Quality assurance from Liebherr

When a business is founded on the quality of its products, it follows that similar standards are demanded from its front-line equipment. Which is why Longcliffe Quarries returned to Liebherr Rental when it required a pair of high-performance wheeled loaders...

Longcliffe shifts more than a million tonnes a year of high-quality calcium carbonates for the construction, agricultural, manufacturing and other industries. At Its Brassington Moor quarry at Matlock in Derbyshire the company produces a range of limestone products and helping to maintain output over the next three years under a lease deal will be a pair of 29-tonne L 580 XPower® shovels carrying 5.7m³ general-purpose buckets.

They were brought in to replace similar-sized models in a large fleet that’s a mix of owned and rented equipment. ‘That gives us the flexibility we need to run our business,’ explained quarry manager Jon Murgatroyd.

Last year the quarry took delivery of a new R 972 excavator from Liebherr’s rental division and executives needed no convincing to return when the shovels became due for replacement, as Murgatroyd explained: ‘We were very impressed with the way in which Liebherr Rental approached our early request and our requirements for the excavator. We were on the cusp of looking for a pair of wheeled loaders at the time and again, Gareth Blythin [Liebherr’s national rental contracts manager] came up with a very good deal.’

A million tonnes a year is a reasonable volume but Longcliffe’s business model values quality over quantity; it wants only the best stone to manufacture the various grades of industrial powders that are used worldwide. Stone not used in those processes is crushed and screened into aggregates for construction purposes.

A huge stockyard adjacent to the crushing and processing plants holds various sizes of crushed aggregate and there’s a steady stream of eight-wheeled tippers coming through the gates. The L 580s, part of the manufacturer’s Generation 6 range, were both supplied with Liebherr’s standard Z-bar configuration loader arms which, with a load-over height of just under 4m, means a standard tipper body can be loaded with ease – the 5.7m³ straight-edge buckets with bolt-on cutting edges will fill an average tipper in just two passes.

Inside, the cabs have won praise from operators who enjoy the comfortable seats and large expanses of glass that provide allowing excellent visibility to front and sides. Liebherr’s 360° camera system and rear-facing active personnel detection system are a further safety bonus. Standard across Liebherr Rental machines in the UK, the detection system is able to differentiate between a person and an object and will apply the brakes automatically within 6m of a person being detected. ‘We have a huge responsibility for safety at our sites,’ commented operations director Chris Wainright. ‘The inclusion of these systems as standard was a huge plus point for us, not only in terms of safety but in terms of having them included in the manufacturer’s package.’

Transmissions in the L 580 models are married to 6-cylinder Liebherr diesels developing 313hp while the comprehensive standard equipment package includes joystick steering – common to every wheel loader on the rental fleet – Liebherr’s own dynamic weighing system and LED adaptive lighting that proves valuable during winter months.

Since their arrival earlier in the year, both loaders have been busy servicing the stockpiles, the processing plant and other areas of the quarry. They will be maintained throughout their life on the site by Liebherr Rental’s own service teams.

Last word on Liebherr Rental’s service back-up goes to Jon Murgatroyd: ‘We’ve had no major issues and any questions we’ve had have been dealt with promptly and efficiently.’