At an open day held at Raumix’s Willow Quarry in Pretoria, South Africa, several quarry owners and crushing contractors witnessed the arrival of the new screen, which is said to set new classified screening standards.
With its precise classification of different feed materials, combined with lower fuel consumption and a range of innovations aimed at lowering operating costs and increasing safety, the new screen ticks all the right boxes for crushing contractors already under pressure to survive the few and far between contracts and resultant shrinking margins in the region.
Mike Newby, sales engineer – Mineral Technologies at Wirtgen SA, says the new Kleemann MS 703 EVO classifying screen – mainly targeted at crushing and screening contractors – comes with all the necessary attributes of a “great screening plant”.
Newby says the biggest innovation on the new screen, which is exclusive to Kleemann, is the very big safety feature of being able to unfold the entire machine via remote control. “Operators no longer have to stand close to the machine to press levers to unfold the screen and conveyors; they can now perform that function using remote control, which is a lot safer,” says Newby.
The Mobiscreen MS 703 EVO can screen all types of stone of up to 150mm, up to four fractions. With a feed capacity of 350 tonnes/hour, the screen comes with a large feed hopper which can readily be fed by means of a wheel loader, an excavator or directly from a crushing plant.
According to Newby, a key competitive edge of the new arrival is its significant lower fuel consumption. Powered by a 75kW Deutz engine, the screening plant consumes about 11 litres/hour of diesel on average, using a diesel-hydraulic drive. This is a significant improvement when compared with the previous Kleemann MS 16 D range which consumed about 18-22 litres/ hour. “We have run the machine at Willow Quarry for a while now and we are picking up fuel consumption of about 11 litres/hour, which is a significant improvement on previous models,” says Newby.
Due to the nomadic nature of crushing and screening contractors as a result of the frequent changes in job sites, the compactness and light weight of the screening plant ensure ease of transportability. Measuring in at a compact 3.2m x 16.75m x 3.4m in transport mode, the MS 703 EVO weighs in at 33tonnes, making it easy to be transported from one site to the other.
Safety is as vital in quarries as it is in mines and dust inhalation can be a major problem. With that in mind, an optional belt cover and a water system on the fine grain conveyor significantly reduce dust emission from the screening plant. “The plant comes with an on-board water pump which injects pressurised water into the spray nozzles for dust suppression,” says Lantie Van der Merwe, sales executive – Kleemann at Wirtgen South Africa.
Despite a constrained market, Newby is encouraged by the growth in Kleemann’s market share, both in Africa and globally. Bearing in mind that the brand was only marketed in Europe prior to 2006 when it was eventually acquired by the Wirtgen Group, Kleemann now commands a sizeable 10% share of the global mobile crushing and screening market, and a 5% market share in Africa following its mere six-year presence in the market.
“Globally we have about 3,500 units operating. In South Africa we have close to 50 units operating in the field at the moment. In Africa we have about 5% of the total market share and this is impressive for a brand that has only actively marketed for less than six years,” says Newby.
