SOLENT Stevedores Limited has made its first investment of Cat wheel loaders from Finning, with the purchase of two 950Ks.
After re-negotiating its contract with the Tate and Lyle sugar refinery, now owned by ASR Group, the port bulk handling specialists process sugar cane shipments from across the world, shifting raw sugar into the plant based on the Thames’ edge in East London.
The two 950Ks have been integrated into the updated fleet, where they are making full use of their 5.1m3 buckets and newly improved parallel lift capabilities. These two machines are in action on a seven day, 24 hour continuous process.
Martin Hiscock, Operations Manager at Solent Stevedores, said, “With the Tate and Lyle plant being the biggest sugar refinery in the EU, it is essential we have the machines best suited to manage this challenging workload and to meet our clients demands. The Cat 950K is an ideal model for us, and the two loaders are now part of a fleet that processes 650,000 thousand tonnes of raw cane sugar every year.
“The drivers have already commented on how much they like the ergonomics of the Cat machine, the layout in the cab and how easy it is to drive. We are also impressed with the robustness of the machine, not to mention the fuel consumption, which is currently running at around 11.2 litres per hour.”
