Large impressive wellies for RC Baker Ltd….
Can appropriately describe the agricultural contracting company’s new Volvo L70H loading shovel that’s been supplied on a set of Michelin Mega X Bib wheel and tyre assemblies!
Delivered in time for 2015’s silage season and bumper grain harvest RC Baker Ltd of Banbury, Oxon opted once again to take a Volvo loading shovel into its extensive fleet of sophisticated agricultural equipment. The latest Tier IV Volvo L70H loading shovel maintains a tradition of operating Volvo equipment since 1991 when the company purchased its first L50 and continues even now with a tried and trusted L50E. The new 14 tonne shovel is pretty much a quantum leap from the older machine according to Chris Baker who along with his brother Stephen and sister Jennie ably assist their father and founder of the company – Charlie Baker.
The new machine is a dream to operate,” says Chris. “Not only is it stable, particularly when we road it from site to site, but it gives an impressive performance when we’re building silage clamps and can ramp up and push as much as 14 tonnes at a time. The tractive effort is awesome! On grain handling duties it fills the 6m³ high tip bucket with perfect ease with around 4 tonnes per bucket load and at the height of the harvest we were dispatching as many as ten high sided grain bulkers in under three hours with 300 tonnes of material.”
The biggest feature of the new resident loading shovel is the large Michelin 750/65 Mega XBib wheel and tyre assemblies. These transform the operating characteristics of the machine which are ideally suited to the typical applications RC Baker undertakes around an approximate 30 mile radius of Banbury. The machine has been supplied complete with a Volvo 6m³ light materials high tip bucket for grain handling and in addition, RC Baker has purchased a bespoke hydraulically folding silage fork with an extended width of 14 feet from local attachment suppliers Cherry Products Ltd. In addition the machine has benefitted from optional boom suspension which goes a long way to aid operator comfort travelling on the road, additional work lights and a reversible fan for working in the grain sheds and a Groeneveld automatic greasing system.
The Volvo L70H benefits from a Volvo designed and purpose built powertrain including the latest Tier IV final 6 litre 173hp engine, transmission and axles. The machine also benefits from energy efficient devices such as the Volvo Eco pedal encouraging the operator to run the machine at its optimum rpm in the engine’s torque curve. Equipped with the 6m³ high tip bucket the machine provides a generous load over height of 4.32m under the tipped bucket with a forward reach of 1.87 metres.
Giving RC Baker complete peace of mind when it comes to machine maintenance, the L70H comes with Volvo’s Blue service agreement ensuring it will be maintained by qualified Volvo engineers using genuine Volvo parts.