With rapidly rising wheel loader owning and operating costs, how can contractors get the most from their machines?
Landing the lowest possible purchase price on your next wheel loader may make very little difference to your bottom line. The big plus lies in machine productivity—the factor that is said to affect overall profitability at least five times more than any savings on a loader’s initial price. It’s not the investment; it’s the return that bonds man with machine. And, maintaining a leading-edge status is difficult in a current climate where lifetime wheel loader owning and operating costs are no less than 2.25 times higher than the unit’s initial price—and that figure does not even include labor and the effects of an ongoing fuel-cost crisis.
So how can contractors get the most from their machines? Manufacturers are eager to tout their latest wheel loader offerings, which are jam-packed with high-efficiency features that aid in fuel conservation and added productivity. These competing manufacturers push technologies further with each new series they release, and that is a major benefit to all end users. Yet notwithstanding, technology is often only as good as those who control it. Wheel loader efficiency is still very much dependent on good operational skills and training, ongoing maintenance, and proper machine selection. With that said, we ask a number of top manufacturers to speak out on each of the key facets behind maximum wheel loader operating efficiency.
Savings by Design
Tim Doucette, manager of marketing and public relations for Liebherr Construction Equipment Co., echoes the comments of many manufacturers when he lists all the loader design innovations and improvements that help reduce operating costs. “Load-sensing hydraulics efficiently utilize the hydraulic system based on actual demand. Hydraulic travel drives decrease horsepower requirements while maintaining power and reducing fuel consumption. Limited slip differentials reduce wheel spin and increase tire life. Steering options for repetitive truck loading applications include 2-in-1 and joystick steering; and hydraulic on-demand cooling systems ensure economical cooling. All of these design features reduce overall fuel consumption, increase productivity, and ensure operator comfort,” he says.
David Wolf, brand marketing manager for Case Construction Equipment, elaborates further on the latest loader design benefits. First, he stresses ride control, which utilizes nitrogen accumulators in a bucket’s hydraulic lift circuit to reduce bucking in load and carry applications while also reducing wear in the loader hitch pins. “Ride control makes your lift cylinders act as shock absorbers. Your bucket isn’t bouncing up and down, so you get maximum material retention and better operator comfort,” he says.
Wolf also stresses improvements in engine cooling systems. “Case wheel loaders have a mid-mount cooling module that eliminates all the stacked coolers for maximum cooling efficiency. As the coolers are not stacked, materials can be purged from them very easily. We combined the cooling module with a hydraulic-driven fan, which takes a load off the engine, saves fuel consumption, and improves noise levels for the operator,” he says. “We also use pressure-compensated hydraulics that supply flow and pressure to the function where and when it’s needed—instead of constantly supplying all the functions all the time. This is one of the major things behind fuel economy,” adds Wolf.
To minimize tire wear, Wolf says that Case has gone to limited-slip axles as standard. “It transfers the power automatically from the wheel that is slipping to the one that is gripping. This increases traction and reduces tire wear,” he says.
Don Weinhold, wheel loader sales consultant for Caterpillar, says it’s very important to understand that if contractors are upgrading from a wheel loader that’s going two generations back, they’re going to see some significant differences in today’s models. He points to features such as variable shift control, which improves shift quality and fuel efficiency in certain applications by allowing the transmission to upshift at lower engine revolutions per minute. “This will make an impact particularly for the grading and excavation contractor who is often in a ‘load and carry’ mode. It makes it easier for the operator to use the proper gear at the proper time,” he says. “Our optional Command Control Steering [CCS] is another plus as it reduces the amount of work an operator has to perform in steering operations,” he adds. CCS, says Caterpillar, means that a 70-degree turn of the CCS wheel completes a full turn of the loader, versus three or four turns of a conventional wheel. In an eight-hour shift (50 minutes of work per hour), with two passes a minute, CCS requires 800 steering movements in truck loading compared to more than 11,000 with conventional steering.
As to the new electronic engines, Weinhold says they are a big boost to overall efficiency. “There is some liability and complexity that comes along with more electronics, but without them we cannot meet emission regulations. For some it’s a bitter pill because they miss the simplicity of their old machines; however, the reliability of the electronics keeps getting better and better. Compared to the other ways you meet EPA Tier 3 emissions, our Acert Technology is an absolute home run,” says Weinhold. Acert Technology on the Cat C7 engine, says Caterpillar, is described as advanced electronic control, precision fuel delivery, and refined air management for outstanding engine performance, durability, and dramatically reduced emissions.
Gary Bell, vice president and general manager of Kawasaki Construction Machinery, agrees that there are many benefits resulting from new electronic engine technology, yet he says it’s a trade-off. “The customer does pay to get the fuel savings as a more complicated engine often leads to higher maintenance and repair costs. The jury is still out on net fuel savings, but if fuel costs continue to skyrocket, buying into this technology is a no-brainer when you consider fuel savings over 10,000 hours of machine life,” he says. Some of the new design features that he sees as a great benefit to the grading and excavation contractor are continual refinements in joystick steering, in-cab adjustments for kick-out settings, and an adjustable declutch, which allows automatic adaptability to varying working conditions.
Operator Skill and Ongoing Maintenance
“A commitment to operator training and ongoing maintenance is an ideal everyone recognizes, but you don’t see much of it being done—or there is an inability to hire skilled labor,” says Bell. “It’s hard to correct this, other than it being the company’s philosophy of business to spend money now so that you can save money later. Too many companies try to economize on the short term by skimping on training and maintenance. Improperly trained operators may not be able to spot problems sooner because they don’t use or understand the diagnostic tools on the machine,” he says, adding that he feels these issues are far more significant than that of fuel conservation.
Industry veterans often say that good operators can be distinguished from bad ones by how much money it costs to keep the loader up and running. Two different operators on the same loader, and in the same application, may have dramatically different outcomes in fuel consumption and productivity. An operator’s habits can be a company’s greatest asset or its greatest liability.
“Operator training is of great value. The better the operator, the more pride in the machine. As machines become more sophisticated, operators can do more with them,” says Wolf. “If you’re running at full power and all you’re doing is moving pipe around, you’re going to be wasting fuel. An operator should be fully trained on the vehicle he’s operating so that he can take advantage of multiple power curve features, for example. Operator training is a major way to lower operating costs,” he adds.
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Photo: Komatsu |
| The WA100M-5 is the latest member of Komatsu’s Dash-5 line of compact wheel loaders. |
To suit any schedule or budget, there are a variety of ways to train operators—via videos, online training, or onsite training. Most manufacturers offer a number of programs at their facilities or through their dealers. Caterpillar training experts, for example, stress that customers consider the impact on operating costs if improved operator skills result in the elimination of just one undercarriage rebuild or one catastrophic tire failure.
A company may have the right equipment; however, if its operators do not have a thorough understanding of its high-tech systems, the maximum return on investment will not be realized.
As to maintenance—almost everyone uses the example of one’s car—if you don’t change the oil the vehicle will not reach its life expectancy. In other words, there should be no excuse to ignoring preventive maintenance on one of your company’s largest investments. Plus, many modern loaders feature onboard electronic systems that provide continuous monitoring of system performance and will provide operators with early warnings of any problems. It really should be a no-brainer.
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Photo: Liebherr |
| The new Liebherr “Generation 6” Series features an economical travel drive system, an advanced cooling system, and a larger cab design. |
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Photo: John Deere |
| Ideal for crowded job sites, the new Deere 344J provides many uptime-boosting features. |
“Follow the manufacturer’s guidelines for maintenance. Lubrication and proper service intervals contribute significantly to the life cycle of the machine and will ensure maximum availability,” says Doucette.
“In Case product lines, we’ve made changes that reduce the time to perform daily maintenance checks. Case uses a lot of one-piece flip-up hoods to gain full access to the engines and has also implemented site gauges for easy fluid checks. If maintenance is easy to perform, it’s more likely that it’s going to get done,” says Wolf.
Proper Machine Selection
“You should size the equipment to the job—the smallest capacity with the least number of loads in the fastest time. Utilizing a machine that is too small for the attachment or the application reduces the lifespan of the machine, increases downtime and fuel usage, and can result in unsafe operating conditions,” says Doucette.
“If it’s a permanent site, like a quarry, sizing the machine to the application is only logical, but that does not apply to short-term sites such as grading and excavation projects,” says Bell. “You see a lot of mismatches on short-term jobs—choices that may not be economical but are simply the result of working with what is in the fleet. The bidding process should adjust for that. If the machine is too small, the job will take longer. If the machine is too big, operating costs will be too high. But all in all, [contractors] tend to get the jobs for which they have the right equipment,” he says.
“We train our dealer salespeople to know which machines will be the most beneficial in certain applications. Most of the grading and excavation contractors are looking for that 3- and 4-yard loader class, which for Caterpillar would be a 930, 938, or 950 model,” says Weinhold. “The contractor may also want versatility by using a quick coupler, a set of forks, a material handling arm, and a land clearing rake. We train the customer to determine maximum loads. Sewer and water contractors may be carrying concrete pipe or some kind of concrete structure—so there is process that we go through to size that machine to fit the maximum payload that they want to carry. For example, in some cases, today’s new 938 can do what yesterday’s 950F did before. It just depends on what the contractor is trying to do on most jobs and how they want to equip the machine,” he says.
Protect Your Investment
Having pride in ownership is perhaps the best way to protect your equipment investments. Some suggest giving a well-trained operator one new machine that is his to operate day after day. This instills a pride of ownership that leads to higher productivity backed by safe operation and scheduled maintenance.
Despite all the software programs and information systems that aid in selecting equipment, analyzing costs, tracking performance, and warning against operational problems or failures, most will agree that nothing will take the place of sound management practices at the top—and a vigilant operator who is skilled, safe, smooth, and firmly in control.