New Volvo Loaders for Stevenson Quarries

At Drury in South Auckland and Huntly in the Waikato, Volvo L180F and L220F machines are going about their business for Stevenson Aggregates, with a minimum of noise and with the least possible detrimental effect on the greater environment.

Stevenson Managing Director John Rae says the purchase of the Titan Volvos reflects the commitment Stevenson has made to its
neighbours – to put noise reduction at the top of the list of its criteria when selecting new machinery.

Steve Ellis, General Manager of Stevenson Aggregates, says: ‘Their impact on the environment was paramount – particularly their noise reduction for both the neighbourhood and for the operators.

‘Another key consideration for us was the fuel burn rate. Typically, we burn 14-17 litres per hour. With the new Volvos we’re getting a direct saving of between 5-10 litres per hour per unit.’

Repair and maintenance was another important concern before Stevenson committed to the purchase of the nine new Swedish-designed machines.

‘Obviously the longer you keep a machine like this, the more servicing they are likely to require, so we’ve also committed to a regular turnover of the machines at least every five years to reap the benefits of improved technology,’ says Steve.

‘Volvo’s technology enables us to download from the machine’s computer all the relevant data about the way in which the machine is being operated. We can see everything from the key-on time, to the idle time and the fuel burn,’ he adds.

‘The operators themselves can gauge their performance and efficiency, and the whole system now allows the quarry manager to have access to sophisticated technologies to manage the machines. He no longer needs to go by just ‘gut feel’, but by data and facts. They can run into a stock pile and in one or two scoops fill the truck and trailer. They have incredible power throughout the entire lift cycle, from start to finish.

‘We had bigger loaders previously and in fact we’ve gone down a size, but they’re doing the same job, only better and at a reduced fuel cost,’ says Steve.

‘The Volvo machines have no lead-based paint, no extreme polymers, and have components that can be recycled when a machine reaches the end of its life, as well as high productivity and low fuel burn. They were subjected to intense scrutiny from a very environmentally-conscious company,’ says Titan Volvo’s Ashley Mulligan. ‘We even went to the extent of selecting a particular tyre, which enabled us to 
increase the fuel efficiency by as much as eight per cent.’

Safety for the operators was also addressed in the purchase decision.  The cabs in these machines are the most dust-free of any on the market, with sophisticated filtration systems. The new ‘care cab’ includes a pre-filter and main filter, which offer 98 per cent efficiency at particle sizes 0.1-0.5 um microns, allowing for a much healthier working environment for the operators. With operations taking place at Drury quarry 12 hours a day, operator comfort is crucial.

‘The operators seem to like the joystick steering controls and the finger movement of the bucket controls,’ says Shane Toto, Quarry Manager at the Drury quarry. ‘Already we’re noticing the fuel consumption economy and the quietness of these new machines.
It’s early days, but we’re all very impressed.’