New Volvo loading shovel for O-I Manufacturing
Quarry operator purchases L150H wheel loader for handling high-quality silica sand at Devilla Quarry
MAINTAINING a long tradition of operating Volvo machinery, O-I Manufacturing, one of the world’s leading glass bottle manufacturers, have taken delivery of a new 22-tonne L150H loading shovel for handling silica sand at Devilla Quarry at Bogside, near Alloa, in Scotland.
The company has been operating Volvo equipment at the site since 1996 and, according to quarry manager Gareth Jones, the key reasons for staying loyal to the Volvo brand are reliability, service support and overall product quality.
‘Apart from a crawler dozer, all our mobile plant consists of Volvo-branded products including loading shovels, articulated haulers and a long-reach 21-tonne excavator,’ he commented. ‘It’s the product quality and reliability of our Volvo machines and, not least, the after-sales support we enjoy which are the main drivers for us to continue favouring the Volvo brand.’
Replacing a G-series model which clocked up to 6,400h of virtually trouble-free service, the new L150H wheel loader joins an existing Volvo fleet that includes two A30 articulated haulers, two L120H loading shovels, a long-reach EC200D excavator and a compact 5.5-tonne EC55C model.
The L150H unit has now taken over as the quarry’s prime extractive machine – loading silica sand from the face into the two A30 articulated dumptrucks. The loading shovel is powered by a 300hp, 13-litre Stage IV Final engine and benefits from Volvo-manufactured driveline components designed to offer considerable fuel savings.
The machine, for example, delivers a maximum torque of 1,317Nm at 1,450 rev/min, while fuel savings are further enhanced by an ‘Eco pedal’, encouraging the operator to run the machine at its optimum rev/min in the engine torque curve.
Another notable feature of the L150H is its 3.6 cubic metre-capacity bucket. As well as the standard bucket configuration, including spill bars, O-I Manufacturing have added 40mm thick edges welded to the underside of the teeth.
‘The very nature of the material we are extracting at Devilla means we experience a high rate of wear to the ground-engaging equipment, so in order to combat this we’ve added 40mm of Hardox 400 material to the underside of the teeth and heel plates of the bucket,’ said Mr Jones.
The L150H wheel loader is fitted with Volvo’s CareTrack telematics system as standard. This allows remote monitoring of a wide range of machine functions (eg location, fuel consumption, service reminders etc). O-I Manufacturing have also taken out a Volvo Gold service agreement on the machine, which means it will be fully maintained and cared for by Volvo-trained technicians using genuine OEM parts.
