A QUESTION OF CHANGE

In Scandinavia they've seen the problem coming. So they've decreed that all multi-fit attachment systems must be interchangeable. If you've decided to buy a 3.21m3 throbble-headed wifflesnatcher for your Volvo wheeled loader you'll be able to use it on your Caterpillar, Liebherr, O&K et al if you so desire. Simple really, isn't it? Do you think it will have reached the rest of Europe by the year 2000?

The Scandinavians probably lead the field when it comes to attachments proper. From snowploughs (and blowers) to log grapples via (live) tree handling forks and rotary brushes, they've got a piece of kit for just about everything. Box or barrel rotators aren't listed in the sales brochure, but rest assured, they're available. Not only that but Volvo will also check, and, if it's OK, approve attachment designs from user/inventors! They'll even make them in their own factory if necessary.

Volvo also has bit of an ace up its sleeve with a device called Automatic Hose Coupler. It may sound unlikely but it does exist! All the operator has to do is press two dash-mounted switches and the hoses are connected after an equipment swop. Of course it relies on the use of Volvo's own attachment bracket but you'd have that anyway if you are using a Volvo. According to VME's UK sales manager Bob Watterson: 'The total package is designed to make a Volvo wheeled loader virtually the only machine needed on site. In fact, near our training site at Eskilstuna, Sweden, there is such a site. Here several different contractors have built a variety of house types designed to illustrate economic building of highly insulated homes. Although the concepts are very varied there is one singular concept on the site. A Volvo wheeled loader is on site together with several attachments and the Automatic Hose Coupler. As each house building team needs the assistance of the machine they simply call up the operator on his mobile phone. He decides on the attachment needed, fits it and proceeds to tackle the task. This exercise was a one-off but it must make sense for a builder erecting say a small (or even a large) housing estate. He could tailor his attachment requirements round the type of materials he needs to deal with.'

VME lists some 14 or 15 different attachments in its portfolio. If you multiply those by the different model options then it's more like 60 different bits of kit. One of the more unusual items is an attachment which confers extra high lift to a bucket. It's unusual in that it isn't permanent so that one machine can perform two functions. An operator needn't go to the trouble of specifying a high lift option if he only needs it infrequently. A high lift loader discharging into a low sided truck makes the task more awkward than it need be.

Local authorities are enthusiastic followers of the multi-attachment concept. Several have embraced the Nathan Digamix which puts small-batch concrete mixing at an economic price at their disposal. The Digamix simply replaces the bucket. When the task is complete the bucket goes back and the machine returns to normal yard duties.

The one area where manufacturers have failed to convince LAs of the usefulness of attachments is with snow ploughs. A wheeled loader with a properly designed snow blade is much more efficient than the usual angle blade mounted on a tipper lorry. We may not get snow often, but it still needs to be cleared as quickly as possible.

British Sugar runs its harvesting/processing 'campaign' from autumn to spring. The amounts of sugar beet coming into each factory are mind-boggling. The beet comes in 10t loads, 20t loads and even 25t loads depending on whether the farmer uses a tractor and trailer or a haulier with a bulk artic tipper combination. Everything is tipped onto the concrete landing pad before being loaded into the system for processing.

One of the larger BS factories is at Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk. Here a relatively small plant hirer has been able to capitalise on attachment flexibility to carve a plant hire niche for itself. Emmitt Plant of Nedging, Suffolk has Volvo wheeled loaders which work on loading/moving beets and keeping the landing pad tidy. (Don't forget the sugar refining process is a 24-hour continuous one). Emmitt studied the problems associated with beet handling and discussed its ideas with both VME and Allied Construction Equipment of Billericay.

The result is that the machines handle buckets for moving the beets. But for keeping the concrete pads clear the Volvos have specially made steel blades with rubber edges and pads (to stop the beet being bruised) which keep in close contact with the smooth concrete surfaces. By utilising some creative thought and a purpose-built attachment Emmitt has been able to extend its hire period right through the campaign.