Burlington Stone increase Case machine fleet

Quarry operator chooses new 1021F wheel loader based on proven reliability and performance

Burlington Stone, one of the UK’s leading natural stone and slate producers, have increased their quarry and earthmoving equipment fleet of Case machines to 10 with the addition of a new Case F-series wheel loader, supplied by local Case dealers Dennis Barnfield.

The new Case 1021F will join an existing fleet of seven 921F wheel loaders located at Burlington’s Kirby-in-Furness Quarry, working alongside a Case CX350C and a CX470B crawler excavator at the quarry face, loading the cut stone blocks on to trucks for transportation to secondary cutting, production, crushing and recycling facilities on site.

Designed to work in demanding quarrying environments, the 1021F is said to offer a high level of fuel economy and reliability, as well as delivering class-leading performance and productivity thanks to its SCR technology, advanced cooling technology, high bucket payload, and 320hp Tier 4 Interim 9-litre Case/FPT diesel engine. To allow longer lengths of stone to be moved, the 1021F has been fitted with tyre chains as well as a special V-profile bucket.

Burlington Stone have worked with Case machines for many years and say their proven performance and reliability were the key reasons why the company chose a new Case 1021F as the successor to the 921E.

‘The Case 921E has been a great machine for us,’ explained quarry manager Ian Kelly. ‘We’ve been using Case loading shovels for 17 years and they have proved to be reliable and robust enough to handle the work in what is quite a harsh environment at our sites. We have always had good productivity from the Case machines through very little down time, and the power delivered by the machine is great for handling the large blocks of slate we extract.’

Before purchasing the Case 1021F Burlington looked at other manufacturers’ equivalents, but as Mr Kelly explained, without the proven reliability the Case machines offer, the company did not feel the others offered the best value for money.

‘For us, it was the complete package of a good purchase price, plus good fuel-consumption figures and low maintenance costs,’ he said. ‘We also have a very good working relationship with Malcolm Mackay at Dennis Barnfield, which has been built up over the last 17 years.’
 
Burlington’s machine operators are also said to be impressed with the 1021F, especially the new cab layout, which provides excellent visibility, and Case’s joystick steering system, which is integrated into the left-hand armrest, making repetitive loading duties a much easier task. There is also an optional wide-angle rear-view camera which has a live feed to the colour monitor in the cab for additional security and improved safety on site.

Mr Kelly added: ‘The Case machines we have used over the past 17 years have always been operator friendly, but this new machine offers a totally different level of operator comfort to the previous ones, which is important if you are asking someone to work a full shift on it five or six days a week.’