Capital Equipment News January 2017

ARTICULATED DUMP TRUCKS

became the first customer to place the first order of three A60H units at bauma 2016. Tomas Kuta of Volvo CE says that bigger sized ADTs offer a better value proposition than their RDT counterparts in the same size category. He believes that the versatility of articulated trucks, along with availability of these larger machines, means they are gaining ground on rigid alternatives. Kuta believes that the 55 t ADT will take 60-80 t rigid trucks to task, especially where unfavourable underfoot conditions such as rain-washed sites, can bring rigid haulers to a complete halt. He also argues that the lure of a 40% more capacity on the A60H compared with the previous 43 t Volvo A40G, is too good to ignore. The new 55 t capacity A60H is the larg- est machine to be built by Volvo CE. It is ideal for heavy hauling in taxing off-road operations, including quarries, opencast mines and large earthmoving operations. It comes with a host of features aimed at im- proving onsite efficiency. With intelligent systems from Volvo CE, such as MATRIS, CareTrack and the On Board Weighing Sys- tem, fleet operators can optimise produc- tion and minimise operational costs. “CareTrack is the Volvo CE telematics system that offers access to a wide range of machine monitoring information designed to save the operator time and money,” says Marnix Reedijk, product manager of Customer Services at Volvo CE EMEA. CareTrack generates a wide range of reports – including fuel consumption, operational hours and geographical location – via a web portal, as well as sending SMS/email alerts. Fleet managers can use CareTrack to proactively manage their wear parts and their service maintenance. The benefits include a reduction in fuel costs, optimised machine and operator performance and increased uptime. Operation reports allow machine owners to monitor idle time – information that gives you the power to reduce fuel consumption, non-productive machine hours and service costs. Geo and time fencing features on CareTrack can notify the owner if a machine goes outside pre-set location and time boundaries. A status report provides access to fuel level, machine location and machine hours. Tipping large volumes Speaking of size, Barloworld Equipment, the southern African dealer for Caterpillar, introduced the Cat 745C, said to be Caterpillar’s flagship ADT, and a radical redesign of its previous star model, the Cat 740B. It notably comes with increased payload capacity, improved fuel efficiency and productivity, along with a host of

The new 55t capacity A60H is the largest machine to be built by VolcoCE

Bells rings big To further underline the growth in demand for bigger ADTs, Bell Equipment introduced its E-Series Large Truck range, a radical upgrade of the previous D-Series as far as payload is concerned. Du Pisanie believes that with the Large Truck range, the South African based OEM has introduced machines that offer better cost per tonne moved, a big driver for fleet owners operating in today’s challenging economic conditions. The Bell E-Series Large Truck range comes with significant increases in payloads. Compared with the B35D, the B35E has gone from 32,5 t to 33,5 t, while the B40E tips in with 39 t, compared with the 37 t on the previous B40D. During comparative testing between the B40E and the B40D, Bell found that, taking into account all the variables, the B40E up to 10% lower cost per tonne than its predecessor, the B40D. Du Pisanie explains some of the reasons behind the move towards increased payload. “The general rule for hauling earth is that bigger trucks give a lower cost per tonne. Right now the earthmoving industry in Africa is looking for the most cost-efficient operation. The commodity prices have dropped, and so has income,” reasons Du Pisanie. There are also other factors contributing to the lower cost per tonne of the E-Series. Firstly there is the new engine from Mercedes Benz, optimised for off-highway use by MTU, which offers more power and lower fuel consumption. Secondly there is the 7-speed Allison transmission which gives better performance and fuel burn than that fitted to the outgoing D-Series range of trucks. The demand for ultra-large (60 t) ADTs is coming from a number of sources. “Firstly,

we have customers who are looking for a solution for the simple reason that bigger is cheaper. The second source is that we have customers who run rigid dump trucks which struggle to give good productivity in wet, muddy and undulating conditions. There are smaller rigid dump trucks available in the market, but the smallest RDT sold in signif- icant numbers is a 60 t truck and that is why we decided to offer something that matched this size class in payload but which is sig- nificantly more capable off-road. The B60E offers a viable alternative to customers run- ning 60 t RDTs in conditions where the RDTs sometimes struggle with underfoot condi- tions,” adds Du Pisanie. While the B45E maintains the B45D’s 41 t payload, Du Pisanie believes this has the potential to be the company’s jewel in the crown. The company notes an increase in demand for 45 t trucks globally, and the B45E, with its rated payload of 41 000 kg, a bin volume of 25 m³, and a powerful new engine, has the potential to become the most popular model in the range due to its overall value proposition. “The B60E is another special offering in our range by virtue of it being our largest truck, which is also a ground-breaking con- cept. It is capable of moving large volumes of material in all weather conditions. It also provides a unique solution to a market segment that was previously contested by rigid trucks only,” says Du Pisanie. Enter Volvo Volvo CE also flexed a big ADT muscle with its new 55 t A60H that made the headlines at bauma 2016. The behemoth fits the bill for high production sites. It is interesting to note that a South African coal miner

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