Having started up in business just nine years ago, acquiring second-hand
Just nine years ago, entrepreneur Matt King started up his business as an owner operator contracting himself into various quarries in the Mendips from his base at Green Ore, near Wells, in Somerset, South West England. To service his customers in a good way meant acquiring the right machines for the typical contracts he was undertaking, and very quickly, he purchased a second-hand forty-eight tonne Volvo EC460C, followed by the slightly larger EC380D along with an A40 articulated hauler from SMT GB.
“The machines have performed really well working on general overburden removal as well as extraction duties which has given me the confidence to now go for a brand new machine,” says King. “The forty-tonne size machine is the optimum tool for our general operations and contracts. The EC380E is extremely well balanced even on the narrow track pads - it has plenty of capacity and is easy to transport from site to site,” he says.
The EC380E is powered by a Stage-IV compliant engine developing 225kW, offering the latest in engine technology and operating sophistication. The Volvo Care Cab offers a large roomy interior with plenty of leg room and foot space. The excellent all round visibility is enhanced by pressurised and filtered cab air supplied by a 14-vent, climate control system. An adjustable, easy-to-read LCD colour monitor provides ‘real time’ information of the machine functions, important diagnostic information and a wide variety of work tool settings besides, providing visibility to the operator from the rear and side view cameras. The EC380E offers plenty of reach and dig depth (11m and 7.3m respectively) and a massive breakout force of 215kN. Matt King’s machine is equipped with hammer/shear hydraulics as standard and is fitted with optional hydraulic quick-fit enabling the machine to be quickly configured for either bucket or ripper duties as well as hammer work.
Quarry & Earthworks offers contracting works primarily in the extraction business in and around the Mendips area as well as general contracting in Somerset, Wiltshire and Avon.
