RUNNING REPORT

“THIS ADDITION TO THE FLEET HAS SERIOUSLY IMPROVED PRODUCTIVITY AND SAFETY ON LARGER CONTRACTS”

ANOTHER WAY

For James Greenwood’s company, biomass has been a saving grace in turbulent market conditions, and the recent purchase of a Volvo excavator with Dragonbite tree shear has ensured his team can meet growing demand for this energy source, as Paul Argent reports

Leafy Surrey, home to Cobhambased James Greenwood, the owner of Greenwood’s Tree Contractors (GTC), may seem to be an ideal location for weathering the recent Covid-19 storm, but as James points out, it has been a difficult time for the company. Whilst many of his private clients have decided to cut back on their requirements for his services, one area that has kept the company extremely busy is biomass.

Whilst always producing a quality residual product from their clearance services, a recent increase in capacity has helped the Greenwood team develop their biomass potential and start supplying some of the larger dealers in this lucrative market. The supply of biomass has meant that during the recent crisis the Greenwood team was afforded key-worker status, as the wood chippings and waste products that continue to pile up are converted into renewable energy, fed into the National Grid to help keep the UK powered.

We caught up with James at the familyowned yard he shares with a range of other businesses on the outskirts of Chobham. There’s no signage pointing the way to the immaculate yard, workshops and shed the company occupies, just an instruction to look out for the undertakers! The GTC business lies within a large estate dominated by father Alan’s funeral care business, a man with an interesting past within the muck shifting, demolition and now funeral care business.

“It’s quite a range,” admitted James. “Dad has always been slightly ahead of the game when it comes to business.” James has a grounding in the tree game and, despite a career as a Men’s Health fitness model, the

Left: A short tailswing and dozer blade on this excavator.

Right: James Greenwood (right) with his father Alan.

Below left: A nice, wide entry to the ROPS certified cabin.

37-year old now spends much of his time behind the wheel of his company’s vehicles. “We’ve never liked to put all our eggs into one basket, and it means that, no matter what is happening, we’re able to adapt. Something might be affecting the tree work, but we can concentrate on the demolition side, or vice versa. Demolishing a house, demolishing a tree – they’re not so different. The principles and the logistics are similar. You just have to adapt.”

THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX

Whilst private work slowed down during the grip of the crisis, this has started creeping back in to bolster the large amount of work James and his team undertakes for a handful of local developers. “We regularly undertake the initial tree clearance and are often asked to step in and look at the demolition of existing structures on site, giving the builder a clean and clear slate to start from,” James explained.

Being able to adapt to economic climates has prompted James to look at the way his business operates, and further mechanisation has been the key to recent success. “We have had a Hitachi ZX33U mini-excavator feeding a Bandit chipper for a while now and that has made life a lot easier on site. We took the plunge and purchased a Manitou telehandler to load bulkers and to pull a trailer to and from site with plant and material but to be honest, this didn’t work out for various reasons,” said James.

Wanting to develop the business, the sale of the Manitou led James to look at bigger and better ways to develop the company and subsequently purchase of a new Volvo ECR145EL excavator equipped with a Dragonbite DB015 tree shear. This addition to the fleet has seriously improved productivity and safety on their larger contracts with the sheer able to handle vast quantities of timber compared to previous methods. The choice of the Volvo was relatively straightforward for James as the brand represents quality and reliability, something his company strives to achieve on a daily basis.

Powered by a four-cylinder diesel delivering 121hp, the key to the Volvo’s success is the delivery of constant pressure and flow to the attachment, which is undertaken on this machine by a pair of 124L/min displacement axial pumps. A sturdy dozer blade has been chosen to

Iveco Trakker set up for pulling a 26t capacity trailer.

further increase flexibility, and the 600mm track pads have been fitted with a full set of bolt-on rubber pads to avoid damaging any delicate surfaces. A major plus point for James is the ability to quickly adjust flows and pressures for different attachments just using the touchscreen in the cab.

Looking around the yard and at the impressive a state-of-the-art Iveco Trakker 4x4 hook lift truck the company operates, image is clearly important to James’ company. Immaculately turned out in the red livery that adorns other company vehicles, the Iveco pulls a similarly impressive 26-tonne capacity Andover drawbar trailer used for plant, machinery and round timber transport.

While the new Volvo, in its original yellow paint scheme, would be OK for many, James’s desire to have a uniform brand image meant that any yellow panels were wrapped to match the Iveco’s Maranello Red paint. “Iveco sponsors the Ferrari F1

Above: This Volvo ECR145EL sports rubber track pads. Below: Dragonbite DB015 shear with 745mm jaw opening width.

team and the fire engine spec chassis cab was supplied in that colour,” he explained. “As it looks very impressive, we decided to keep it as our company colour scheme.”

GO WITH THE FLOW

The Volvo has been equipped with a Dragonbite DB015 shear, a 1.2-tonne mid-range model. The fully rotational shear’s impressive capabilities have impressed the operators since its arrival. As the cut material produced for biomass is just 3m in length, the Dragonbite is more than capable of handling the material it faces on a daily basis.

With a maximum jaw opening width of 745mm and a cutting force of over 90 tonnes in the throat, the Dragonbite shear has boosted Greenwood’s production rate. “We have upped production to the point where we can now deliver up to six bulkers of biomass products per week,” James commented. The increase in production has also put a strain on the loading capabilities within the yard and the new Volvo has been equipped with a 1.6 cubic metre rehandling bucket in a bid to dispatch the bulk walking floor trailers quickly.

Working in a face shovel configuration, James can get rid of a full artic load, around the 27-tonne mark, in under 30 minutes. Another addition to the range of bespoke attachments is a DHG1102 timber grab from Dehaco supplied through local dealer LDH.

The addition of the Volvo, Dragonbite

and Iveco combination has added massively to the capabilities of the company in one fell swoop. “We’re now able to look at larger operations and offer our existing and future clients a one-stop-shop service for opening up potential development sites,” James explained. “We have also increased our productivity, and this has allowed us to streamline what we do.” “THE KEY TO THE VOLVO’S SUCCESS IS THE DELIVERY

OF CONSTANT PRESSURE AND FLOW TO THE ATTACHMENT” The sides of the large bins carried by the

Iveco are emblazoned with ‘Biomasss

Energy Suppliers’. “People often don’t like to cut down trees, but if there’s no alternative, knowing that something good has come of it can cushion the blow.

Because of how we’ve set things up, we’re recycling our waste and feeding it back into the power grid. It’s going to good use, it’s not being wasted, and it is the future,” James enthused. It’s a future that’s looking bright for James and his team. The coronavirus crisis might have stopped some of his competitors in their tracks, but at Greenwood’s not even a pandemic can bring progress to a halt.

Hydraulic flows for attachments can be adjusted on a touchscreen in the cabin.