Scottish plant hire specialists Drumclog Plant has an esteemed reputation for their extreme, wide track excavators. Whilst this specialist service has brought them into the spotlight, they also have a very busy general plant hire, contracting and haulage sides to the business.
Established in 1972 by Dougie Turner, the company operates from Strathaven in South Lanarkshire across the entirety of Scotland and have built up an enviable reputation within the Scottish construction industry. Drumclog Plant Ltd has grown from a small plant hire firm into a diverse, multi-disciplined contractor specialising in infrastructure civil engineering works for clients such as Scottish Water, Transport Scotland, British Waterways and the Forestry Commission.
To serve a growing list of smaller customers requiring standard machine hire, the company has recently added several Kobelco excavators from Molson Young to its growing list of machines.
One of their regular customers WP Groundworks was one of the first companies to receive one of the new Kobelco excavators on a project they were undertaking for a client at Craigton on the outskirts of Glasgow.
Site Manager Kevin Hood and his team were tasked with removing several small areas of derelict land and returning them into hard standing for their client’s recycling facility.
Requiring the services of an excavator to strip and level the site before infilling with a stone capping material, Kevin’s company approached Drumclog for a suitable machine and also to supply them with incoming stone and muckaway facilities.
With the availability of a new SK75SR Kobelco excavator, Drumclog delivered the machine in a timely fashion for the WP Groundworks team to commence their works. Working on a live and very busy site, the compact dimensions of the SK75SR Kobelco excavator proved to be an ideal choice for the team.
The SK75SR-7 Kobelco excavator has an operating weight of just over 8 tonnes in this particular specification which includes bolt-on rubber pads and a dozer blade. The compact, short tail swing excavator is powered by a tried and trusted, fuel efficient, four-cylinder Yanmar diesel which pushes out 72hp and 293Nm of torque. The peak levels of torque are achieved at just 1350rpm helping the excavator to achieve a combination of high productivity and low fuel consumption with the benefit of low noise levels too. Noise levels are further reduced thanks to the Kobelco excavator’s industry leading iNDr system which uses a high-density mesh filter to block dust entering the cooling system as air passes over it. This prevents the radiator and the air cleaner from clogging with dust and maintains their performance for longer. Designed with a series of ridges, the corrugated filter allows the air to pass through whilst the grooves collect the dust. This pre-screen can then be easily removed during periodical maintenance and cleaned out. Access to the entire engine, cooling pack and pumps is easy thanks to the wide-opening doors on the Kobelco excavator’s upper structure.
The latest -7 Kobelco excavator has received several upgrades from the -3 with the engine output increased by almost 28% and the entire digging cycle speed shortened by an impressive 15%. The revised cab interior has come in for major upgrades including a new full colour monitor allowing for easier use which, along with the jog dial, allows the operator to scroll through each part of the machine’s operating system quickly and easily. The remaining switchgear has also been upgraded as has the interior lighting, seating and air conditioning outlets to offer far more efficient airflow through the cab. Both the rear view and standard side camera views are available on the new 10 inch monitor and there is also an option for the EagleEye 270° camera system.
The digging equipment on the SK75SR Kobelco excavator comprises a 3.82m boom available with either a 1.71m or 2.13m stick. Drumclog has opted for the longer version allowing the machine a potential dig depth of over 4.5m and has been finished off with a Tefra hydraulic hitch.
With the majority of the works completed, the team were left with one single bay to excavate and stone up prior to leaving site. With Kevin in the hot seat, the remaining soils were graded off and stockpiled awaiting the final delivery of stone. Once that arrived and was tipped Kevin used the opportunity of an empty tipper to remove the spoil. Whilst the SK75SR isn’t the largest Kobelco excavator, it was still more than capable of loading the material from ground level. The Kobelco excavator boasts a maximum pin height of over 6m allowing it to easily load over the side of the waiting truck and even level the spoil before it left. With the material loaded away Kevin turned his attention to grading the stone out to form additional storage space. ‘the SK75SR Kobelco excavator is a very responsive machine and seems to have plenty of power.’ He commented. ‘There seems to be plenty of feel too which helps when grading. I’d be happy if we added one to the fleet!’
