New Volvo loaders arrive at Sheephill Quarry
Thompson Quarries break with tradition and take delivery of two Volvo L180H wheel loaders
BREAKING with their traditional brand of loading shovel, Thompson Quarries, a division of William Thompson & Son (Dumbarton) Ltd, have, for the first time, opted for a brace of Volvo L180H wheel loaders for their quarrying activities.
‘Moving to the Volvo brand has been a great experience so far,’ said managing director Andrew Thompson. ‘Our operators certainly appreciate the comfort and responsiveness of the machines, which already are proving to be the optimum-size shovels for our operations at Sheephill Quarry, returning high productivity with good fuel economy.’
The two machines have been equipped with heavy-duty L5 tyres and 6.0 cu metre rehandling buckets, one equipped with a straight edge for rehandling material at the wash plant and the other with teeth for working at the face, the quarried material being a hard whinstone basalt.
Both machines benefit from Volvo’s Co-pilot load-assist option, which is said to represent the latest in weigh-loading sophistication, allowing the operator to calibrate the bucket (or block-handling forks) via the touchscreen pad in the cab, as well as recording bucket loads and the number of buckets filled.
Moreover, the Co-pilot touchscreen automatically becomes a rear-view screen when the machine is put into reverse, and the system is also linked in with the Volvo’s Care Track telematics system, which can feed information to a remote location.
Powered by a 13-litre stage-IV final engine that develops 334hp in the relatively low range of 1,300–1400 rev/min, the 25-tonne L180H, complete with large-capacity rehandling bucket, offers a full-turn tipping load of 17.3 tonnes and is fully optimized for moving high tonnages in the quarry as well as loading road-going vehicles in just two passes.
Established in 1946 as a horse-and-cart coal-delivery service on the banks of the river Clyde, William Thompson & Son are now a fourth-generation family quarrying business serving the whole of Glasgow from Coatbridge to Paisley.
As well as its quarrying activities, the company provides additional services including recycled aggregates, crushing, landfill and recycling, ready-mixed concrete, and plant hire and general haulage.
