Volvo loader keeps production flowing at Angle Park Sand and Gravel
Angle Park Sand and Gravel Ltd, is an independent family-run business that was incorporated in 1961 by founder Frank Cuthbert and operates two sand and gravel pits close to Ladybank, Cupar, in the Howe of Fife.
Today, the business is run by father Ian and son Peter, representing the second and third generation of Cuthberts in residence at their Melville Gates and Mountcastle pits. “We’ve been working the Melville Gates site since 1971 and have owned and operated Volvo equipment pretty much from the start,” explains Peter Cuthbert. “We moved into the adjacent Mountcastle site five years ago and as the development of the site has progressed, we saw the need for a large loading shovel to take care of our production requirements,” he continues.
The new L150H is the company’s largest loading shovel to date which was displayed at this year’s ScotPlant event. The machine is in charge of all the main activities at the Mountcastle pit including digging at the face, feeding the plant and loading out road going wagons. “We specified the machine with boom suspension for long load and carry work but also, with the larger capacity bucket, we can turn vehicles around much quicker too,” says Peter. “Another important point for us was opting for the Volvo Load Assist feature and this is really paying dividends towards the machine’s efficiency on site. There is less than 1% discrepancy between what the machine is loading to, to what is weighed on the weigh-bridge and this saves significant time when loading vehicles, forgoing the need for them to top up or discard excess loads which makes our production flow faster.”
The L150H benefits from Volvo designed and manufactured driveline components designed to offer considerable fuel savings every shift with a 13-litre 300hp Volvo stage-IV engine.
One of the key features is that a maximum torque of 1317Nm is achieved at just 1,450rpm with the resultant fuel savings further enhanced by the Volvo Eco-pedal, encouraging the operator to run the machine at its optimum rpm in the engine’s torque.
“We certainly appreciate the reliability and performance of the Volvo loading shovels and, so far, our largest machine to date is doing a great job in our Mouncastle pit,” says Peter.
Angle Park Sand & Gravel Ltd is a family-run independent supplier of quality sand and gravel and currently operates from two units in the Howe of Fife, allowing efficient delivery of its products throughout the Central Belt of Scotland and providing sand and gravel supplies to the domestic and commercial markets.
SMT GB markets Volvo Construction Equipment products which include 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, a dedicated National Used Equipment Centre and a network of utility equipment dealers to ensure high quality customer support is maintained throughout the country.
