The Hull-based Ashcourt Group has continued to add more machines to its growing plant fleet from Volvo Construction Equipment during 2016 and most recently, has taken delivery of a 22 tonne EC220E for its Foster Street recycling centre and a wheeled 16 tonne EW160E for its civils and agricultural interests. In total the company has now purchased in excess of 40 Volvo's since October 2013.
Just over one year ago Ashcourt Group acquired a large recycling facility and concrete batching plant located at Foster Street in Hull as an important addition to the company's portfolio. The recycling facility handles a wide variety of inert waste product including a high proportion of waste wood which is processed and recycled for biomass. In order to process and re-handle this material through the plant, Ashcourt has added a Volvo EC220E specifically rigged for the task in hand with a hydraulically elevating operator's compartment to aid the safe loading of high sided bulkers, and a rotating Kinshofer selector grab.
The 22 tonne machine is ideally sized for working in the material bays having a forward reach of 9.5m and a practical load over height of 6.4m and to minimize damage to the concrete pad, the machine has been supplied with optional city pads or rubber blocks bolted to the standard 700mm track pads.
The EC220E is powered by a 6 cylinder Volvo engine developing 174 nett hp and features the latest in engine technology and operating sophistication. Two variable displacement hydraulic pumps deliver 207 l/min each providing plenty of hydraulic power to the front end equipment. Besides the hammer/shear lines that come as standard, the EC220E has had the optional x3 rotation circuit added to facilitate the use of the rotating selector grab.
The other new addition, namely a wheeled EW160E excavator has been similarly specified with an x3 rotation circuit, again to work with a rotating selector grab. The machine, which is also equipped with a Volvo 6 cylinder Stage 4 final engine developing 152hp has a multi-faceted role in the Ashcourt arsenal working either in the recycling facility, on the company's civils activities or on any one of Ashcourt's farming estates. To make the 16 tonne duck fully flexible for a wide range of applications it has been delivered with a two piece boom and large super single wheel and tyre assemblies.
Commenting on the recent arrivals, Ashcourt's manager for the Foster Street facility Paul Dobson said, "Since purchasing our first Volvo machines three years ago we've been impressed with the overall quality of the products, their reliability and fuel efficiency. Our operators certainly appreciate the cab comfort and the way the machines perform." And Ashcourt's operators are regularly consulted when it comes to machine choice. "We value the opinions of our operators when it comes to machine choice and selection and certainly the excavators and shovels from Volvo are widely respected for their performance as well as their high residual values. Not only that, we have developed a strong relationship with Volvo who provide us with excellent after sales support - all positive points for continuing to favour the Volvo product," continues Paul.
The Ashcourt Group has a range of operating divisions, from constructing purpose-built luxury student accommodation through to new build housing and civil engineering projects. This led to a demand for quality aggregates that saw Ashcourt purchase two quarry operations in Yorkshire in 2014 and the acquisition of the Foster Street concrete batching plant and an inert materials recycling facility in 2015. In addition, the Company has a growing transport fleet that includes over 40 predominantly Volvo branded FH low loaders, bulkers and Volvo FMX eight-wheeler tippers.