Hopkinson continue to run 100% Hyundai fleet

Waste-management firm bolsters fleet with new Hyundai crawler excavator and wheel loader 

HOPKINSON Waste Management of Staveley, in Derbyshire, have strengthened their fleet of Hyundai machines with the addition of a 22-tonne R220LC-9A crawler excavator and HL960 wheel loader. With the recent machine acquisitions, the company now boasts a fleet of 10 Hyundai products, representing an investment of almost £1 million. 

A high proportion of the waste processed by Hopkinson is bulk inert, which requires modern, reliable and efficient plant. For mobile equipment, Hopkinson operate Hyundai machines and the business has continued to invest in the South Korean manufacturer’s range of excavators and wheel loaders for its operations.  

Managing director David Hopkinson said: ‘We purchased our first Hyundai in 2004 which was a HL760-7 wheel loader. Local dealer EP Industries supplied the machine and we have continued to work with them ever since.

‘Our fleet of Hyundai machines deal mainly with highways and demolition waste so each unit has to be robust and reliable in performance. As we are busier than ever, we decided to purchase our biggest excavator to date and invested in the R220LC-9A model, coupled with the HL960 wheel loader.’

The latest 18-tonne 960 wheel loader is the first model in the HL series and will include the HL970, HL975 and HL980 units. The machine’s electrically operated engine cover, which features on the HL955 model, is a huge improvement on the HL760-9A unit. 

Powered by a Stage IV-compliant Cummins QSB6.7 engine (168kW), the HL960 wheel loader is equipped with a standard 3.3 cubic metre capacity bucket which has been upgraded with changeable heel plates and an additional spill guard to reduce the spillage of loaded materials. The HL960 unit is also said to offer up to 5% more productivity than the Dash-9A series excavators from Hyundai.