Sennebogen hits UK

The first Sennebogen 640R dragline in the UK has been delivered to Bardon Aggregates' (part of Aggregate Industries) wet dig sand and gravel quarry near Uttoxeter.

The 40t capacity machine is said to mark the start of a trend towards quarries using hydraulic draglines.

It is fitted with a 19m lattice boom, two 160kN free-fall winches and twin swing motors and was supplied with 1.53m3 and 1.91m3 buckets giving it an extraction rate of up to 250t/hr. The site contains about 4.7million tonnes of aggregate that will be extracted over the next 12 years.

A dragline was selected for several reasons, including the wet dig operation and the extraction depth in excess of 8m.

While an excavator can operate in water, there was concern about high wear rates and the need to position the machine at the edge of a steep cut face, whereas the dragline operates at some distance from the face.

According to Phil Hodges, sales director of Sennebogen distributor EH Hassell, the new generation of hydraulic draglines are very low maintenance, offer high availability and are easier to drive.