Castleford Engineering — a British excavating company based in Liverton — has added two new Volvo crawler excavators to its fleet of vehicles, as well as a pair of mini Volvo excavators, the company announced recently in a news release.
But these crawler excavators are unique because they are the first 30-ton excavators to be used in the UK that come equipped with a specialized two-piece boom attachment.
Steve Rule, Castleford’s managing director, said the custom crawlers were needed for specialized operations.
“Because much of our work is focused on maintaining major water courses for river authorities, we needed the combination of a sizeable excavator coupled to the maximum flexibility of the boom and arm geometry, especially for sheet piling in very confined spaces,” Rule said. “Volvo’s EC300D with the two piece boom arrangement ticks our particular box in this regard.”
The 30-ton vehicles are powered by a Volvo six-cylinder D8H Stage III 228 horsepower engine. The vehicles’ “integrated work mode control” provides high efficiency, rapid dig cycles, and lower fuel consumption while ensuring the maximum possible hydraulic horsepower available.
Hose rupture valves are fitted as standard to the boom and dipper cylinders, as well as quick-fit hydraulics and a hammering/shear device. The vehicles also have optional slop and rotator pipework.