Capital Equipment News September 2021

WHEEL LOADERS

The loader and load receiver must be matched to optimise the number of passes.

Factors driving wheel loader efficiency Wheel loader efficiency is a principal objective for every site manager. In a one-on-one with Capital Equipment News , Volvo Construction Equipment product manager Anteneh Gebremeskel takes a closer look at the key parameters that affect wheel loader efficiency and some of the innovations the OEM has brought to market to help operations achieve high loading efficiency. By Mark Botha .

L oading efficiency – loading as much as possible as speedily and as optimally as possible – depends heavily on matching the required production, which relates to sizing the wheel loader correctly for the payload, to the amount of material to be moved. This is the view of Volvo Construction Equipment (Volvo CE) product manager Anteneh Gebremeskel, who says that work with a wheel loader often involves passing the load to a hauler or other load receiver, and that the number of these passes should be optimised by matching the loader to the receiver. “The loader should be configured according to boom length and the attachments to be used, among

others. These must be matched to prevent half-bucket passes as this constitutes waste.” The right machine settings, too, play an important part: “To be efficient, you need the right settings for how the transmission or hydraulics system should behave for each application – all these factors must come together for optimal efficiency.” He says that, while some owners may prefer to have one setting for all applications, Volvo CE’s machines can do better than that. “Our approach is to give operators more flexibility and control over their work environment, as they also play an important part in loading efficiency. In doing so, we strike a balance between providing

the right number of settings without making it too complicated and cumbersome.” Operator technique Volvo conducted an internal survey some years ago to determine how operator skill impacts tonne per hour and tonne per litre performance. “We invited some 80 operators operators were selected from within Volvo and from external staff, who are more skilled since operating wheel loaders is their daily work. “The range of their efficiency is alarmingly wide, even among professional operators. We saw a difference of up to 30% in fuel with skills levels ranging from ‘rookie’ to professional. These

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CAPITAL EQUIPMENT NEWS SEPTEMBER 2021