Volvo shovels herald a new chapter for Oxbow Coal Ltd
Four brand new Volvo loading shovels have been purchased by Oxbow Coal Ltd as part of a significant investment as the company embarks on a new chapter at its Immingham based operations.
The package includes two new Volvo L150G and two new L180G loading shovels which have been deployed as the prime movers at Oxbow Coal’s Immingham facility and will be responsible for handling up to one million tonnes of imported coal per annum. “Following a competitive tender process we finally settled on the Volvo product for several reasons,” explains Oxbow Coal’s Commercial Manager Mark Robinson. “Firstly we’ve run Volvo’s in the past and had a positive experience when it comes to reliability and secondly, the offer from Volvo represented good value for money with the prospect of high residual values, competitive serving costs and the proximity of the local support centre,” he continues.
Both the L150G and L180G feature a 13 litre Stage IIIB compliant engine producing 300 and 333 hp respectively, optishift transmissions and axles all designed and manufactured by Volvo. The G series models benefit from a 20% increase in lifting force and 10% increase in breakout force over their predecessors and this coupled to the engine output with high torque at low engine rpm has resulted in faster cycle times and increased productivity. Two stronger, variable displacement load-bearing axial piston pumps and hoses have been introduced to handle the increased pressures. These provide superior control of the load and attachments, as well as high breakout force, faster lifting and tilt functions. A new hydraulic cooling system has been designed to reduce the working temperatures by up to 20oC over the F series model. Fuel savings are further enhanced by the Volvo Eco pedal encouraging the operator to run the machine at its optimum rpm in the engine’s torque curve.
“All four machines are equipped with attachment brackets to facilitate a quick changeover of attachments,” says Mr Robinson. “This gives us total flexibility on site although we’ve put the two larger L180G loading shovels in charge of receiving and storing incoming material. This includes ramping up the coal into stockpiles utilising high capacity bulk material buckets and bespoke pusher blades, whereas the two L150G’s are deployed in loading out material either into road going wagons or by train using hi tip buckets.”
The four new Volvo loading shovels are part of a significant investment at Oxbow’s Immingham facility by the parent company in the USA which includes new screening equipment, lighting towers, additional mobile plant and ancillary equipment. The machines have been supplied complete with Volvo’s Blue service agreements and will be supported by Volvo’s local Immingham customer support centre.