New Volvo wheel loader for Portland Stone Firms
Volvo L220H loading shovel to spearhead company’s mining operations at Perryfield Quarry
PORTLAND Stone Firms Ltd have taken delivery of a new Volvo L220H wheel loader for use at their Perryfield site on the Isle of Portland. The 32-tonne machine was chosen following a competitive tender process and is currently being utilized to help with the mining duties at Perryfield.
‘We started our mining operation at Perryfield Quarry in March and required a suitably sized loading shovel to help extract and handle dimensional stone from the underground faces of the mine,’ said quarry manager Andrew Jackson.
‘We found the Volvo team to be very proactive in working with us to agree on the specification of the L220H and checking all the details were correct to ensure the machine would do ‘what it says on the tin’. The overall package was very competitive too so all in all this prompted us to choose Volvo once again.’
Portland Stone are no strangers to operating Volvo equipment, having previously run a larger 50-tonne L330E loading shovel and an L180C wheel loader. The new L220H model is powered by a 13-litre Stage IV Final engine (373hp) and benefits from Volvo designed and manufactured driveline components, including the company’s Optishift system with torque converter lock-up and reverse-by-braking features – all designed to deliver better fuel economy.
Fuel savings are further enhanced by an ‘Eco pedal’ function that encourages the operator to run the machine at its optimum rev/min in the engine torque curve. The loading shovel is equipped with a 4.7 cubic metre-capacity general-purpose bucket and heavy-duty block forks capable of handling blocks weighing up to 24 tonnes.
To help meet the demanding operations at Perryfield Quarry, the L220H wheel loader has been specified with an additional block-handling counterweight, Michelin L5 XLDD2A tyres, an RDS Loadmaster weighing scale, a fire-suppression system, a Brigade white-noise reversing alarm, and a full lighting package.
The machine is used to extract and transport stone blocks to the mine entrance, where they are sorted and cut to meet customer requirements. The L220H then hauls the sawn material to a marshalling area at the top of the quarry where it is loaded on to trailers for customer deliveries or delivered to Portland Stone’s cutting facilities.
The wheel loader is also tasked with clearing waste in the quarry, which is disposed of at the site’s old quarry workings.
