Hydraulic excavators winning raw material for the cement industry

Hydraulic excavators are highly powerful and cost efficient loading machines which are successfully employed in many quarries around the world. Today the one-engine-design with its advantages in efficiency and serviceability can be utilized in all size classes. The closed-loop swing circuit allows for almost waste-free swing acceleration and deceleration. Large steel castings are integrated into the attachments at all major stress concentrations to reduce the specific stresses in the welding seams. Hydraulic excavators with bottom-dump shovel attachment are employed in those quarries where blasted material in front of the high wall is loaded. The backhoe attachment is favorable where crackshot material has to be dug and where material has to be excavated from areas under water as often in chalk pits. For this application an electronic position indicator enables the operator optimum control of the attachment. Some basic criteria for matching excavator and truck size are discussed.