A quarrying business committed to undertaking sustainable quarrying practices has completed a three-year trial of a Liebherr wheel loader that best suits its objectives.
The Isaac Group has helped to build the South Island of New Zealand since the 1950s, when its founders Sir Neil and Lady Diana Isaac combined their love of construction and conservation.
After forming solid foundations in earthmoving and civil construction, Isaac Construction began quarrying its own material from the Isaacs’ home.
Soon after, as their land disturbance grew, the couple looked to satiate their interest in land conservation and set up the Isaac Conservation and Wildlife Trust, which still runs in conjunction with the company’s four quarries.
The Isaac Group’s chief executive officer Jeremy Dixon told Quarry how the Trust and construction group came to cohabitate.
“What’s differentiated the business since that point is the Isaacs had a passion for conservation which was unusual for people in the 1970s,” Dixon said. “They quarried out a lot of land which is one of our biggest assets.
“As they had that passion for conservation, they decided to set up a conservation park and rehabilitate some of the quarried land back into wetlands, native bush and the conservation park for the breeding of endangered New Zealand animals.
“It evolved to a point where it was put into a Trust, along with the land and the Trust owns the company.”
COMPLEMENTING TRUST VALUES
To advocate for environmental responsibility while constructing half a nation takes a great deal of balance and the tools to match.
That’s why three years ago the company decided to trial one of Liebherr’s L 580 XPower wheel loaders to complement its pillars of sustainability and productivity.
Dixon said the machine has performed well ever since, with a fuel efficiency of about 14 litres per hour and a 230kW engine supporting his decision to buy.
“We heard some good things about the L 580 XPower’s fuel efficiency. We didn’t know how it would go for maintenance or how it would perform against our traditional loaders. But the L 580 XPower has performed really, really well,” Dixon said.
“It’s shown a massive reduction of fuel usage compared to our usual loaders in the fleet.
“We’ve owned it now for around three years and it’s performed really well maintenance-wise – probably better than some of our loaders – and its noise is also lower.”
“The guys really enjoy driving it as well. It’s got some good grunt, good power, it’s really smooth and it’s well set up.”
POWER AND EFFICIENCY
Noel Tosolini, the national sales manager for Liebherr-Australia’s and New Zealand’s Earthmoving Division, told Quarry this balance of power and efficiency is achieved using the Liebherr XPower dual driveline, which combines the hydrostatic and mechanical drive.
The driveline provides better acceleration and travel speeds among other important benefits.
“The interaction between these two drives is continuously adjusted automatically,” Tosolini said. “As the result, XPower offers the optimal level of efficiency during material loading and transport, as well as providing maximum acceleration and performance along all loading cycles – including long routes.”
Liebherr has incorporated an improved bucket design for faster filling, while an intuitive counterweight at the back continues to uphold that balance which Liebherr and Isaac have strived for.
“Together, the innovative features help to increase the handling capacity per hour of operation, save time and therefore, increase productivity while optimising running costs,” Tosolini said.
Liebherr has ensured the Isaac Group was provided with the highest quality service throughout its ownership of the trial unit, which speaks to the longevity of the three-year trial.
With sales, parts and service availability seven days per week, Liebherr lives its core values promise: “We are a trustworthy partner”.
Dixon attested to the amicable partnership held with Liebherr over the past few years. While the Isaac Group isn’t currently in the market for any more machines at this stage, he said Liebherr would be a front-runner for Isaac’s business in the future.
“I think we were the first ones to get the L 580 XPower locally and Liebherr have been brilliant,” he said.
“We took a bit of a punt and they’ve been really good around the technical support from overseas and the local support in sales. We’ve had no problems whatsoever.”
Adding to its value , the 580 XPower’s fuel efficiency and reduced noise can provide significant selling points when quarries consult with their customers.
Dixon explained how important this was when Isaac considered going with Liebherr.
“It saves us money but it’s also something we can use when our customers are inquiring to let them know they’re buying product which has been obtained in a more sustainable way with lower use of carbon-based fuels,” Dixon said.
“Quarries aren’t traditionally seen in a great light around how they behave and look with dust control and how they operate.
“But our business with the conservation park, the quarry rehabilitation projects we do and then this investment in machinery which has lower fuel use and less noise really adds to the story of what we’re trying to achieve.”
For more information about the Isaac Conservation and Wildlife Trust, visit isaacconservation.org.nz •
More information about the XPower L 580 wheel loader can be found on the Liebherr website: liebherr.com
This article appears in the September issue of Quarry Magazine.