MANUFACTURERS KEEP MAKING BETTER MACHINES

Manufacturers believe they are doing their share to improve productivity. Efforts to provide contractors with a better return on equipment have been considerable. With each successive marque - essential to retain an edge in the market - manufacturers offer further improvements in fuel efficiency, service accessibility and productivity.

Increasingly sophisticated computer management systems - such as BOSS on the 50 series Bobcat skid steers - not only provide users with a summary of the machine's past performance, but also alerts them to routine maintenance needs. This is a distinct advantage when it comes to scheduling downtime. If necessary, the system will even shut down the engine in case of major failure to prevent costly mechanical repairs.

Some systems even 'learn' a variety of operating cyles, remembering them between applications and continually attempting to trim milliseconds from gearchanges, to make the best use of fuel commensurate withoutput.

'Unfortunately, economy features can be overidden in many pieces of equipment,' complained Richard Hunter, managing director of Imaco. 'There is a misguided belief that these facilities limit performance rather than maximise it - the only way round it is to instruct the operator on site.' However keen contractors are to bring the job in on time they are they are not willing to treat this as a priority.

Innovation in terms of versatility is particularly evident with skid steers, telescopic handlers and wheeled excavators. Many more attachments can be used, thus enabling a machine to tackle jobs in a different way and to do jobs that could not be done before.

Inspite of the gains of improved versatility, allowing machines such as skid steers to accept hydraulic hammers or post hole diggers, Hunter warned: 'The undoubted increase in versatility that these items bring, allows for increased abuse and over-expectation of performance and a corresponding threat of mechanical failure.'

When it comes to versatility, Shropshire-based contractor McPhillips claims it recently acquired an EW130 Ackerman excavator, fitted with a reversible bucket, which is saving the company several hundreds of pounds per contract.

The bucket, attached by a quick-hitch system, can be reversed by the operator when excavating around utilities. In the past, this task - carried out by a worker and a shovel - took significantly longer. In addition, the machine can be fitted with compaction plates, which removes the cost of employing a ganger and a pedestrian roller.

As well as telehandlers - described by Mowlem's site agent David Maher as offering the dual benefits of both a fork lift and mobile crane, pad feet rollers are proving a cost effective site addition.

'New specification pad feet rollers can achieve compaction levels in half the number of passes of traditional rollers,' claimed Brian Hardy at Vibroplant.

However, Vibroplant was not prepared to discuss figures or cite a particular task that provided cost savings. But if hirers gave information on the cost savings of one machine over another, maybe contractors would be more inclinde to hire them.