The test of time pays dividends at North Lincs Aggregates
North Lincs Aggregates a privately owned company operating out of the Isle of Axholme has purchased three new machines with a further two on order from Volvo Construction Equipment. Since setting up at its Cove Farm facility near Doncaster eighteen months ago, the company has been operating older Volvo shovels and dumptrucks and has been impressed with their performance and reliability.
The trio of machines comprises of an L150H loading shovel, complete with a 4.4m³ re-handling bucket, a 25 tonne EC250E crawler excavator and an A30G articulated hauler with a 27.5tonne carrying capacity. The new arrivals join older Volvo machines that have been 
operating at the Cove Farm quarry since the company commenced operations and were chosen primarily due to the good reliability and performance of the existing kit. “The older machines have certainly proved themselves, but as we continue to increase our production both at Cove Farm and other facilities it became important that we took the step to invest in new state of the art equipment,” comments Managing Director Richard Mills. “Purchasing new is the way forward to benefit from equipment offering better fuel efficiency, productivity along with other features such as telematics and machine monitoring systems and then benefit from the anticipated high residual values in 3 to 4 years time,” he continues.
The new EC250E has been put in charge of extracting silica sand loading the new A30G alongside two existing A30C trucks which then run the material to the processing plant. Powered by an 8 litre Volvo Stage IV engine developing 216 nett hp the 25 tonne excavator has plenty of reach and dig depth to extract material from the benches. Equipped with a 6m boom and 2.97m dipper arm the machine boasts a generous dig depth of just over 7m and a forward reach of 10.1m with excellent across carriage stability giving a lift capacity of 3.5 tonnes at maximum reach.
The Volvo Care Cab offers a large roomy interior with plenty of leg room and foot space. The excellent all round visibility is enhanced by pressurized and filtered cab air supplied by a 14 vent, climate control system. An adjustable easy to read LCD colour monitor provides real time information of the machine functions, important diagnostic information and a wide variety of work tool settings. The monitor also doubles as a monitor for the rear view camera.
With a carrying capacity of 28 tonnes and heaped capacity of 17.5m³ the Volvo A30G also meets the requirements of Stage IV final emissions
legislation being powered by an electronically controlled, six cylinder 264kW turbo charged Volvo V-ACT diesel engine. This features high torque at low engine speeds, resulting in good fuel efficiency and high performance. Purpose built by Volvo, the engine is designed to exactly match the Volvo drive train, ensuring the best use of power and torque, even in tough working conditions. The new 30 tonne articulated hauler has been supplied to North Lincs Aggregates complete with full cantilever tailgate to maximise the load carrying capacity of the truck.
The new L150H loading shovel has been put in charge of loading and blending stock piled material into the processing plant. It again benefits from Volvo designed and manufactured driveline components designed to offer considerable fuel savings each shift with a 13 litre 300hp Volvo stage IV engine. One of the key features is that a maximum torque of 1317Nm is achieved at just 1450rpm and the resultant fuel savings are further enhanced by the Volvo Eco pedal encouraging the operator to run the machine at its optimum rpm in the engine’s torque curve.
All three machines are fitted with CareTrack as standard, which is Volvo’s telematics system that enables remote monitoring of a wide range of machine functions (e.g. location, fuel consumption, service reminders etc.) thus optimising customer operations.
Besides their main operating duties extracting and loading material at North Lincs Aggregates’ facilities, the machines will also be utilised on external muck shifting and extraction contracts for private clients. A further order is in place for another L150H loading shovel and an A30G articulated hauler which are due for delivery in September. The company also runs a busy bulk haulage fleet enhancing the services it offers its customers.
Volvo Construction Equipment markets wheeled loaders, articulated haulers, hydraulic excavators, Volvo utility equipment and Volvo road equipment products in Great Britain. There are eight strategically placed customer support centres and a network of utility equipment dealers to ensure high quality customer support is maintained throughout the country.
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