Page 28 - HUB-4 Magazine Issue 97

Recycling - Special Feature
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’.
What I noticed instantly was the
speed and precision
Lee Wills, operator
| p28 |
www.hub-4.com March/April - Issue 97