Blue Monday Again

After something of a drought of Kobelco features here on the blog, following on from last Monday’s post, on an SK85MSR, we are back with another one featuring the distinctive blue liveried machines.

I recently visited the large development in Poundbury, on the outskirts of Dorchester, Dorset, to see a well-known owner/operator working on hire to Ford Civil Engineering, that story will be featured in the next edition of Earthmovers Magazine.

But while on site I took the opportunity to grab a few shots and video footage of one of FCE’s Kobelco machines, in this instance a 25-tonne class SK230SRLC short radius model.

The machine was loading forward tipping dumpers with topsoil to be spread around a large ecology swale that they had dug out.

At the controls of the Kobelco was experienced plant operator Mark Pitman, who has been working in the plant game for some 26 years, and took on the Kobelco in November last year, having previously operated machines from Volvo, Hyundai, CASE and Hitachi, all of which were in the 13-14-tonne class.

One has to say the colour scheme really suits the FCE branding too and the stunning trademark white counterweight breaks up the blue very nicely.

The SK230SRLC-5E to give it its full title, is powered by Stage V emissions compliant 4-cylinder HINO diesel engine, which offers a power output rating of 124kw @2000rpm. The engine features a Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) system which uses AdBlue (DEF) to achieve the emissions regulations.

The machine also features Kobelco’s revolutionary Integrated Noise & Dust Reduction (iNDr) cooling system. This design provides ample space to absorb the engine noise, while reducing dust flow, and helps to make them among the quietest machines on the market, at just 97dB(A).

This example like many other machines on the FCE fleet is running a Leica machine control system which is proving to be a big game changer for the business.

With a slew speed of 12.6rpm it appeared to be a nice fast piece of kit, talking about the machine Mark said, "The Kobelco is a nice smooth machine, and has good power for digging, I find the cab to be very operator friendly, the only downside for me would have to be, there's not much room to store lifting equipment, having said that, the GPS is a big bonus for me!". Checkout our video of the machine in action below.

Its on my to do list to make another visit to Ford Civil Engineering in the future for a fleet focus feature for Earthmovers Magazine, I look forward to it!