cover story
21
08.13
ADTs
in the local market
Above: The rotating hitch incorporates permanently greased ta-
pered roller bearings and is maintenance free.
Left: The Volvo A40F is equally at home in construction or mining
environments.
Africa (wholly owned by Babcock International Group
of the UK), the Equipment business is headquartered
in modern purpose-built premises in Bartlett, Boks-
burg, and has an extensive network of 14 branches in
South Africa. It also has an operation on the Zambian
Copperbelt in Kitwe and is currently establishing op-
erations in Solwezi and Lusaka, as well as an outlet in
Tete, Mozambique. In Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe
and Malawi, it distributes through sub-dealers.
“We place enormous importance on customer
support and very few of our customers are far from
a branch or sub-dealer,” notes Vaughan. He adds
that parts availability on the Volvo Construction
Equipment range is superb, with Babcock holding
the bulk of parts at its Bartlett premises (and with
Volvo itself providing further support through its
Parts Distribution Centre (PDC) located close to the
Bartlett property).
Although the Volvo Construction Equipment range
is imported, Babcock does have the capacity to mod-
ify machines for the local market and is also able to
undertake full rebuilds – it is currently refurbishing
a major client’s extensive fleet – at its Bartlett head-
quarters and its Middelburg branch. The company
also operates two advanced training centres.
In respect of the Volvo ADT, Vaughan says this is a
premium product with outstanding longevity. “One
of the things it does very well is absorb hours,” he
elaborates. “It’s definitely not a 10 000-hour machine.
We have units which have been running for over
30 000 hours, which is quite exceptional. It’s also a
very fuel efficient machine – probably the best in the
market in terms of tonnage or cubic metres moved per
litre of fuel burnt.” He adds that the quality of the
Volvo ADTs can be gauged from their popularity in
the used market. “There is absolutely no problem in
selling a pre-owned Volvo – in fact, many of the buy-
ers we see are from overseas. In effect, Volvo is an
international currency.”
As mentioned, the Volvo A40F, first introduced in
2010, has proven to be a best seller, both in South
Africa and globally. “It’s very feature rich,” says
Vaughan. “For example, along with all Volvo ADTs,
it has an Automatic Traction Control (ATC) system
which automatically selects the optimal drive system
on the move in response to changing underfoot con-
ditions, shifting between the economical 6x4 mode
to 6x6 mode when maximum rimpull is required. To
our knowledge, no other ADT has this feature. Anoth-
er drawcard is the unique self-compensating hydro-
mechanical steering system, which we believe is the
best in the business. Its design allows powerful and
accurate steering even in the toughest off-road con-
ditions while hydraulic damping prevents the trans-
mission of impacts and jolts to the operator.
“The A40F also has a patented ‘Load & Dump
Brake’. Again, this is unique to Volvo. The way it
works is that the operator – once the machine is in
position for loading or dumping – presses a single
button, which results in automatic application of the
service brakes and the shifting of the transmission to
neutral. Once loading or dumping is completed and
the operator selects a gear, the function is deactivat-
ed, releasing the brakes.”
Yet another first for the A40F and its sister ADTs
is their use of high-strength Hardox 400 steel for the
truck body, which is a major contributor to the dura-
bility of the machines. Body design, high dump clear-
