A helping hand

Mansfield Sand Company supplies specialist products to the sports, landscaping and equestrian sectors and relies on a fleet of Liebherr equipment for its raw material. When some extra capacity is needed, it turns to Liebherr Rental. The company operates Two Oaks Quarry in Sutton-in-Ashfield from which it extracts more than 500,000 tonnes a year of high-quality sand and gravels.

Material leaving the site each day is handled by Liebherr’s wheeled loaders on duties- ranging from feeding the plant to loading a procession of tippers for onward distribution. The quarry has a four-strong fleet of L 566 and L 576 loaders and earlier this year added extra muscle with a top-of-the-range L 586 XPower from Liebherr Rental.

The 33-tonne machine was used alongside the existing fleet to cope with the busy spring and summer period, providing extra capacity to ensure production targets were met. Fitted with a 6m3 general purpose bucket, the L 586 XPower is ideally suited to truck loading duties, capable of sending a 44t-capacity artic combination on its way in just three passes. Although the sand becomes very dense and heavy when wet, the XPower transmission ensures a full bucket every time the loader digs into the pile.

Assistant Quarry Manager Darren Lack likes the shovels: ‘We have enjoyed the productivity and reliability we have had from the Liebherr loaders. They are very powerful in the dig but also quick across the ground, giving us good cycle times. The XPower transmission took a little getting used to when the first machines arrived but once we settled into the best operating techniques, our team of operators were very happy with it.’

The L 586 was supplied to a particularly comprehensive specification including auto lube system, green seat belt kit, blue strobes, white noise reverse alarm and rear camera. Other features include 360-degree camera system, joystick steering and several Liebherr Assistance Systems including weigh loader and tyre pressure monitoring. And, as with all new Liebherr Rental XPower loaders, it features a rear personnel detection system that alerts the operator and activates the machine’s braking system to avoid any collision. Rounding off the package is Liebherr’s adaptive lighting which alters output from loader tower and cab-top lights so that there are no shadows as the bucket raises and lowers.

‘One of the things we like about taking additional plant from Liebherr Rental is that we know they will come fully specified to work in our environment,’ said Darren. ‘We know that when we order a machine it will turn up on the right date and with the right specification and ready for work.’