Page 44 - HUB-4 Magazine Issue 90

Quarrying
Liebherr: The King of Rock
Liebherr emerged as first choice for an expanding quarry business
as it searched for a single flagship excavator to replace a pair of
ageing machines at a newly acquired hard rock operation.
Tynedale Roadstone is the quarrying and asphalt production
arm of Durham-based MGL Group and operates across the
north-east of England and North Yorkshire. Its recent
acquisition of the stock and assets of Kinegar Quarries saw it
move across the border into Scotland with the addition of two
more sites, Fulfordlees and Glenfin in Cockburnspath near
Dunbar.
before choosing the Liebherr R 966 and since its arrival it has
demonstrated exceptional performance, easily ripping and
loading the hard material.’
The new flagship machine sits on a pair of 5.69m long track
frames with 600mm wide double grouser pads to give the
required stability for the tough application. Track frames are
fixed, although Liebherr does offer a variable gauge option to
reduce transport width. As with other large excavators in the
manufacturer’s G6 range, the R 966 has a rounded and
streamlined upper structure housing a fuel-efficient 16-litre V8
Liebherr diesel engine delivering 435hp.
Fulfordlees is a large sand and gravel operation while just a
few miles away is Glenfin, a hard rock quarry producing a
range of aggregates from high-quality, high-PSV greywacke
sandstone. In the wake of the takeover, both sites have
undergone significant upgrading to include better welfare
facilities, modernised production and improved dust
suppression. One of the biggest single investments was
replacing Glenfin’s frontline excavators to boost productivity
and reduce operating costs.
The site has never been blasted, with all material won by
ripping and loading, most recently by 36- and 46-tonne
excavators which, while still in operation, had passed their
prime in terms of performance and reliability.
Quarry Production Manager John Laing explained: ‘We decided
to streamline operations by adopting the same method but
using only a single machine. We compared several brands
Various boom and dipper options are offered on the R 966 to
suit a variety of applications. Tynedale’s new arrival is working
exclusively on hard rock excavation so a 7m boom and 2.6m
stick were deemed to be the perfect combination. Also in the
specification was a hitch, bucket and ripper combination from
Miller Groundbreaking to enable the excavator to operate at
full potential.
The R 966 has a maximum bucket capacity of 5m3 although
the customer chose a smaller 4m3 version with a width of
1900mm to match the 30t-capacity dumper currently on site.
The heavy-duty bucket weighs almost 4.5 tonnes, the hitch
adds a further 3.5 tonnes and that translates to an average of
14 tonnes on each pass.
| p44 |
www.hub-4.com Jan/Feb - Issue 90