Great Tew Ironstone Quarry in North Oxfordshire in the UK has purchased a new top-of-the-range Doosan DL580-5 wheeled loader to increase production.
The DL580-5 carries huge 14-16tonne blocks of Ironstone from the quarry face to a new €1.2 million stone processing plant that recently began production at the top of the quarry.
Great Tew Ironstone has a striking brown and blue vein and is only available from this Oxfordshire quarry. A quarried block is often up to 30tonnes.
“The new DL580-5 helps to process up to 100tonnes of stone a day at the new quarry plant,” said Paul Keyte, operations director at Johnston Quarry Group which owns the quarry.
Equipped with specially matched pallet tines, the DL580-5 brings the large blocks from the base of the quarry to the top and along a short road, at the end of which it loads them on to the sawing machines in the processing plant. Previously, the quarry was only able to move blocks weighing up to a maximum of 10tonnes, so the arrival of the DL580-5 has made this a much more efficient process, explained Keyte.
The DL580-5 features an advanced double circuit axle cooling system to provide an ideal solution for heavier work. This ensures the DL580-5 is ideal not only for block lifting in quarries and mines, but also heavy-duty applications in industrial, construction and recycling operations.
The overall size of the DL580-5 is almost the same as the DL550-5, the next model down in the Doosan range, but it has an operating weight of 36,030kg and higher static tipping loads (straight/full turn 40°) of 29,700 and 26,200kg, respectively.
The new model is equipped with a series of features that make the machine extremely reliable and durable. The front structure is more rugged, with greater rigidity and strength. The DL580-5 has reinforced Z-bar kinematics for heavier lifting with few moving parts. This design also helps stabilise the loader, enables rapid bucket movements and keeps the bucket at the right angle position at all times, according to Doosan.
