Reducing operational costs was one of the main drivers to Hanson investing in a new wheeled loader for its Ribblehead Works site in Clitheroe, UK. The cement works, which is part of the Heidelberg Cement group, has recently taken delivery of a new Volvo L350F loader for front line duties in a bid to improve fuel efficiency. According to Volvo, the 52tonne loader is the 14th machine of this type to have been delivered to a Heidelberg company in Europe. The company has said that the machines have been “chosen
Reducing operational costs was one of the main drivers to Hanson investing in a new wheeled loader for its Ribblehead Works site in Clitheroe, UK. The cement works, which is part of the HeidelbergCement group, has recently taken delivery of a new Volvo L350F loader for front line duties in a bid to improve fuel efficiency.
According to Volvo, the 52tonne loader is the 14th machine of this type to have been delivered to a Heidelberg company in Europe. The company has said that the machines have been “chosen primarily due to the superior fuel economy and productivity on a cost per tonne basis in its size class”.
Ribbleshead quarry supervisor Sam Wrathall said, “So far we’ve been very impressed with the machine in terms of its ease of operation and penetration of the face at relatively low rpm. It’s also giving us the flexibility for deploying a prime mover quickly around different parts of the quarry to maintain the blend of materials required by the plant.
“The L350F is ideally sized to handle some of the smaller shots we fire with anything up to 8000 tonnes where it would be uneconomical to use one of our larger tracked shovels and where access for a larger machine is a problem.”
Ribbleshead’s L350F has been fitted with hydraulically retractable steps located at the nearside rear of the machine and a widened platform and associated grab rails to facilitate full door opening to the cab. Other additions to the standard specification include a reversible fan; modified mirrors; strobe reverse lights; an RDS Technology 8000 weigh load system and a seat belt warning device.
