Liebherr gets into a Muddle

A scrap merchant which temporarily parted company with Liebherr rekindled the relationship after realising that the competition couldn’t match the German manufacturer’s quality...

‘We had always been a Liebherr user but we started looking at alternative makes to see what they could offer,’ explained James Muddle. ‘However, while some provided us with a close match, we always felt that the Liebherr product was just a step higher in terms of build quality.’

James is the director responsible for the daily running of the seven-acre site in Billingshurst, West Sussex, operated by family business Charles Muddle Ltd. It’s a busy place, handling and processing huge volumes of material for onward export and recycling and it’s a hard shift for the fleet of material handlers that keeps the operation running smoothly.

Latest to come on board is a Liebherr LH 50M Industry model with 18-metre reach and a hydraulically elevating arm that raises the cab and lifts the operator’s eye-line from 3.14 metres to 5.69 metres, making it easier and safer to distribute loads into trailers. Like most of the handlers sold by Liebherr, the LH 50M replaces the traditional steering wheel and column with a more responsive and smoother stick-steer option which, according to operator Lee Wills, is ‘far more relaxing when moving the machine around the yard’.

Like all Liebherr material handlers, the LH 50M is available with a variety of front-end equipment designed to suit loading conditions and materials. Muddle selected the GA17 option consisting of a 9.6 metre straight material handling boom matched to an 7.5 metre angled stick carrying a 0.9m³ GMM 50 five-tine scrap grab. Although the GA17 designation claims a maximum usable grab height of 18 metres, the ability to safely handle a stockpile of material closer to 15 metres is a bonus for the Muddle operation says Wills: ‘I know I have plenty of capacity to work safely placing material at the top of the stockpiles.’

Brought into replace a competitor’s machine of similar capacity, the new machine has made a big impression on the man at the controls. ‘What I noticed instantly was its speed and precision. Lifting the boom up under full load is far quicker and smoother and having that precision to place the grab exactly where it needs to be helps speed up the truck loading.’

Other important machines on site include a Liebherr A 924 with shear attachment to reduce larger items for further processing and an LH 26M with 13 metres reach, the latter differing from its stablemates in that is electricity-powered, using a 90kW motor to run the standard hydraulic system.

Muddle has opted to service the new LH 50M in-house using genuine Liebherr parts. ‘We do, however, have a comprehensive warranty on the machine to 10,000 hours which will ensure peace of mind for its entire operating life.’

Welcoming Muddle back under the Liebherr umbrella, area sales manager Andy Goddard commented: ‘We were disappointed they looked elsewhere for their machines for a couple of years but we worked hard to regain the business and it paid off.’

THE CUSTOMER

Charles Muddle Ltd has been trading in the metals industry over 40 years is currently under the second-generation stewardship of Stuart Muddle with son James running the day-to-day business in the yard. At the heart of its operation is a direct drive shredder which processes light iron and end-of-life vehicles to produce foundry-ready steel and non-ferrous metals.

[PULL-OUT QUOTE]

‘What I noticed instantly was the speed and precision’

Lee Wills, operator