McKinstry staying loyal to JCB equipment
Northern Ireland recycling firm boosts productivity with several new JCB machines
MCKINSTRY Skip Hire run a fleet of 14 JCB machines – all supplied by local dealers BC Plant. Sourcing a large fleet of materials-handling units from a single supplier helps the company to maximize productivity as part of its growing operations. This is not only because the products are designed to handle the waste and recycling environments, but also McKinstry can easily turn to one source for support to maintain uptime for its entire fleet.
The latest additions to the waste-management firm’s materials-handling fleet include: a 437 loading shovel; two Wastemaster Loadalls (560-80 and 531-70); and a JS131 tracked excavator.
Another recent acquisition was a JS20MH materials-handler. With this machine, the operator is able to gain enhanced visibility over a working site and high piles of waste, thanks to its hydraulically raised cab.
McKinstry specialize in waste-management and recycling (construction and demolition waste), skip hire and the supply of quarry products. From its plants in Nutts Corner, Belfast and Portadown, the business provides cost-effective and efficient waste solutions to customers from a wide variety of sectors.
Seven JCB machines currently work at the Nutts Corner facility, which is McKinstry’s main site and where the company has made significant investments in its material recovery facility (MRF). With McKinstry striving towards achieving zero waste to landfill, they are playing a significant role in the development of sustainability in Northern Ireland.
A decade ago, 90% of all waste materials collected by McKinstry went straight to landfill. However, this has now been reversed with over 90% of waste being recycled – with a broad variety of waste streams leaving its MRF for destinations across the globe.
The material-handling machines are vital in keeping all of McKinstry’s operations productive and, according to Mark McKinstry, among the key waste-spec features is the ‘maintenance-free’ solid tyres, which have become a major contributor to uptime.
He also cited safety-reversing cameras, immobilizers and ground clearance capability, which allows the machines to efficiently drive over waste. McKinstry are also keen on keeping their fleet operating at optimum productivity by not racking up the hours on the hard working machines.
‘We have a programme to replenish our JCB machines because we don’t want to put a high number of hours on them – some units can have up to 7,000 hours clocked,’ said Mr McKinstry. ‘We now want to replace our machines after 2,500 hours, which is the secret to running efficient mobile equipment.’
