A Borders-based earthworks and civil engineering specialist has acquired a new Volvo excavator for a long-term crushing project.
RJT Excavations Ltd of Jedburgh had added a 40-tonne EC380E to its fleet. The machine is equipped with mass excavation rig including a 2.6 metre dipper arm, a Hills hydraulic attachment bracket and a 72” wide, 2.5m³ bucket supplied by MST.
The machine, which has been put to work on a crushing project for an aggregate producer in Scotland’s central belt, replaces an EC380D, which is said to have clocked up 10,000 “relatively trouble-free” hours and follows last year’s purchase of a 50-tonne Volvo EC480E excavator rigged for mass excavation and an L180H loading shovel complete with a 4.6m³ re-handling bucket.
RJT’s assistant plant manager Euan Heard said, “We have a long association with Volvo Construction Equipment products and are currently operating excavators from 14 to 50-tonnes and A30 articulated haulers
“Due to the high number of hours our EC380D had worked, it was time to find a replacement and after analysing the total cost of ownership over a set period, coupled to our past experiences operating Volvo machines, the package on offer was too good to overlook. Our operators certainly appreciate the level of comfort in the cab along with the HMI (Human-Machine-Interface) on the E-model and the machine has been significantly ‘beefed’ up in the undercarriage department and overall, it looks aesthetically pleasing.”
The EC380E is powered by a Stage-IV compliant engine developing 306 net horsepower. The excavator has been supplied with an enhanced driveline warranty covering the next five years or 10,000 hours.
“We certainly appreciate the after-market support we receive from SMT GB’s support centre at Stirling together with their flexible arrangements for providing the right type of service agreement to suit our needs,” Euan added. “This means we can take full advantage of the support from Volvo’s dealer and keep our team of workshop and mobile engineers fully engaged at the same time.”
