Another Volvo wheel loader for Goonvean Ltd

New Volvo L45F wheel loader chosen for its high capacity at china clay operations in Cornwall

GOONVEAN Ltd have taken delivery of a new Volvo L45F wheel loader for the handling of finished dried china clay products at the their Trelavour Works, near St Austell, in Cornwall.

Joining three existing Volvo L40 loaders, the slightly larger L45F model was selected to meet a need for increased productivity around the plant in terms of loading bulk sided lorries and containers with pelletized china clay, as well as sorting and blending the various grades of material being produced.

‘We needed to see how the larger loading shovel would cope in our sorting sheds and since we already run another L45F loader at our nearby Greensplat Works, we trialled the machine at Trelavour,’ said Dave Perks, production manager for Goonvean.

‘The results were extremely positive and we have been very impressed with the manoeuvrability of the L45F and the ease at which it can negotiate the tight turning areas within the works. Furthermore, we have had a long and generally good experience running Volvo shovels since the mid-1980s when we took our first Volvo 4200 loading shovel.

The L45F benefits from good all-round visibility, thanks to the design of the rear chassis with its sloping engine hood which accommodates the transverse-mounted, Tier III-compliant, 4.8-litre engine and hydrostatic motor.

The wheel loader is also equipped with Volvo’s Care Cab for a high level of operator comfort. All the machine’s controls and functions come easily to hand and air-conditioning is standard.

The engine’s output of 100hp complements the wheel loader’s hydrostatic transmission, providing full power shift under load when changing direction and between speed ranges. As with Volvo’s larger wheel loaders, the L45F features a Torque Parallel (TP) loader linkage which provides smooth, parallel lift, high roll-back torque and good lifting power throughout the lift cycle.

The new L45F for Goonvean is equipped with a 1.8 cubic metre general-purpose bucket, reversible cooling fan, a Dustbuster filter for the engine air intake, and a Prolec weighloader.