international
construction
april 2014
EARTHMOVING
32
Reducing the burn
Reducing
the burn
This yearmarked the start of strict Tier 4 Final/
Stage IV laws inNorthAmerica, resulting in a
flurry of new earthmoverswith a firm focus on
saving fuel.
HelenWright
reports.
A
lot has changed in the earthmoving sector over the last
year with manufacturers developing newmachines with
engines that comply with strict new off-highway diesel
exhaust emissions laws.
These new laws – known asTier 4 Final inNorthAmerica and
Stage IV inEurope – came into force at the start of 2014, aiming
to reduce the pollutants emitted by diesel-powered construction
equipment tonear-zero levels.
At the same time, thecostofultra-low sulphurdiesel, the typeof
fuel thatTier4Final engineshavebeendeveloped for, isbecoming
more andmore important to contractors.Margins remain tight,
and manufacturers report that the issue of fuel consumption is
cropping up time and again in conversationswith customers.
Indeed, Liebherr said exchanges of views with many of its
earthmoving customers during March’s ConExpo-Con/Agg
Another Tier 4 Final wheeled loader was also introduced by
Case in the form of the 3.6m
3
bucket capacity 921F.
JCB says the 457 offers a 16% fuel saving
compared to the previousmodel.
construction equipment exhibition confirmed this. It said higher
construction machinery efficiency was already an increasingly
important factor in purchase decisions for North American
markets.
A natural focus for product development, therefore, has been
to try to reduce the amount of diesel that constructionmachines
are burning in the first place. And some significant savings are
being reported on the latest Tier 4 Final-compliant earthmovers
– savings that have the potential tomake a real difference to the
lifecycle cost of running amachine.
However, the obvious counter-argument to this is the fact that
the latest, high tech, emissions-compliantmachines also cost a lot
more tobuy in the first place.This purchase cost vs lifetime value
calculation is one that contractors must weigh up themselves
whendecidingwhether topurchase anewmachine. But knowing
exactlywhat is onoffer, and the claims that themanufacturers are
making, is a goodplace to start.
Dirt pushers
As far as trackeddozers are concerned, newTier 4Finalmachines
include Komatsu America’s D65-18 and D155AX-8 models,
which come with a lot of extra technology on top of the new
engines.
The D65-18 is available as standard (EX) or in low ground
pressure configuration (PX), or as a wide track (WX) model.
Operatingweights range from45,500 lbs (20.6 tonnes) to49,700
