HITACHI CONSTRUCTION MACHINERY

One of the first new Hitachi Zaxis-5 models in Germany has been made available as part of official German dealer Kiesel’s rental fleet. The ZX670LCH-5 is the largest machine available for hire and it is working on a six-month assignment at one of Schön + Hippelein’s quarries, near the town of Heidenheim, to the west of Stuttgart in southern Germany.

The large excavator has been drafted in to support two Hitachi ZX870H-3 loading shovels – the first of their kind in Germany – at the Calcitwerk Heidenheim limestone quarry. It has been employed to load overburden on to the company’s two Euclid-Hitachi EH750 rigid dump trucks, which then haul the materials to fill in another part of the site.

As the ZX670LCH-5 digs down through the overburden, the final destination for the materials is determined by the grade of rock, which contains a large proportion of high-quality calcium carbonate. There are two production lines on the site: one that produces building materials; and another that grinds the rock down finely to one micro for varied industrial applications.

The ZX870H-3s were specified with loading shovels for this application so that the operators can select the type of material better for each process. They have completed between 6,000 and 7,000 hours – through extremely tough working conditions, with temperatures as low as -20°C.

Christian Wogenstein, Calcitwerk Heidenheim’s Technical Manager, says: “The ZX870H-3s are excellent machines and they have worked well in conjunction with the EH750s. This is a challenging working environment for construction machinery, but the Hitachis are helping us to meet our production targets. We also enjoy a strong working relationship with Kiesel and we were happy to rent the new ZX670LCH-5 to test it alongside our existing fleet.”

Robert Hahn has been an operator for 20 years and is the sole operator of the new Zaxis-5 machine: “The ZX670LCH-5 is powerful and offers excellent handling capabilities for loading rocks on to EH750 dump trucks. The cab is spacious, there is more than enough legroom and the seat is comfortable. The control panel is similar to that of a car – it is so easy to understand the functionality and operate the monitor.

“Productivity is so important in a quarry and that’s why I think the speed of the swing mechanism is the best thing about the ZX670LCH-5. It only takes four passes to fill one of the trucks and the loading cycle is fast, even when emptying the bucket.”