The first Liebherr PR 746 dozer in operation in the UK

The range of Liebherr dozers available in the UK has recently been expanded with the introduction of the 30 tonne PR 746 crawler tractor.

The first example of this model has joined the Liebherr-Rental fleet and has been snapped up on a long-term hire by earthmoving specialists Stokey Plant Hire Ltd.

Stokey Plant Hire works across a wide range of industry applications with its main focus on bulk muck-shifting operations. Working for blue-chip companies, Stokey Plant Hire is expected to supply operators and machinery capable of undertaking specific projects on time and to budget. To meet these requirements, the company demands a lot from its machinery and the new Liebherr has not disappointed.

Powered by a fuel-efficient Liebherr-made diesel engine pushing out 252 HP, the PR 746 complies with Stage IV emissions regulations, thanks solely to the addition of an AdBlue treatment system. Liebherr’s highly-efficient hydrostatic drive system provides a positive benefit compared to a conventional drive as the engine runs at a constant RPM, which decreases fuel use. The hydrostatic drive system automatically adjusts the working speed to the load conditions and, with oversized final drive units, ensures the power is always transmitted to the tracks. This results in powerful and precise steering control.

The Generation 6 crawler dozers from Liebherr offer an exceptionally smooth ride along with precision blade control. This ensures maximum productivity both when pushing heavy material and when fine grading. To service the popularity of machine control systems, Liebherr offers factory-fitted plug-and-play packages for the most common and popular operating systems. The Liebherr stepless drive system is ideally suited to this type of machine control system and the factory-installed preparation kits offer maximum flexibility to meet the operator’s needs, whether that be a 2D or 3D system.

Liebherr’s new generation cab offers an ideal workspace with an excellent seating position. The seat is angled and a smaller diameter front idler is used to provide the operator with unrivalled views of both blade corners and a view of the 3-shank ripper without needing to twist their upper body. All controls are positioned easily to hand and the old analogue dash has been replaced with a new touchscreen version similar to that found on other Liebherr machines.

Stokey Plant Hire has been using the PR 746 on a variety of contracts with major quarrying companies, most recently to level out waste rock sand on a tip with the 6 m3 straight blade making it ideal for this project. Regular operator Adrian Lovett comments that the machine is a very good and reliable tool: “It can certainly push the material and the amount of control available makes it very easy for me to grade this rocky material to a level. Stokey’s site management have been very impressed with the PR 746. The overall performance of the machine has been significantly higher than similar machines on the fleet with a marked drop in fuel consumption too.”