Earthmoving & soil compaction

Volvo’s new L250G wheel loader is being tested for the first time by a German family-run quarrying, logistics and concrete plant company with growing customer demands. Löderburger Baustoff + Transport (LBT), part of the larger Ferdinand Wesling Group, is using the machine at its two million tonnes a year yield limestone quarry in Stassfurt.

Compact compaction units are delivering increased performance – Mike Woof reports. Competition is tough in the market for non-ride-on compaction units, with two manufacturers now introducing revamped models. Both JCB and Wacker Neuson aim to claim a larger section of the market with their latest designs, compaction plates and remote-controlled trench rollers respectively.

The new noise-damped cab for Volvo‘s single drum soil compactors is said to make the machines more comfortable to operate for a full working shift. The comprehensively redesigned one-piece cab is now fitted on Volvo’s latest SD70, SD77, SD115, SD130 and SD160 single drum soil compactors. The noise damping is said to radically reduce the sound levels at the operator’s ear, which is said to cut fatigue levels over the full working shift.

The Wirtgen Group is developing its manufacturing facilities outside of Germany. The company has extensive operations in Brazil and China and has now opened a new plant in India, which has started production already. Joint president Stefan Wirtgen said, “The first machine we made was a Hamm compactor. It is specially developed for the Indian market.”

New machines are now coming to the international market, with Chinese firms producing a particularly strong showing. At the last BICES exhibition in Chinese capital Beijing, one of the most notable developments was how many of the country’s equipment manufacturers now offer ranges of soil compaction and/or asphalt compaction equipment.

Building on an 80-year history of serving customers in Russia, Caterpillar used the first CONEXPO Russia trade show in Moscow to unveil the first hydraulic excavator assembled at its facility in Tosno, Russia.