Lorban TP deals with the extraction and loading of limestone at the Carrières du Bassin de la Sambre (C.B.S.) in Saint-Remy-du-Nord, northern France. These quarries produce 600,000 tonnes of limestone granulate annually for industry, construction and civil engineering.
A near 50-year-old family business, Lorban TP was looking for a high-performance machine with short loading cycle times. The excavator was required to operate a hydraulic hammer, to break up the rock, as well as a shovel to load it into the dump trucks. The company chose the new Liebherr Generation 8 R 945 crawler excavator to replace a Generation 6 R 946.
The Generation 8 range of crawler excavator comprises seven models and was launched at bauma Munich in 2019. The R 945 is the replacement model for the Generation 6 R 950 SME. These machines put a new architectural concept into an application that has enabled optimised operating performance, comfort, ergonomics and safety.
Jean-Pierre Deruelle, the only driver of the R 945, previously worked with an R 946 excavator. When comparing the old and new generations, he noticed both an increase in performance and an increase in stability. He also appreciates the comfort of the cab and the smoothness of the movements that make the R 945 an ideal work tool. The spacious and air-conditioned cab is equipped with an air-sprung seat with vertical and longitudinal shock absorption.
The R 945 achieves higher outputs than the old R 946 and has an engine output of 220kW compared to the 200kW of its predecessor. The average fuel consumption is 28.5 litres per hour. The engine efficiency of the Generation 8 excavators meets the European standard of Exhaust Gas Stage V. The transition to idling and the start-up are controlled automatically.
The R 945 crawler excavator is equipped with an HDR bucket with a 2.5m³ capacity for loading the granules into the dump trucks and can be fitted with a hydraulic hammer for crushing the rock. The machine was perfectly adapted to the company’s requirements. It is equipped with a 6.15m long SME monobloc jib with SWA 66 hydraulic quick-change system. The driver appreciates the new LED lighting on the latest generation machines. The lighting is more powerful, has a longer reach and a longer service life than the halogen system of the predecessor model. The brightness of the LED headlights can be switched with a single press of the joystick button, which is very convenient for the operator.
The stability and dynamics of the excavator enable loading cycle times to be shortened, thus increasing production output. A loading cycle takes between 14 and 15 seconds. The time required to load an articulated dumper truck in the 30-tonne class is 1 minute and 20 seconds in seven cycles.
