Operators at Coonamble Shire in the Central West of NSW are impressed with the arrival of two new machines, which have delivered higher productivity and lower fuel consumption compared with the units they replaced.
The two Komatsu machines, a WA430-6 Wheel Loader and a PC270-8 Excavator, were delivered to the council’s quarry operation in August–September 2012.
Quarry manager John Smith said operator acceptance of both machines had been outstanding. “I will tell you something, if I suggested I was going to take either one of these machines off the boys, I would have had a mass walkout. They just absolutely love them,” he said.
The excavator is used at the bottom of the quarry, excavating blasted material to feed the crusher, as well as feeding crushed material to the quarry’s slipscreen – which produces the council’s DGB20 roadbase product.
"Mate, it's quick, it's quiet"
The loader works around the stockpile area, stockpiling and mixing materials, loading out trucks, and cleaning up the area.
Smith said the operators appreciated the performance and stability of the excavator – which is bit larger than the machine it replaced – while the loader “basically is a really nice machine to drive”.
“Mate, it’s quick, it's quiet; I couldn't recommend it more highly to be quite honest with you. We are pretty stoked with it,” he said.
Fuel consumption of the two new machines is less than the machines they replaced, despite the units being larger than their predecessors. “With the previous loader, every day we put 220 to 230 litres of fuel in it; every second day with this Komatsu, which is a size larger, we are putting 265 to 270 litres of fuel – so we are getting two days’ work for the nearly the same amount of fuel,” Smith said.
“And it’s even better with the excavator. Our previous machine was a 20-tonner, and we used to fill it up twice a week. This Komatsu, we only fill up once a week,” he said.
Having opted for larger machines, the council is also seeing improved production. “The excavator sits up on a metre-high pad taking all the material out of the rock face and loading it onto the truck. It’s nice and stable, so there’s no rocking about,” said Smith.
“The bucket on it is a metre and a half […] and it can load our truck in nine buckets, against the previous excavator, which took 13. So we are saving time there.
“And with the loader, because we went up a size, when loading a road train, we are down two movements. We used to use five buckets to load a trailer, but now we can load it in four a trailer, so again, we are picking up time and money there,” he said.
Komatsu Australia is platinum sponsor of the 2013 IPWEA International Public Works Conference, held in Darwin, NT from August 11–15.
In the picture: Komatsu WA430-6 Wheel Loader