Two new Volvo prime movers for Johnsons Wellfield
Pair of 75-tonne EC750E mass excavators extracting Yorkstone blocks at Crosland Hill Quarry
JOHNSONS Wellfield of Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, have invested in a pair of 75-tonne Volvo EC750E excavators for use as the prime movers in extracting Yorkstone blocks at the company’s Crosland Hill Quarry.
The two new arrivals have replaced competitive makes of a similar tonnage and were chosen following a competitive tender process.
However, according to managing director, James Berry, the decision to opt for more Volvo machines was also due to the high reliability and productivity of the company’s existing 70-tonne EC700C, which was purchased in the spring of 2016.
‘We’ve been very pleased with the performance of our EC700C in terms of its capability at the quarry face and its reliability,’ he said. ‘It hasn’t missed a beat in this very hard and demanding application prising large dimensioned Yorkstone blocks directly from the face.’
The purchase of Volvo’s latest flagship excavators coincides with the company’s plans to extend quarrying activities at the Crosland Hill facility, and another factor in the purchasing decision was the EC750E’s ultra-low external noise level, which measures just 108dB(A).
The two new machines will work as a team prising out large Yorkstone blocks and handling overburden material. To facilitate this, they have been equipped in mass excavation configuration compete with hydraulic attachment brackets, heavy-duty 4.4 cubic metre Extreme rock buckets, and a heavy-duty ripper tooth.
Thus equipped, the EC750E provides a maximum breakout force of 383kN and a tearout force of 337kN, with the combination of the 6.6m boom and 2.9m dipper (mass excavation) giving a maximum reach of 11.46m and a maximum digging depth of 7.2m.
At the heart of the EC750E is a 16-litre, Stage-III V-ACT engine that develops 533hp and operates in conjunction with an advanced mode control-system, thus ensuring the maximum possible hydraulic horsepower available is delivered at a constant engine speed under varying load conditions.
A maximum torque of 2,570Nm is achieved at 1,350 rev/min, and this, in conjunction with the machine’s advanced hydraulic system, ensures maximum fuel-efficiency is achieved through every work cycle.
‘We’re more than confident that the additional operating weight, engine power and breakout force of the EC750E over the EC700C will guarantee the production requirements we are looking for going forward,’ concluded Mr Berry.
Johnsons Wellfield specialize in primary block extraction and the processing of dimensional stone from their 300-acre site on the outskirts of Huddersfield. The company has the largest facility in the UK for cutting and processing ‘buff hard’ Yorkstone, with the finished material adorning prestigious buildings and famous structures throughout the UK, including the Thames Embankment, the Houses of Parliament and the Victoria & Albert Museum.
