John Wade Group choose Case

Two Case CX240B-MH tracked material handlers have been purchased by Newton Aycliffe-based John Wade Group to meet demand at their rapidly expanding recycling and waste transfer facilities. According to the company, a third machine is likely to be required soon.

The crawler machines, supplied by local Case dealers CJ Leonard of Guisborough, come complete with factory-built hydraulically raising cabs and are fitted with fully rotational clam grabs to handle the waste material on site. One of the machines is used to sort out the waste that is delivered to the transfer station before being sent through a variety of screens and a picking station to be recycled. The other machine is used to feed sorted waste, including timber, green waste and tyres into shredders.

Roy Blair, waste transfer landfill manager, explained: ‘The waste-sorting machine works in conjunction with three floor pickers. One operates a Case CX50B mini excavator fitted with a grab and there are usually two sorting the waste manually.’

The use of the new CX240B-MH has improved the efficiency of the operation. Its reach is such that it can take material from the point of delivery and give it either to the floor pickers or put it onto the conveyor for screening without moving.

It has also helped to reduce the risks associated with floor pickers working in close proximity to the lorries and trucks delivering the waste. Using the material handler between the delivery lorries and the sorting area means there’s now a clearly defined point past which the floor pickers can’t go so they’re no longer in the transport area.

The other machine is used mainly on recycling duties and is never in one place too long as it’s always moving round site, from the wood to the green waste for example.

The machines each work a nine-and-a-half hour day, five days a week and have proven very popular, particularly regarding the stability of the raised cab. The long reach of the machines (they can reach to almost 12m) is another important attribute.

So far the machines have also proven resistant to the problems encountered by their predecessors. Roy Blair commented: ‘It’s a very dusty environment and the machine we had before would regularly choke up and shut the machine down. They would also overheat, but the Case machines have proven very reliable.’