Hillhead/QMJ 2024
Digger Man

Digger Man Blog

by Nick Drew  |  Mon 03 Aug 2015

All go at Buffalo Crow

During my recent travels east, I popped around to see Lionel Whitnell and his team in Colchester. During my visit Lionel was keen to show me around the new quarry operation he is opening up.

The Hadleigh quarry operation is a joint venture between Lionel and another business partner and will operate under the name Buffalo Crow. New kit has been purchased to work in the quarry, with the current star attraction being the new 21 tonne class Case CX210C hydraulic excavator. The new Japanese built Sumitomo based Case CX210C is operated by one of Whitnell Plants long serving operators Steven Eagle, who had nothing but praise for the 21 tonner, which has been supplied to Buffalo Crow by Case heavy line dealership CBL Plant Sales Ltd. Steve described the machine as smooth to operate, with plenty of power and extremely quiet whilst operating. At the time of our visit Steve was busy digging trial holes to expose the seams of gravel hidden below, enabling the team to assess how much overburden material has to come off ahead of the extraction process. Also spotted on site was J. T. Few’s Hyundai HL770-9 wheeled loading shovel which is being deployed to load incoming wagons and moving materials around the site. The big Hyundai shovel has been supplied by leading Hyundai dealership Ernest Doe and is operated on site by Mark Flatman. Both Mark and Steve are active members of the Digger Man Blog Facebook page and it was a real pleasure to meet them on site. Completing the current plant line up at Hadleigh quarry was one of Whitnell Plants Bell B30D articulated haulers. Lionel Whitnell is a long standing customer of Bell Equipment and a friend of the Bell family. He currently runs a considerable sized fleet of the Mercedes powered South African built machines. More big kit is expected to arrive on site soon to commence the bulk muckshift, to get down to the rich seams hidden below in this first phase of the operation. The Digger Man Blog would like to thank Lionel Whitnell for showing us around on the day and I will be returning in the future for a feature in Earthmovers Magazine.  

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