A huge manufacturing facility at Cross Gates, Leeds has recently been victim to the “Red Crush” of Rotar demolition equipment.
The facility had been used in the manufacture of industrial machinery and had lain empty for almost a decade with the production lines moved up to another factory at Newcastle.
Professional Group were the recipients of the order to demolish and remediate the land and have been using the services of their trusted and extremely capable sub-contractor Skillings Crushing to undertake the work.
Skillings operate a small fleet of excavators dedicated to heavy demolition operations especially the removal and processing of heavy concrete structures. The longevity and reliability of their plant and attachments plays a huge role in the company’s purchasing decisions. Looking to ensure their operations are carried out efficiently, Skillings have been purchasing attachments from Cheshire based Rotar dealer Worsley Plant for a number of years and have again invested in a number of items for use on the project. “We look at what offers the best overall value for our business every time we go to the market.” David Skillings explains “The attachment has to provide us with a solid build and the productivity we require from day one.”
The most recent arrival to the growing armoury of attachments is a new Rotar RSS50 steel shear. The 6.1 tonne tool joins its smaller RSS30 and 40 shears within the fleet and was purchased specifically for the project. “The steel has been plated over in some cases around the plant and while the smaller shears would have coped with them, we thought the larger shear would increase our productivity and decrease the time taken to process the material.” David commented.
Mounted with OilQuick couplings, the shears are handled by the company’s fleet of Volvo and Liebherr excavators with the new RSS50 being the sole property of the largest excavator in the fleet, a Liebherr R 960 SME. “We have had the machine built specifically to take our larger attachments.” David commented “There is a lot of leverage on the machine with a shear of this size and power.” At almost 4m in length, the RSS50 generates a cutting force of 955 tonnes in the throat with a piercing force of over 390 tonnes at the apex. To generate these market leading forces a dedicated drain line has been fitted to the machine to enable the required oil flow of 450l/m to be obtained and maintained. “The oil coming to the attachment will be cooler and therefore have a lower viscosity.” Sean Heron, MD of Worsley Plant points out. “This will ensure the attachment operates quicker and more productively.”
Mounted to the 62t Liebherr excavator, the RSS50 is seen by operator Ian Watkinson as an ideal tool for taking the heavy steel structure down. With the smaller roof trusses removed using the company’s high reach machine, the larger steel stanchions are handled by the RSS50. The Liebherr handles the large shear with ease with the additional length of the tool giving the machine a reach of almost 11m enabling Ian to take the outer bays of the shed down with ease.
Whilst the shears in the fleet are coping admirably with taking the structure down, the Skillings team also use a number of Rotar selector grabs to undertake some of the demolition operations including loading the processed steel and the clearing and stacking of materials around the site. “The grabs are very well built.” David comments “We have a number of them on the fleet and they have proved to be a reliable attachment.”
Another plus point for Skillings is the exemplary back up and service they have received from Worsley. “We cannot fault their commitment to giving their customers a first-class installation and maintenance service.” David commented “There is always someone at the end of the phone that can help you and the lads that look after the kit on site are amongst the best in the industry. This is why we keep going back to them.”
