Tillicoultry Quarries in Scotland invests in a big 35 tonne Volvo L250H Loading Shovel
Long standing user of Volvo Construction Equipment products, Tillicoultry Quarries, has purchased its largest Volvo loading shovel to date in the guise of the thirty five tonne L250H which takes up residence at the company’s Northfield Quarry on the outskirts of Denny.
“We looked very closely at the market for our new prime mover here at Northfield and considered several makes and models,” comments Area Production Manager Andy Shakeshaft. “Apart from the obvious requirements in terms of product relaibility and a return on the total cost of ownership, it was important for the machine to dispatch a standard eight wheeler in just two passes. We did consider the smaller L220 but felt that the larger thity-five tonne shovel complete with a 5.5m³ bucket was the optimum sized tool for the job,” he continues.
There were other factors that helped Tillicoultry Quarries to decide to opt for the Volvo L250H as well. “We’ve run Volvos for many years and have a good relationship with the customer support centre at Stirling,” continues Mr Shakeshaft. “The batch of six L120Hs we purchased last year has proved to be extremely reliable and very fuel efficient and gave us a good benchmark for considering fuel consumption over the life cycle of the Volvo product. Furthermore our operator preferences on machine choice were weighted in Volvo’s favour,” he says.
The L250H features a 13-litre Stage IV engine developing 394hp in a relatively low rpm range of between 1100 and 1200 rpm. The machine also benefits from Volvo designed and manufactured driveline components including Optishift with torque converter lock up and reverse by braking feature – all designed to offer considerable fuel savings each shift. 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.
The new Volvo L250H is a high production machine designed to increase productivity and profitability in heavy duty rock handling operations where short cycle times and high breakout forces are required as well as re-handling duties. To this end the L250H, like its bigger brother the L350F, sports a Z-bar loader linkage design. The high-lift capacity enables fully loaded buckets to be elevated to the maximum dumping height in fast cycle times. At Northfield Quarry, the L250H becomes the frontline sales loader primarily loading the full range of HGV delivery vehicles. If required, it could be utilised on face loading operations and other duties.
This latest addition has been joined by a further two Volvo L120H loading shovels for Tillicoultry’s expanding fleet of mobile plant with one machine also working at Northfield Quarry and the other unit going to work at the company’s Tams Loup Quarry. The machines join six L120Hs purchased in April last year bringing the total fleet of Volvo loading shovels to fifteen machines and Volvo articulated haulers totalling eight.
All the Volvo products are fitted with CareTrack as standard, which is Volvo’s telematics system that enables remote monitoring of a wide range of machine functions (e.g. location, fuel consumption, service reminders etc.) thus optimizing customer operations.
Tillicoultry Quarries Ltd was established in 1931 by R.W. Menzies at Craigfoot Quarry Tillicoultry, and remains 100% owned by the Menzies family. The company produces a wide range of construction materials incorporating a full range of aggregates, asphalts and ready mixed concrete. It has eleven operating units located throughout the Central Belt of Scotland, enabling efficient delivery of high quality products to all its customers. Integrated within its quarrying operations are six coating plants and five concrete plants which are capable of producing materials to the highest specification required for large volume motorway construction through to small volume private works.
Volvo Construction Equipment markets wheeled loaders, articulated haulers, hydraulic excavators, Volvo utility equipment and Volvo road equipment products in Great Britain. There are eight strategically placed customer support centres and a network of utility equipment dealers to ensure high quality customer support is maintained throughout the country.
