Equipment World Digital Magazine
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/107622
machine matters | by Richard Ries GOING BEYOND PRODUCTION 3- to 4-cubic-yard loaders can accomplish so much that production may not even be on their to-do list. C all it what you will – multiple personality disorder, dissociative identity disorder, split personality – wheel loaders in the 3- to 4-cubic-yard reference bucket capacity size have it bad. While larger loaders typically focus on production, loaders in this size perform lots of different jobs. "These loaders find their way into almost all applications," says Stefan Salomonsson, Volvo Construction Equipment product manager for wheel loaders. "They're doing construction and demolition, recycling and refuse transfer, logging, agriculture and some landscaping." The collapse of the housing market strengthened this diversity, says Gary Bell, vice president and general manager of KCMA, the parent corporation for Kawasaki loaders. "While the traditional markets of quarry, road building and material production have slowed, specialty markets have emerged, such as refuse, scrap and agriculture." The good news is that cus- 18 February 2013 | EquipmentWorld.com tomers can find loaders and attachments and add-ons to accomplish almost any task. Manufacturers and dealers are prepared for unusual requests. The bad news is that despite the flexibility of these machines, they do have limits and some customers exceed those limits. Misuse and abuse Loaders in this size range see many different uses but also many misuses, often because the customer bought the wrong loader. The most common error is buying a loader that's undersized and then trying to make that machine do the work of a larger machine. "Some customers add calcium carbonate to the tires or counterweights to the rear of the loader," says Rob Marringa, brand marketing manager at Case Construction Equipment. "This allows the use of a larger bucket but depending on the material being loaded, may result in changes to the center of gravity, which introduces balance issues that compromise safety." Scott Britton, small wheel loader product specialist at Caterpillar, cautions buyers to also correctly match the bucket to the machine. "The most common mistake is using too big of a bucket for the application for that size of machine. Sometimes it just requires a bigger machine and no other safe, efficient solution exists." Misuse often means pressing a loader into a task for which it's not intended, according to Shane Sirmons, national sales and marketing manager for Hyundai Construction Equipment Americas. "Wheel loaders are designed to load and move loose materials and,