Two Liebherr Bulldozers for Hodge Plant Limited

Hodge Plant Limited, of Biggar, Strathclyde has invested in two Liebherr hydrostatic PR 734 LGP Litronic bulldozers to add to the company's dedicated and expanding bulldozer hire fleet. These latest machines join the Hodge fleet of over 120 machines and continue the company's principle of operating only the most modern, reliable and high-technology equipment.

Hodge Plant Limited has been a growing concern since its inception in 1986. With diverse interests in a range of both operated and non-operated plant, Hodge Plant offers a truly versatile hire service including:- Excavators, bulldozers, loading shovels, dumptrucks, rollers, hydraulic hammers, motor graders, mobile screening and crushing plants. Additionally, Hodge also carries out general earthworks, contract earthmoving, contract crushing and screening and also owns and operates Duneaton Quarry in South Lanarkshire, which is a major producer of hard stone aggregates meeting British Road & Highways grading standards.

The PR 734 LGP LItronic is a 22 tonnes class, 0.42kg/cm² low ground pressure (LGP) machine which features fully hydrostatic drive with electronic drive control. Power is provided by a Liebherr made 6 cylinder, turbo-charged D 936-L A6 Stage IIIA / Tier 3 reduced emissions diesel engine developing 150kW at 1800RPM. Hodge Plant Ltd has taken their two machines with the standard 4.10m³ capacity straight blades which are 1150mm height X 3995mm width.

The spacious, ergonomically designed cab features twin joystick levers and the operator's view of the surrounding area and working equipment is ideal. The instrument panel, with its built-in information display for all major machine functions, is positioned in the driver's central field of vision, but does not obstruct his view of the blade. The cabin lining has been optimised for better noise absorption and the hydrostatically driven engine cooling fan only runs when needed, keeping noise down to a particularly low level.

The successful Litronic control system provides an integral operating-data memory that can be read out on the multifunction display and Litronic is capable of matching the vehicle's steering response to its travel speed, which increases working efficiency even further when a curved path has to be followed.

On taking delivery of the new bulldozers, Hodge Plant Managing Director Alistair Hodge commented "We like the package Liebherr offers which includes a service scheme and undercarriage warranty. We never doubted the build quality and this, coupled with the back-up, means we can be confident in providing our customers with a reliable and productive hire machine. They are very economical to operate and have extremely good low fuel consumption figures....added to which, the operators really like these bulldozers!"