by Nick Drew | Mon 07 Aug 2017
East Side Story
At around 19,100 square kilometres the East of England is the second largest English region and is only beaten to the top spot by the South West. The region covers 15% of the total area of England and 8 per cent of the UK. It’s a part of the country which is often overlooked by those of us who have no business interests in the area, but having spent some time there earlier this year, it’s clear to see that the area is booming with plenty of work going on all over the place.
It is projected that the region will have a higher population growth than most other UK regions over the course of the next 20 years, with a significantly large increase in the older age groups who are relocating to the area for their retirement years. Of course all these people need somewhere to live and in many cases somewhere to work too and this is in many ways driving on the economy in the area.
The construction, quarrying and demolition sectors are all helping to drive growth in the area and many of the companies involved in these sectors are gearing up with new plant and machinery to meet the demands of their customers. One company that are having sales success in the region is Portsmouth based LiuGong dealership Construction Plant & Machinery Sales under the watchful eye of regional sales manager Simon Tobin.
One long standing family business in the area is Anglian Excavations which is run from their base in Bury St Edmunds by Managing Director Chris Lee. The company was initially founded as an agricultural contracting business by Chris’s father back in the 1950’s before moving into the road construction business in the glory days of the 1970’s. The business has grown steadily since and with a team of dedicated long term staff today the firm is primarily engaged in providing a service to the quarrying industry.
They also take on earthmoving works forming agricultural reservoirs running machines equipped with GPS control for the more technical projects and bulk earthmoving works in sand and gravel pits in the area. They are also one of a select bunch of contractors who are still running Caterpillar tractor and scraper box combos in their fleet alongside a 25 strong fleet of Volvo ADT’s and excavators from the Caterpillar and Volvo stables.
Bucking the fleet brand trend somewhat is the latest excavator to join the ranks in the shape of a 25 tonne class LiuGong 924E model. The 924E, which has an operating weight of 24 tonnes, takes its power from a Stage 3B emissions compliant 6 cylinder Cummins QSB6.7 engine rated at 119kw (162kw) @2,100rpm. The machine was sourced from LiuGong’s massive stock holding of Stage 3B machines which it imported into its Dutch distribution hub in Almere previously.
Talking to Earthmovers about the new machine Chris Lee said, “We have always used Cat and Volvo excavators in the past, but CPMS offered to put a demonstration unit into us so after the demonstration period we thought we would give it a go. I have to say my first impressions of it have been very good, it’s a quick machine but very smooth to operate with no savage jerkiness on the controls, has top quality components under the skin and was of course very competitive on price, we really cannot fault the machine thus far to be honest”.
The machine is only operated normally by one operator Brian Flack who has been with the company for around 9 months, Chris said, “Brian’s a great operator who looks after the kit he’s running as if it was his own, he really rates the LiuGong in the short period he’s been running the machine”.
Chris’s 924E came supplied with all the extras that now come as standard from the factory including foam filled side skirt impact protection, boxing ring (fall from height protection) and bucket ram guard protection. In addition to those items Chris has had a very useful cab door side step fitted, a popular fitment on machines in Central Europe.
Another East Anglian company who are getting into the Chinese way are Norfolk based Anglian Demolition who have recently set up a new earthworks division to run alongside the well-established and respected demolition arm.
Talking about the new venture Anglian Demolition’s Business Development Manager Gary Yabsley said, “Our demolition business has been established for a long time now, but our new bolt-on earthworks division will give us another dimension, offering brownfield site development, so in effect our demo side will go in and take down the buildings, pull up the slabs and footings etc, then our earthworks division moves in to cut the site formation, put in temporary haul roads, create compounds, deal with any contaminated soil if required and even erect protective hoardings around the site, we see it as a natural progression to what we as a business already offer, a kind of “one stop shop” solution”.
The company operates right across the East Anglian region and has gained an enviable reputation which in turn generates persistent repeat business. “Whatever our clients want or require we provide the service to the best of our ability” said Gary.
Historically Anglian Demolition has always run machines from the Volvo, Hyundai and Hitachi stables but for this new earthworks venture the company has turned to LiuGong through their dealer CPMS. In this instance the company did not take a machine on demonstration, instead opting to do their own research on the machines both from what they had read in the trade press and by attending some demonstrations of the product. As a result of this research and feedback from other end users Anglian Demolition put in an order for 3 x 24 tonne class 924E’s and 1 x 8 tonne class 908D.
Talking about the machines Gary said, “We have been really pleased with them and we have had no negative feedback whatsoever from our operators. The 924E’s in particular are proving to be extremely good, they are powerful machines and smooth on the controls, they come as standard with “all the toys” in the cab, which keeps the operators happy, they have a surprisingly good level of build quality and represent fantastic value for money, add into the equation the level of back up and support and its proven to be a great business decision for us”.
Operating one of Anglian Demolition’s 924E’s on site was Robert Campbell Jones who is affectionately known on site as “Badger”. Commenting on the machines Badger said, “I’ve been on machines for over 32 years and have driven them all over the years. In all fairness I can’t really find a fault with these LiuGong machines and can really see them taking off over here. I was recently operating one on the demolition side of the business and was well impressed with the stability of them even when working with a 2 tonne muncher on the end of the arm it still remains well balanced”.
Badger continued, “Ok it’s a little bit on the basic side in the cab, but it does have everything you could need as an operator in there. In all honesty basic is a good thing these days as some machines have just become so complicated, so it’s good to go back to basics with these. My biggest gripe has to be the fact that you cannot adjust the lever consoles independently, but I’m sure that is something that will be addressed in future models”.
While North East based manufacturer Miller remain CPMS’s preferred supplier of quick couplers, this machine was actually fitted with a Strickland S-Lock quick coupler branded as LiuGong.
In addition to all the standard factory fitments that LiuGong machines come fully loaded with, Anglian Demolition have also specified an “All Around” camera safety system which offers the operator a great view around the machine via an additional colour monitor in the cab and LED lighting to the front and rear of the cab.
Whether you love them or loathe them, LiuGong are certainly making inroads with some highly respected companies now and I predict more of the same to come over the coming months and years. .