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ATTACHMENTS

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CLASSIC PLANT

CLASSIC PLANT

SPREADING STONE

THE FINNISH WAY

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David Wylie visits Muir of Ord near Inverness to see a JCB 437 wheel loader fitted with a modern stonespreading attachment

ased at Tore, Muir of Ord, just

Bnorth of Inverness, the familyrun firm of D&I Bain started out in 1964 with a seven-year-old JCB MK1 backhoe loader. During the 1960s and 1970s the fledgling business prospered, undertaking infrastructure work in The Highlands, mainly for telecommunications and hydro-electricity projects. Today the firm is run by Garry and David Bain, although their father Ian remains active in the business, which provides a wide range of civil engineering, surfacing and plant hire services.

Over the decades the business has remained loyal to JCB, purchasing some 40 machines. Latest purchases include a 150X HD excavator and a zero-tailswing 56Z-2 mini.

ATTACHMENTS ARE KEY

Years ago the firm converted an old gravel box to act as a 3.3m-wide material spreader to undertake forest access road jobs and other surfacing projects. It has provided good service, but had its limitations. For a start it is a fixed-width spreader and nowadays a commercially-designed attachment would be expected to have a self-levelling function. From a business perspective, more accurate spreading would help to minimise material usage, as there is an over-riding need to improve the productivity of such operations.

David researched the market and found almost what he was looking for from Finnish manufacturer Reptail. Its MM model looked perfect, the only issue was its working width, from 3.3m to 4.8m, which was just too wide for their needs. After discussions with the firm, a smaller SM model was designed, for which Bain was their first UK customer. Gary said, “The new spreader unit will give us much more versatility with its variable width performance from 2.7 metres to 4.3 metres, and will spread the material with more accuracy, using the in-cab display and control unit.”

With a new high-tech spreader attachment ordered, Garry and David spoke with Scott

“JCB MACHINES FIT THE BILL, THEY’RE BUILT IN THE UK AND OUR LOCAL DEALER IS TEN MINUTES DOWN THE ROAD”

Inset above and below: An innovative, Finish-made stone spreader attachment is being used with a JCB wheel loader to construct forest access roads in northern Scotland.

JCB at the local Muir of Ord branch to see if they had a suitable wheel loader to add to their fleet – something with plenty of power. As luck would have it, the dealer found a nearly-new, fullyloaded, 16-tonne class JCB 437, previously operated at JCB’s HQ, with less than 100 hours on the clock!

Garry explained that, thankfully, the spreader unit was relatively easy to set up. Due to Covid-19 restrictions, a technician from the Finnish manufacturer was unable to visit Scotland. Installation was therefore carried out with the help of a series of online meetings and phone calls.

SITE VISIT

We met Gary, David and their team in a forest near Aberlour, about an hour’s drive from Inverness. They were working on a new mile-long access road, part of the strategic timber transport scheme, in preparation for their client’s 2022 timber harvesting operation. Usually, they would be able to source all the materials required from on-site borrow pits. Although there was plenty of good quality sand to be won on this site, there was no suitable source of stone. Various sizes for

The cab of this modern JCB wheel loader has all the creature comforts and off ers an excellent view of the working area. Left and below: JCB 437 wheel loader is powered by a 6.7-litre Cummins engine producing 881Nm of torque at just 1300rpm, providing enough grunt to push the tipper truck along.

“WE ARE PLEASED WITH THE SPREADER UNIT’S PERFORMANCE, IT IS PROVIDING MORE CONTROL AND GREATER VERSATILITY”

Left, far left and below: The Reptail SM attachment, designed for use in the forests of Finland, off ers hydraulicallyadjustable width and can spread a layer of stone up to 250mm thick.

JCB 437 WALK-ROUND

The 16-tonne class 437 wheel loader features an articulation joint within a heavy-duty box section, a much stronger design than the norm of a single plate with a boss. The steering rams are positioned high up and are well protected. JCB claims that its integral steel fl uid tanks provide good leak protection, superior to plastic tanks found in other similar loaders.

JCB’s new Command Plus cab is an extremely comfortable place to spend a shift. All of the main controls are seatmounted, moving with the seat suspension system. This example is configured with a single electro-hydraulic control joystick. The steering wheel has a ‘set and forget’ feature, always returning to its pre-set position after the operator unlocks its stored entry/exit position.

Heated exterior mirrors, interior mirrors and bonnet-mounted mirrors combine to off er excellent natural visibility, supplemented by a rear-view camera with a dedicated screen in the cab.

The 195hp Cummins engine rated at 195hp also drives a variable displacement hydraulic pump that feeds a load-sensing valve block, which only consumes power on demand, providing precise and effi cient control of the loaders. A cyclonic engine air scavenge fi lter provides four times the fi ltering capacity of a standard air fi lter. The cooling pack features an automatic, hydraulically-powered fan, which helps to improve fuel consumption and reduce noise levels.

Access to the diesel and AdBlue tanks is straightforward, via the lockable grille at the rear of the machine. Operators can check washer fl uid level, engine oil and coolant from inside the cab, and all other routine checks and grease points are located at ground level. Full hydraulic dual-circuit braking with multiple oil-immersed discs is said to give the braking system a virtually maintenance-free lifespan.

the base and top surfaces were being supplied by a commercial quarry just two miles away.

The first pass across the section being worked was made by Gary in their new 150X HD excavator, to strip-off any vegetation then level the old access track. Elsewhere, their compact excavators were being used to dig drainage trenches and culverts to help ensure the long-term durability of the road surface.

Garry said, “We wanted something heavier and beefier than a 13-tonne machine, but not as big as the 220X. The hydraulics in the 150X HD are very smooth, the cab is very well laid out and it’s very comfortable to operate. JCB machines fit the bill for us perfectly. They’re built in the UK, our local dealer is ten minutes down the road and they perform excellently on our type of work.”

The stone is stockpiled on site and loaded into their 26-tonne capacity tipper trucks by the firm’s long-standing and ever-reliable 20-year-old JCB JS130 excavator. The nearly-new JCB 437 wheel loader is powered by a 6.7-litre Cummins engine rated at 195hp, producing its peak torque of 881Nm at just 1300rpm. It is mated to a five-speed ZF transmission, and this example is fitted with the optional lock-up torque converter.

This power pack is said to provide excellent response at low engine speeds, which is certainly needed when using this 3.6-tonne attachment to the fullest. Two rollers at the front of the Reptail SM spreader are used to push the tipper truck along. As a constant feed of stone enters the spreader, long stretches of the road can be accurately covered without interruption.

The Hardox steel spreading blade is reversible and can either be set as a straight edge or, as in this case, angled to produce a V-shape to leave a slight camber in the road. Two front-mounted, hydraulically-controlled posts have ground contact rollers. One is set to a fixed height, leaving the other to follow the road to provide a self-levelling effect. The attachment can spread layers up to 250mm thick and features two hydraulic rams to move and control the side plates, altering the width of the spread.

On this job a layer of site-won sand had already been spread on the 3.3m-wide access road. This pass was a layer of 80mm crusher run from the quarry. From the comfort of the wheel loader’s cab, David set the width and material depth, and the attachment automatically followed the contours of the road to produce a smooth and accurate layer of stone. The LCD screen in the cab kept David informed of the key parameters.

David said, “The JCB 437’s cab is very quiet and comfortable, and all the controls are mounted directly on to the air suspension seat for all-day comfort. The cab offers great visibility and I can see directly into each corner of the spreader box.” Following the wheel loader/spreader combo was a 12-tonne Dynapac CA3500D roller, which had been hired in to compact each layer of the surface as it is laid. On this job, two layers of scalpings will be laid on top of the crusher run material to produce a hard-wearing haul road for future timber operations.

CONCLUSION

David concluded, “Garry and I are pleased with the spreader unit’s performance to date, as it is providing more control and

“WE’RE PLEASED WITH THE NEW JCB 437, WITH A POWERFUL ENGINE AND SMOOTH TRANSMISSION”

greater versatility for the variety of jobs that we undertake. Since we have only had it for a few months, we’re still finding our feet with it, but so far it’s producing better results and greater accuracy than our old home-made unit, all at a push of a button.

“And we’re both pleased with the new JCB 437, as it’s a very good match for the spreader unit, with a powerful engine and smooth transmission to help nudge the tipper truck forward and simultaneously spread large volumes of material efficiently.”

Above, below and right: The fi rm has remained loyal to JCB over the decades; recent purchases include a 150X HD excavator and a zero-tailswing 56Z-2 mini.

CLASSIC COLLECTION

The Bain family are passionate collectors of historic JCB machines, the pride of their collection being a 3C Mk3. Bain ran this backhoe for many years, sold it and eventually bought it back. It has now been fully restored to mint condition by world-renown Julian Carder. Other stars of their collection include a model 7 excavator, which has again been restored and is one of only 10 examples known still to exist. They also have an extremely rare JCB 8D excavator, of which there could be as few as fi ve left on the planet.

We will bring you full details of these historic machines in a future issue of Earthmovers.

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