EQUIPMENT
Making an impression in Hungary
Contractor Versendko Mining tested a 4.2m
3
capacity LiuGong 877III wheeled loader for use on its
limestone quarry in Baranya County, Pécs, Hungary – the first piece of Chinese construction equipment
the company had tried.
Wheeled loader operator Csaba Balatinacz praised the productivity of the machine, saying, “First, it is
very easy to operate and it has a powerful engine with an easy transmission. That power is very useful
for driving into and lifting the rock.
“This is particularly useful when the rock is wet because it becomes much heavier for the same load
space – only the other day the warning gauge showed 9.95 tonne of wet load had been lifted but the
machine didn’t show any signs of a struggle. And yes, the machine is all standard specification.”
Zoltau Csako, owner of
Versendko Mining, decided to
buy the loader. “The LiuGong
machine has proved to be a
typical earthmoving machine
with no more and no less
problems than its competitors,”
he said. “The decision to buy
LiuGong was, of course, the
competitive price. But it also
came down to after-sales
service.”
52
CONSTRUCTION EUROPE
OCTOBER 2013
A glimpse of the future
The end of August saw Volvo
provide an insight into its on-going
R&D and the rational that lies
behind it, according to
Lindsay Gale
particulate filter and external
exhaust gas recirculation driven
by either a variable geometry or
wastegated turbocharger.
According to the company, the
new engines have undergone
bench and multi-application
field testing, and have proved to
reduce nitrogen oxide emissions
by 80% to just 0.4g/kWh.
The new range of engine is
also said to offer a 5% increase
in fuel efficiency and a 5%
reduction in CO
2
emissions over
a number of years, and Volvo has
been examining this technology
with a view to helping wheeled
loaders move 50% more material
using the same amount of fuel
as today.
And Volvo is also carrying out
R&D on the use of hybrid drive
systems. In both cases, there are
no immediate plans for Volvo to
introduce any equipment that
feature these driveline solutions
– it is more a situation of Volvo
being ready for possible future
customer-led demands.
More a concept that a real
production design, Volvo’s fifth
radical equipment design was
also shown for the first time.
As yet without a name, the
Volvo 300 concept design for
a mini-excavator makes use
of established technologies as
well as a number of theoretical
elements that are either under
development or are still to be
developed.
It also took its concept designs
further by unveiling what it calls
The Plan, which was a video
showing various of its concept
designs (particularly its future
ADT and excavator concepts)
operating on an autonomous site
“somewhere in the world” with
no operators behind the wheel
and all machine operations
controlled from a central
location.
ce
their Stage IIIB equivalents. The
test programme involved more
than 25,000 running hours in
articulated haulers, wheeled
loaders and excavators in a range
of environmental conditions,
from sub-zero temperatures
to extreme heat and at high
altitude.
In addition to its latest engine
range, Volvo also outlined the
developments it has been
examining where drivelines are
concerned. Continuously Variable
Transmissions (CVTs) have
been used with success in the
agricultural equipment sector for
The Volvo 300 is the fifth
concept design developed by the
company, in this case a radical
mini excavator
T
he meat of what Volvo
Construction Equipment
termed its Innovation Day
at its Eskilstuna, Sweden, facility
was the announcement of the six-
engine range that will start to be
introduced in 2014 to meet Tier
4 Final/Stage IV engine emission
legislation in the US and Europe.
Exhaust after-treatment is the
key to meeting these stringent
regulations, with the new
engines featuring selective
catalytic reduction, a diesel
The L35D compact loading
shovel was introduced in
Eskilstuna and was joined by
the smaller L30D
