Volvo’s green credentials find favour with Stobart Biomass Products

Stobart Biomass Products Limited has ordered a total of 18 Volvo L120H loading shovels for six locations strategically located across mainland Great Britain.


The deal for 18 loading shovels was awarded following a successful competitive tendering process according to Stobart’s Head of Vehicle Sales and Replacements, Dale Foster. “Several factors led to us opting for the Volvo loading shovels.” he says. “Firstly the team at Volvo demonstrated good negotiating skills in formulating the final specification of the machines coupled with a competitive, bundled offering which includes a comprehensive repair and maintenance package. They were also able to present an effective cost of ownership projection over the life of the machines which we found to be very positive. Finally, their ability to provide total support to us nationwide via their customer support centres around the country clinched the deal,” continues Mr Foster.

The 18 new loading shovels will be phased in to six key biomass sites strategically located throughout mainland Great Britain over the next 12 months – the first machines have arrived and are at work on the company’s waste wood-fuelled biomass plant at Pollington near Doncaster.

The machines will have a split in specification, with a proportion supplied with long boom and 9.5m³ high tip buckets and some with standard boom and slightly smaller 7.0m³ buckets but will share options which include: Goodyear RL5k tyres, reversible cooling fans and optional axle and brake cooling, cyclone pre-cleaners, automatic lubrication, automatic fire suppression systems and reversing aids. In addition to the standard reversing camera an additional forward facing camera has been added to the roof of the cab. This supplementary aid for the operator has been added to overcome forward blind spots due to the size of the high tip bulk buckets.
The L120H is ideally sized for the applications on site, carrying out a full range of duties such as loading hi-sided bulkers with shredded wood for biomass as well as handling incoming material made up of a diverse range of waste wood product. For example, the long boom version sports a dump clearance height of 4.89m under the tipped bucket lip with a generous reach of 1.8m and can easily discharge product with an optimum material density of 400kg/m³ into bulk trailers. The addition of RDS Loadmaster Alpha 100 weighing devices calibrated to the 9.5m³ high tip buckets assist the machine operators in gauging the number of passes required to load vehicles.

The 20 tonne loading shovel from Volvo brings efficiencies in production output and fuel consumption. This is due to the latest Tier IV engine technology found in the Volvo 8 litre 276hp engine coupled to other energy efficient devices such as the Volvo Eco pedal encouraging the operator to run the machine at its optimum rpm in the engine’s torque curve. The addition of L5 tyres not only reduces wear running on the concrete pad, but adds to the machine’s lateral stability providing a full turn tipping load of 6,500kgs. Specifying the optional axle and brake cooling package for this type of application eliminates any risk of heat build-up and premature wear of the machines’ hub and brake components.

A significant element to the 18 machine deal is the inclusion of Volvo’s Gold service agreement which entails a full and comprehensive repair and maintenance programme offered by Volvo. This effectively means that the fleet will be fully maintained and cared for by Volvo trained technicians using genuine Volvo parts for the length of their tenure at Stobart Biomass Products.
Stobart Biomass Products is part of the Carlisle based Stobart Group, an infrastructure and support services business operating in the biomass energy, railway maintenance and aviation sectors as well as having investments in a property and logistics portfolio.

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