The excavator we saw performing at the Transdiesel product launch event was built in Volvo’s Korean factory and had been in the country a fortnight. This is the largest crawler excavator in the company’s range: at the time of writing it’s the sole EC950E in New Zealand. More EC950Es will inevitably follow, but there’s something special about watching a unique machine.
The EC950E has presence. Weighing 90 tonnes with a 450kW Volvo D16 engine capable of 611 horsepower, the machine sat at the back of the quarry arena like a prize-winning bull. You couldn’t avert your eyes from it. After an introduction the crawler moved slowly towards the front and then ascended the gravel ‘ stage’. The operator began swinging the bucket around, demonstrating the movement range and fluidity.
There’s an electro-hydraulics system that is being fully engaged here, yet the speed of movement is still impressive. After the demonstration we had a chance to take a closer look at the lubrication systems all the machines- they had been given a thorough work-out alright.
Here’s the product clip we saw at the launch-
