Liebherr Rental has beefed up its fleet with the addition of three new excavators that feature a ‘first’ for the business.
The 36-tonne R 934 Generation 8 models are part of a comprehensive fleet update that also sees the arrival of wheeled loaders, material handlers, articulated dump trucks and dozers. Manufactured at Liebherr’s excavator factory in Colmar, France, they are fitted with the latest fuel-efficient and emissions-compliant engines and one of the most generous ‘standard’ specifications on the market.
To meet differing UK site requirements, the excavators are fitted with cab guarding, hi-vis handrails, blue strobes and travel alarm as well as additional protection such as a dipper ram guard and boom and dipper protection. However, the biggest initiative is the inclusion of machine control systems for the first time on Liebherr Rental excavators in the UK and follows last year’s agreement between the manufacturer and Leica Geosystems to offer guidance systems as a factory-fit option.
The global partnership allows customers to specify Generation 6 and 8 crawler and wheeled excavators with 2D or 3D control systems. Leica harnesses are installed on the production line ready for the installation of sensors and screens prior to delivery. However, the new rental machines were prepared by Leica at Liebherr GB’s Biggleswade headquarters to ‘factory fit’ standards.
Joe Palmer, Liebherr Rental’s general manager, commented: ‘We have been receiving numerous enquiries from our customers for excavators with machine control so when the opportunity came to equip three of our incoming machines with Leica we jumped at it.’
The three excavators are Leica MC1 machine control-ready and customers can hire the cab kit from Leica Geosystems’ authorised providers.
Gareth Blythin, Rental Contracts Manager, added: ‘We are excited to have these machines on the fleet and would like to extend our thanks to Neil Williams and his team at Leica for facilitating this and progressing our relationship in the UK.’
The Leica option is the first of three control systems coming to the fleet this year.
