works, land clearance and forestry across challenging terrain. From conception to completion, we deliver full-service solutions with cutting-edge machinery and expert teams.

We are the only company in New Zealand equipped with Menzi Muck walking excavators and staff specifically trained in their operation — spider machines that walk onto slopes, banks, riverbeds and soft ground where conventional plant simply can't go. Access is never the reason a job doesn't get done.

Our boutique team of six specialist professionals — expandable through a trusted subcontractor network — delivers for Watercare, NZTA, councils and New Zealand's leading civil contractors, guided by four values: Pūkenga, Kounga, Kaitiakitanga and Manaakitanga.

Our commitment

Take on the terrain everyone else avoids — and leave it better than we found it.

The Tough Terrain crew · on site

Referenced projects with named clients & engineers

0°

Slopes our crews have delivered on

$0M

Largest single referenced contract — Watercare

0/7

Rapid storm-response ready

§02 — Core Capabilities

Full-service, on
ground others won't touch.

From foundations to forestry, Tough Terrain self-delivers the complete package — one crew, one machine fleet, from conception to completion. Hover a discipline for detail.

Piling

Foundation and structural support solutions for challenging ground conditions — driven and bored piles where standard rigs can't reach.

Drilling

Precision drilling for foundation work, geotechnical investigation and infrastructure — on ground others can't access.

Excavation

Site preparation, trenching and large-scale earthmoving across steep, soft and confined terrain.

Mulching

High-powered vegetation mulching that clears scrub and reduces fire risk — leaving ground ready to work.

Tree Removal & Forestry

Large-scale clearing and selective logging delivered with minimal environmental impact.

Waterways & Dams

Construction, maintenance and erosion-control systems for dams, streams and waterways.

Storm Clean-up

Rapid-response debris removal, slip clearance and land stabilisation after severe weather.

Retaining Walls

Slip clean-up and retaining-wall construction to lock up banks and reclaim usable ground.

§03 — The Menzi Muck Advantage

The ground others walk away from is where Tough Terrain goes to work — Menzi Muck walking excavators, delivering on slopes up to 50°, where there is no access and no other way in.

0°terrain we've delivered on —
where others won’t

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§04 — Plant & Fleet

A fleet built for
the toughest ground.

A comprehensive, meticulously maintained and regularly expanding fleet — sized for projects of every complexity and scale, with attachments that let one machine do the work of many.

Walking Excavators

Menzi Muck A91 ×214 T
Menzi Muck 545 ×214 T
Menzi Muck 53514 T
Menzi Muck 34010.2 T
Mini Menzi Muck A202 T

Earthmoving Plant

Takeuchi tracked digger8 T
Eurocomach digger3.5 T
Bobcat1.7 T
Yanmar tracked dumperRemote-capable
Narrow-access Kelly drillSpecialised

Attachments & Plant

Drill rigs ×3 + Kelly drillPiling
Mulchers ×3Clearance
Grapple saw & tree shearForestry
Movax side gripPiling
Grout pump & compressorAnchoring

Transport & Support

Transport truck & trailerSelf-mobilised
Toyota Landcruiser ×4Crew
Toyota HiluxCrew
Custom step-access dumperRemote-controlled

The Tough Terrain Menzi Muck fleet lined up in the yard

The fleet · ready to mobilise

§05 — Referenced Projects

Real jobs, real clients,
on ground others turned down.

Ten referenced projects — over $5.6M of delivered work for Watercare, NZTA, councils and New Zealand's leading civil contractors, each with a named engineer and referee.

Menzi Muck working the 50-degree trench line on La Veta Ave

Featured · Watercare · In Delivery

La Veta Ave Water Main Installation — a $2M trunk main on a 50° slope.

An old, redundant water main on the side of Mt Albert needed removal and replacement with a much larger main — meaning a significantly expanded trench line across a 50-degree slope. Tough Terrain is delivering every aspect: pipe removal, installation, and full relandscaping with topsoil and mulch.

The pipe's delicate coating demanded perfectly clean fill — solved with our custom-made, remote-controlled step-access dumper. Delivered on schedule, with no incidents.

Value

$2.0M

Client

Watercare

Engineer

Beca

Slope

50°

Slip clearance above SH2 in the Karangahake Gorge

NZTA · $700kSH2 · Karangahake

Karangahake Gorge Slip & Vegetation Removal

A historic slip reactivated by Cyclone Gabrielle blocked SH2. Using Menzi Muck winches anchored at the slip crest, our crews removed unstable material from the highest, steepest sections — where no other machine could work — within the site's traffic constraints.

Eng: WSPDec 2024

Menzi Muck working the Kia Ora Road slip

Cassidy Const. · $700kAuckland

Kia Ora Road Slip & Waste Pipe Remediation

Re-stabilisation of a major slip that destroyed 10m of Watercare wastewater pipe — temporary timber-pile retaining wall, overburden removal, and full stream protection with silt fences, booms and wastewater over-pumping.

Eng: ACHJun 2023

Aerial view of the Northcote cliff stabilisation

Private · $350kNorthcote

Northcote Cliff Stabilisation with Soil Nails

A cliff slip daylighted a palisade wall above a live road. Two crews worked in parallel — installing 53× 8m soil nails, a capping beam and reinforcing steelwork — completing in three weeks with only a partial road closure.

Eng: Riley'sJul 2024

Anchored pile wall under construction at Beach Haven

Private · $300kBeach Haven

Beach Haven Anchored Retaining Wall

An under-slip left a house on unstable piles, with access impossible for anything but a Menzi Muck. We built a 12m wall — 8m piles at 6.5m embedment, two rows of 15m anchors — entirely in-house, on a 50° slope, at a fixed price with no variations.

Eng: ChesterNov 2024

Drilling rig on the Maxwell Ave riverbank

Glasgow Cont. · $600kAuckland

Maxwell Ave Riverbank Collapse

Pipe wingwall construction after a major riverbank collapse — 10× 7m drilled piles on unstable ground, winch-tethered from the slope crest, protecting consented mature trees and downstream waterways with a dam and over-pump system.

Eng: ACHMay 2023

Menzi Muck drilling pile casings at Tree View Ave

Watercare · $500kAuckland

Tree View Ave Pipe Bridge Replacement

Twin landslips damaged two sections of wastewater pipe in a steep reserve. Large and small Menzi Mucks drilled new pile casings and installed timber piles for replacement pipe bridges — with tree and vegetation removal kept to a minimum.

Eng: AbergeldieCurrent

Menzi Muck perched on the 1:1 slope above McQuoids stream

Hick Bros · $250kFlat Bush

McQuoids River Protection

Recommended by Civil Contractors NZ after no other sub-contractor could take the job — clearing slip debris from the stream below a 1:1 slope, then building a 12m × 4m concrete block retaining wall with a rip-rap overflow.

Eng: CMW GeosciencesNov 2023

CHB Council · $158kHawke's Bay

Wakarara Road Bank Stabilisation

Cyclone Gabrielle remediation for Central Hawke's Bay District Council — earthworks, an MSE wall in Green Maccaferri Terramesh and gabion rock, and road resurfacing, adapting design with Stantec while staying in budget and on time.

Eng: StantecMar 2024

Slip terminus at the roadside on Wood Bay Road

Private · $100kTitirangi

Wood Bay Road Landslip

Overburden removal from a steep slip threatening a home, with the slip terminating at the roadside — delivered under a council-sanctioned traffic plan with physical debris barriers that kept one lane open throughout.

Eng: Council-approved TMPOct 2023

"The proactive nature of Tough Terrain Ltd, along with their superior safe working practices, allowed phase one of this project to be completed without issue. We will certainly be using George and his team for phase two."
Michael Doyle · Cassidy Construction · Kia Ora Road

"Another successful job completed by Tough Terrain. The team were a delight to work with and we could not believe how capable the machinery was. We are now actively pursuing complex jobs because we have confidence in Tough Terrain to help us complete them."
Kade Glasgow · Glasgow Contracting · Maxwell Ave

Referee contact details for every project are available on request.

§06 — Clients & Partners

Trusted by New Zealand's
infrastructure leaders.

Recommended by Civil Contractors New Zealand, and the crew the big contractors call when their own plant can't get there — working alongside the country's top engineering consultancies on every job.

WatercareNetwork Infrastructure

NZTA Waka KotahiState Highways

Fulton HoganDelivery Partner

Hick Bros CivilCivil Contractor

Central Hawke's Bay DCCouncil

AbergeldieInfrastructure

Cassidy ConstructionMain Contractor

Glasgow ContractingMain Contractor

StantecEngineer

BecaEngineer

WSPEngineer

CMW GeosciencesEngineer

§07 — Coverage

Working across
New Zealand.

Based in Mount Eden, Auckland, we mobilise crews and Menzi Muck plant to projects nationwide — from state highways in the Karangahake Gorge to cyclone recovery in Hawke's Bay.

Auckland

18 Clarlton Ave, Mount Eden

Head Office

North Island

Statewide project delivery

Region

South Island

Statewide project delivery

Region

Storm Response

24/7 slip & storm clean-up

On Call

Enquiries

george@toughterrain.co.nz

Contact

§08 — Ngā Uara · Our Values

Four values,
on every site.

How we work is as important as where we can work — skill, quality, care for the land and care for people, backed by certified systems.

Pūkenga

Specialist Skill

The only NZ company running Menzi Muck walking excavators with crews trained in their operation — 20-tonne performance from a 9.5-tonne machine, on ground nothing else can reach.

Kounga

Quality Outcomes

Tōtika certified, with a QMS built around AS/NZS ISO 9001 — plus 14001 and 45001 frameworks. Engineer hold points, scheduled testing and live SiteDocs reporting on every project.

Kaitiakitanga

Environmental Care

Annual sustainability targets, erosion and sediment control, biodegradable lubricants, and strict controls keeping contaminants out of stormwater systems and waterways.

Manaakitanga

Stakeholder Care

Clear, timely communication with councils, utilities, transport agencies, landowners and the public — with signage, courtesy and planning that minimises disturbance.

Tōtika Certified QMS · AS/NZS ISO 9001-aligned Environment · ISO 14001-aligned H&S · ISO 45001-aligned SiteDocs Live Reporting

§09 — Engage

Got a job others won't take?

If it's steep, soft, remote or storm-hit, it's exactly what we're built for. Talk to George about how Tough Terrain can get it done.

Email the team Call 021 197 1972

Phone

021 197 1972

george@toughterrain.co.nz
admin@toughterrain.co.nz

Location

18 Clarlton Ave
Mount Eden, Auckland

All-terrain contracting,where others won't.