Maximum power on the slopes of Mount Etna

from Diggers LIVE Magazine - July/August 2023

The new Cat 995 Wheel Loader: greater performance, payload and economy

A Hyundai HX520A NL excavator is demonstrating all of its power in a lava stone quarry in Sicily where it is used for stone extraction and crushing work.

Intramoviter S.r.l. specialises in lava stone extraction, crushing, earthmoving and transportation. Its quarry, the true heart of the company, is in Contrada Incaria, at Belpasso in the Sicilian province of Catania. Located on the slopes of Mount Etna, the site is focused on the extraction of inert lava aggregates that stand out for their unique characteristics: lava rock is a strong and particularly durable material used in street furniture and architecture.

A rock-solid solution

Natale Consoli, a veteran operator with the company said: “Intramoviter is a family-owned company founded in 1990, which handles the extraction and distribution of inert lava aggregates for construction work. In this quarry, formed entirely of lava stone, we crush the rocks with a hydraulic hammer, reducing it to pieces of roughly eighty centimetres in size, which are then collected in buckets and loaded on lorries. They are then transported from the quarry to the crushing plants, where they are transformed into sand, cobbles and chippings.”

The new Hyundai HX520A NL excavator has been operating in this setting for several months now. It is equipped with a Cummins Stage V engine, delivering all the power needed for particularly demanding applications of this type, while at the same time reducing emissions and fuel consumption.

Natale Consoli said: “It is a machine that we really needed for speeding up the extraction phase. The power and the geometric capacity of the boom enables us to reach greater heights – optimising our time and resources. Despite weighing 50 t, this Hyundai excavator is very agile. Even the undercarriage, which can be extended from 3 to 3.3 m, enables us to change the machine’s setup according to the situation in which we have to operate. In addition, it enables it to be more easily transported without having to resort to using an escort for exceptional transport.”

Precision and performance

Giuseppe Pappalardo, owner of Ct Macchine, Hyundai Construction Equipment Dealer for the region of Sicily said: “The customer needed a powerful and sturdy, but also agile, precise and safe machine. In fact, the operation of rock fracturing and extraction is not simple: it is necessary to drill at very precise spots on the slope to avoid the risk of being crushed by large boulders. In these situations, it is necessary to have safe machines and qualified operators.”

Purpose built for applications of this type, the new Hyundai HX520A NL excavator, equipped with the Epiroc HB4100 hammer is proving the perfect solution.

Giuseppe Pappalardo continued:

“We proposed this model because it is a reliable, high-performance and extremely durable machine: The chassis frameworks are reinforced to allow operation under the most severe conditions. In addition, the cabin’s new design ensures maximum visibility of the work area, aided by the AAVM camera system that offers a 360° view. Another aspect that our customer appreciated is the easier and simplified maintenance, with service intervals increased from 500 to 1,000 hours.”

High-tech and high comfort

Natale Consoli concluded: “The new Hyundai excavator has all the technology at your fingertips. At any moment, you can control every function and carry out any necessary monitoring. The same onboard computer performs periodic diagnostic checks and warns you if and when action is needed. Unquestionably, the evolution of Hyundai’s technology has given us a machine that’s decidedly more comfortable than other machines we have had in the past. There are many more comfort-focused features for the operator who, over a day, would otherwise be subject to continual vibrations and oscillations inside the cab. The cab itself is bigger as is the field of vision from up on the machine.”

Hyundai has Sicily covered

Referring to Hyundai’s partnership with CT Macchine, which now covers all of Sicily, Giuseppe Pappalardo said: “In 2018 we signed a partnership with the Korean brand as the authorised dealer for Western Sicily. Thanks to the rapid expansion of our business and an excellent market response, in 2022 we signed a contract as sole distributor of Hyundai machines for all of Sicily. We now plan to enlarge our rental fleet in response to growing requests from our customers – but our primary focus will never move from quality after sales support, with qualified technicians able to promptly intervene throughout the territory we cover.”

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BMC MAKE ALL TYPES OF BUCKETS, GRAPLES, CRUSHERS, RIPPERS ETC FOR EXCAVATORS FROM 0.7 UP TO 55-TON ALL HERE IN THE UK. GIVE US A CALL OR SEND US AN EMAIL WITH YOUR REQUIREMENTS. 4 IN 1 BUCKET CONCRETE POURING COMPACTION WHEEL SLAB ROCK SLUDGE / SLURRY TRAPEZOIDAL