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Excavator has south coast quarry raring to go

 

To make sure nothing goes to waste, a quarrying business in New South Wales is making a name for itself in the crushing and recycling space – with the aid of a new excavator. 

South Coast Concrete Crushing & Recycling (SCCCR) has operated in Nowra, 150 kilometres south of Sydney, for more than 20 years.

Headquartered in a hard rock quarry producing 500,000 tonnes per year, SCCCR serves the south coast with a mix of raw and recycled construction materials to turn old into new. 

The business takes from demolition sites, other quarries, and construction projects across the Wollongong and Nowra regions to reduce the volume of virgin quarried materials required for new construction projects. 

Not only will SCCCR crush and recycle concrete but all recyclable masonry products including brick, concrete, tiles and asphalt.

And to manage these tonnes of materials – repurposed or raw – SCCCR relies on Kobelco machinery.  SCCCR has reaped the success of its Kobelco SK350 and SK500 excavators, racking up tens of thousands of hours on multiple units over the years. 

Now they will enjoy the successors to these machines, in the form of several new Kobelco XD Series excavators—more specifically, two new SK380XDLC-10s and an SK500XDLC-10.

To deliver this, SCCCR relies on South Coast Trucks & Machinery (STM), a local Kobelco dealer that’s served the quarry well since its inception. 

STM machinery salesman, Steve Jones, explained why the Kobelco excavators were perfect for SCCCR’s application. 

“The new SK380XDLC-10 and SK500XDLC-10 models are a clear generation ahead, with even further upgrades designed to match high output hard rock quarry applications,” Jones told Quarry.

“The SK380 is almost 38 tonnes and suited to some of the hardest conditions a quarry could throw at it.”

The SK380XD comes with a 7.68-litre Hino turbo-charged, liquid-cooled, diesel engine to generate more than 209kW of power.

At the same time, this machine still maintains its fuel consumption under 20 litres per hour, even in heavy conditions. 

SCCCR owner Budd Green said he was looking forward to giving the new excavator a real go at his Nowra operation. 

“I’m really excited about using the SK380XD as it’s a bit more heavy-duty and beefed up for a quarry environment,” Green said. “They’re similar to the SK350s but they’ve got few more protections and strength areas built in that will hopefully give us a more robust machine. 

SCCCR owner Budd Green stays loyal to Kobelco for support and productivity.

“We’re a natural extraction quarry but also do recycling work, so our machines are required in quite heavy-duty applications in dealing with our blast cap rock. They then have to feed and maintain the feed up to our crushers as well.”

SCCCR is owned by Budd’s main operation, JBG Contractors, which has worked in the same region for 40 years on civil works such as carparks and roads, subdivisions and large bulk excavations.

Jones said that a sturdy relationship between STM and Green’s companies has allowed everyone involved to get the best from their businesses and from Kobelco. 

“Having operated Kobelco and opposition excavators in the 30- to 60-tonne class for the past 10 years, JBG Group and SCCCR Quarries have obtained a thorough understanding and appreciation for the outstanding performance of the Kobelco machines compared to opposition products,” Jones said. 

While employing 35 people and operating at maximum capacity for some years, SCCCR requires the most economic operations possible, like similar businesses across Australia. 

Accordingly, the result of STM and Kobelco’s service and reliability is displayed in the running hours on some of Green’s machinery. 

“The back-up and support in the form of servicing and maintenance can’t be faulted. We’ve still got some machines that are nearing 15,000 hours,” Green said. 

“Kobelco have always supplied good pieces of gear and plant for us, so I was happy to go back to STM and Kobelco if it meant more of the same. 

“I’ve never had any issue with them and their productivity, so I’ve got no reason to look anywhere else.”

With the new SK380XDs and SK500XD delivered and ready for a full year ahead, Green said business was booming and he was keen to give the machines a chance to play an important role for SCCCR. 

“I was pretty excited for them to arrive, I was ringing the team up for a few weeks asking when they would be delivered as we’ve got plenty of projects booked in for 2022,” he concluded. 

“We gave the guys a good break over Christmas and now we’re all ready to go for the New Year.” •

For more information about South Coast Concrete Crushing & Recycling, visit scccrquarries.com.au

To learn more about Kobelco Construction Machinery Australia products, visit kobelco.com.au 

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