New lease of life for WCL Quarries’ machines
Two Cat D6 dozers get ‘second life’ following Finning repair and refurbishment work
TWO of WCL Quarries’ Caterpillar machines – A Cat D6T dozer and a Cat D6R model – have been given another 2,500 hours of undercarriage life following repair and refurbishment by Finning.
The Cat D6T operates at Griff Quarry, in Warwickshire, while the D6R is used at the company’s Ketley site. The two machines are essential to WCL Quarries’ operations, filling in void spaces with inert materials, carrying out compaction and levelling duties, and supporting mixed recycling procedures.
The D6R was originally taken to Finning for the supply and fitting of a Cat general-duty undercarriage. However, further inspection revealed that more maintenance work needed to be undertaken in order to extend the machine’s life cycle.
The repair work carried out on the unit included the supply and fitting of a new equalizer bar, bore-welding repairs to the chassis frame, and repairs to the steering linkage and parking brake switch.
Phil Birch, customer account manager with Finning UK and Ireland, commented: ‘Even the most competitive models require replacement eventually, but our Cat equipment can be rebuilt to deliver a cost-effective ‘second life’ at a fraction of the cost of buying new.
‘This suited WCL Quarries, who were keen to invest in extending the life of their machines, to improve productivity.’
WCL Quarries director Mark Deadman said: ‘We have a long-standing relationship with Finning, as we operate several Cat machines across our sites in the Midlands. So, we knew that we could trust them to carry out rigorous checks on our D6T and D6R units, and provide us with the necessary advice.
‘Finning reported that a number of repairs were needed after their inspection and we asked them to carry out the work; now our machines feel brand new.’
All Finning-certified machines undergo a stringent appraisal programme by highly qualified engineers. By analyzing technical information in the machine reports, the engineers are able to produce comprehensive repair plans that are bespoke for each unit.
