Australian Earth Training founder Scott Lidster shares his experiences operating a Volvo EC950 fitted with a 6.6m³ heavy-duty XMOR High Production bucket from ONTRAC Group.
Scott, tell us about your background – where you come from and how you fit into the quarry industry.
I’m an operator. I’ve been operating equipment for more than 35 years now, in a lot of facets, construction, quarrying, mining, etc. In the past 15 years, I’ve been in the training side of our industry and for the past seven or eight years, I’ve had my own company, Australian Earth Training.
We support the quarrying industry with proficiency-based training, both here in in Queensland and other parts around Australia.
Is this the first time you’ve operated a Volvo EC950?
It’s the first time I’ve operated the 950. I’ve done about 20 minutes on a Volvo previously, and I spent a couple hours on this 950 the other day. I was pleasantly surprised. It offered a lot in breakout. It offered a lot in comfortability, it was super stable, and I really enjoyed the two or three hours that I sat on it.
Tell us about when you first come across XMOR and what you thought of it as a bucket and a concept.
It would have been four or five years ago. Came through on the socials and straight away it blew my mind because they were taking a bucket somewhere that I’d never seen a bucket be taken before. I’ve been a fan of this bucket from afar for a lot of years.
Were you sceptical when you first saw it?
I don’t know if sceptical the right word. I was definitely bloody curious for obvious reasons. It’s a cool design. I was super super curious.
What was your initial reaction to using the XMOR bucket?
The initial reaction actually took me probably half an hour. When I came down the other day and started loading the trucks, I was focused on loading the trucks. Then I had a moment where I went, “oh, hang on – I’m actually using one of these XMOR buckets.”
It was it was seamless. I had this preconceived idea in my head from the shape of it that it was going to react differently in the material. That certainly was not the case. It just felt like business as usual which I found really cool.
Comparing the XMOR to a traditional bucket, what were the biggest things you found that were different in the operation?
I think it seemed easier. The inconsistencies of blasted material – there’s material in these shots is going to stop any bucket, any machine. Right? All things being equal, when the dig was good, it just peeled through like it was nobody’s business.
So yeah, probably that speed aspect of what it what it gave me during those couple of hours was pretty noticeable.
How about the fill factor of the bucket?
Yeah, fill factor was there. Again, you know, fragmentation is important on any bucket. The fragmentation that that I had during those couple of hours was a little bit all over the place but when we’re in a position to get a good bucket the XMOR certainly enabled that to happen.
How do you see the XMOR bucket keeping up with critical maintenance of a bucket?
Maintenance is critical to anything in our game. If it’s lacking, things are going to slip and I’d suggest that the XMOR bucket is no different in that manner.
What will be the top three things you would say was good about the XMOR?
Ease of use, the bucket fill capability and its agility. Particularly in quarrying you have to sort the oversize out, otherwise it blocks the jaw. I found the bucket really nimble to pick out oversize and that really surprised me. You look at that bucket and it’s a deep design, it’s wide, it’s a lot of things, and I just thought it’d be a little bit arduous, and it surprised me on how agile it was just to pick out the rocks and leave fines behind.
What are the hang ups with an XMOR bucket that you see as a negative?
I honestly couldn’t see a negative with the bucket. Again, fragmentation is going to be cruel for any bucket or any method of moving material right. All things being equal, I feel as if this XMOR bucket is only going to add value, to an operation. I honestly, hand on heart, couldn’t tell you a negative from operating it. •
For more information, visit ontracgroup.com.au
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