Liebherr Loader Plays Major Role in Woodwaste Recycling

• 
• 12th October 2007
• Recycling
 

Urban Forest, a sister company of Allclear Environmental, opened a new £4 million wood recycling facility at Newry at the beginning of the year and is currently processing around 35,000 tonnes of woodwaste annually, targeting 50,000 tonnes capacity as the new operation gets into full swing. A wide variety of woodwaste is processed, generating a range of high quality end-products such as equine, poultry and cattle bedding, equine arena surfacing, landscape mulch, boiler and incinerator fuels. The company also supplies chip for panel board production. As part of the major investment in their new woodwaste processing facility - believed to be the first dedicated operation of its type in Ireland - Urban Forest has taken a new generation Liebherr L 538P_2plus1 High Lift wheeled loading shovel to carry out the varied and high volume materials handling tasks on site.

Urban Forest's new Liebherr loader is proving to be both productive and versatile, handling and stockpiling the incoming woodwaste, loading high-sided bulkers with woodfibre and woodchips and feeding the shredder. The 3.5m³ high-tip bucket and high lift arms give a dump clearance of 5.2 metres, providing height to spare when loading bulkers and, for example, the time taken to complete bulker loading has been cut from 45 to 15 minutes per vehicle when compared with the telehandler previously employed for this task. The bucket arms are of parallelogram configuration with two tilt cylinders and hydraulic quickhitch. The high-tip bucket selected by Urban Forest is fitted with a top clamp to secure woodchips when travelling.

The Liebherr L 538P_2plus1 is an articulated, hydrostatic drive machine in the 12 tonnes operating weight class and with a tipping load of just over 8 tonnes. Powered by a new generation Liebherr diesel engine type D 934 S AG, developing 105kW, this wheeled loader is powerful, agile and highly responsive. The hydrostatic drive and Tier 3 engine combine to produce excellent fuel consumption returns - as little as 6 litres per hour with the corresponding and significant reduction in CO emissions.

Urban Forest's L 538P_2plus1 is specified for waste handling operations with numerous features for this specific application. Solid tyres eliminate punctures and both axles have limited slip differentials to avoid wheel spin for maximum push, with the added benefit of prolonged tyre life. The loader has full underbelly protection and has been fitted with bucket ram guards.

In a dusty environment, engine protection is paramount and the L 538P combats dust incursion with a cyclonic pre-cleaner for the engine induction system. The isolated cooling pack is equipped with a fine mesh filter and an automatic reversing fan to maintain cooling efficiency. The operator's cab is typically comfortable, functional and a superb example of the science of ergonomics. Air-conditioned with full instrumentation, it is safety glazed with tinted armoured glass to the front guarded screen, fully sound-proofed and vibration dampened with ROPS and FOPS protection. The steering column is fully adjustable and the attachment control is via multi-directional joystick integrated into the seat armrest.

Further information:                                                              
Liebherr-Great Britain Limited
Telephone: 01767-602100
Fax: 01767-602110