Reaching for Something Different
When a specialist multi-faceted business, like Wareham based Alaska Environmental Contracting Ltd go machinery shopping you can quite often expect to expect the unexpected!
The company which was initially founded by Managing Director Will Bond in the late 1970’s, started life as a sole trader operation baring his name. The Alaska name crept in during the 1990’s following expansion and it was formally incorporated as a Ltd company in 1997. The business runs a wide variety of machines for its nationwide work in environmentally sensitive areas ranging from Volvo excavators, including a 21-tonne model mounted on an American built KORI amphibious undercarriage, to Morooka low ground pressure tracked dumpers and even a Swedish built Malwa 560C midi harvester which they use for forestry and heathland works.
Photo: Courtesy of Alaska Environmental Contracting Ltd. Another aspect of the company’s work is sand extraction and recycling which takes place at the Holme Sand & Ballast pit which is operated on behalf of Will Bond by long established firm New Milton Sand & Ballast. 
The pit itself is very old, having been first opened up between the wars, in terms of virgin extraction it is coming to the end of its life, having once peaked at a production figure of around 400,000 tonnes per year, but these days its halved to around the 200,000 tonnes mark with more material being imported for recycling. In fact, a third of the raw material that was once upon a time regarded as second best, is now sold to clients who want to be seen to be purchasing recycled materials so they can tick their eco-friendly boxes. Almost exclusively the product produced here is a high-quality sand, which is of a very rounded grain so it flows well when wet and as such is popular for use in pre-cast concrete. The other market for this product is golf course construction, in fact the business is the only US Golf Course approved specification sand supplier in the UK. Will Bond said, “We wash around 200,000 tonnes of this product per year, some of our competitors use belt presses to get rid of the waste silt, but I prefer to think that natural gravity works better and is a lot cheaper in the long run, so here we use the silt lagoon process, after settling has taken place we dig out the silt which is then re-worked through our screening system”. 
The company use long reach excavators to reclaim the silt deposits the latest addition of which is a Turkish built Hidromek HMK220LC LR which has surprised a lot of people who have tried it. Talking about his decision to go with the Hidromek product Will said, “When I was doing my last round of machinery replacements, I test drove a wide variety of models from all the usual suspects but the wild card in the pack was the Hidromek. In the UK market its still a relatively unknown brand, but I do like things that are a bit different, so I thought I would try one it out”. Will continues, “I had a test drive on a HMK220LC and I was rather surprised to discover that in my humble opinion, it was better than many of the perceived top brands, it was very nice to drive. I also got my fitter to come along and take a look as he usually has an opinion on such things and he reported that it looks easy to work on, with all the components being well laid out and easy to access, well built with plenty of strength in the boom and dipper arm”. “Having worked the machine for some considerable time during our evaluation period, both I, my operators and fitter quickly realised that it’s a class piece of kit. Its smooth on the controls and very precise in its movements something which is critical when working with a long reach excavator”. On the strength of the test drive Will Bond put in an order with Hidromek dealers TJC Plant Sales for a HMK220LC LR and a HMK220LC with standard mono boom with a Steelwrist X26 tiltrotator. 
Historically Alaska Environmental Contracting’s corporate colour scheme for its machines is black and white, which previously meant ordering machines specially painted from the factory which can be expensive, but Will jokingly commented how had noticed the colour and that he will save himself a fortune as the Hidromek’s come factory finished in the Alaska livery! Long term Alaska operator Peter Bugden was the man at the controls on the day of Earthmovers visit to the sand pit and although he had only had his new mount for around 3 weeks he had some very positive things to say about it, “It’s a really nice machine to operate, extremely stable which is always a good thing on a long reach machine, plenty of power, and very operator friendly in the cab. There has clearly been a lot of thought gone into the cab interior design and I would suggest they have conducted a lot of consultation with operators, to ask them just what they need in a modern excavator cab, everything you could possibly want is right there where it needs to be!” 
Peter continued, “Previously here at Alaska we had run Volvo machines for a very long time, so initially when these Hidromek’s were mentioned to me, I felt like it would be a bit of a leap into the unknown, but they are definitely a lot better than I ever anticipated, in fact its really been an eye opener for me and I’m very happy with it”. As we have reported before, the Hidromek machines feature some of the finest Japanese components under the skin. In this HMK220LC LR application the machine features the same Stage 3B EU emissions compliant 4-cylinder Isuzu AI-4HK1X diesel engine, as is fitted in the standard boom excavator model, which offers a power output rating of 128.4kw (172hp) @2000rpm. The dealer has fitted UK spec all-around fall from height protection (boxing ring) for safe daily checking of fluid levels and general component checks. 
Nestling behind the offside rear panel door we find the well-respected and highly efficient Kawasaki hydraulic pump which works at the heart of the system with other hydraulic components from another Japanese favourite Kayaba. Hydraulic safety check valves are fitted as standard on the boom and dipper arm rams. Talking of the business end of the machine, the boom supplied is 8.5m, whilst the dipper arm is 6.1m, offering a total reach at ground level of 15.17m and a digging depth of 11.24m. The machines operating weight with extra counterweight included is 25.250kgs. For its current work the machine is using a direct mount re-handling bucket, but Steelwrist X Control joysticks fitted in the cab suggest that a tiltrotator could possibly be mounted on the dipper if required in the future. The Hidromek Gen Series excavator cab is the same across the board from the HMK140LC up to the HMK490LC. The large cab door allows for easy access to the seat which can be adjusted in 9 different positions. The joystick consoles are easily adjusted independently to suit the operators required preference by means of a latch mechanism on the front of each pod. There is plenty of legroom for even the tallest of operators and the track pedals are a decent size and sit at a nice comfortable angle. There are also two foot rests either side of the track pedals. 
Hidromek’s OPERA operator interface on the right hand console gives the operator full control of a myriad of functions and features, linked to the machines Electronic Control Unit (ECU) and the full colour display monitor the operator is able to manage and adjust the machines functions including, engine RPM, selecting power and work modes, lights and wiper functions, manage radio and MP3, engine start and stop, set for rear view camera and for viewing the machines status such as fuel level, hydraulic oil pressure and fluid temperatures to name a few. There are plenty of hot/cool air vents located in the all the usual areas offering a wide variety of air flow options which are controlled by the main air conditioning control bank on the left-hand side console. With both Will and Peter exuding about the machine’s excellent stability and balance, they invited me to give it a go to see what I thought. Now in all honesty, I have never operated a long reach excavator in my life, having spent most of my time on “house bashing” sites or local authority jobs, but I was of course keen to have a spin so I grabbed the chance. 
Even at full power the HMK220LC LR is exceptionally quiet and just as Peter the operator had reported it was silky smooth on the controls. I had expected the dipper to be a bit “whippy” but it wasn’t at all, as it remained smooth and refined throughout its range of movement. Having gouged out a full bucket of silt I discharged it at full reach into a higher lagoon and discovered that even at maximum reach this machine just remained balanced and settled throughout its operational arc. Judging by the enthusiasm shown for the Hidromek machines by both the owner and the operator on the day, I would suspect that the future will be very much black and white for Alaska.