ON THE COVER: Africa is home to many powerful animals, but it’s a Bobcat that is showing itself to be king of the skid-steer jungle. Last month Bobcat Demo Days celebrated the RogueX, and gave reason to be excited for the S450 M-Series skid-steer loaders available in Africa and the Middle East. Bobcat Demo Days 2024 offers participants an opportunity to get up close and personal with several of the manufacturer’s cutting-edge innovations, such as the RogueX2 concept loader, Operator Presence technology, the Pedestrian Detection Camera, and next-generation Digital Access software.
Versatility and efficiency redefined with the new Cat 973 Track Loader
A track loader is the one machine that can do it all – clear, load, dig, carry, fill, and more – even in tough or slick ground conditions. Caterpillar’s new Cat® 973 Track Loader combines unmatched versatility with up to 10% better fuel efficiency, increased productivity, cab improvements, and optional Payload technology.
It might be a big piece of equipment, but the new 275 hp (205 kW) crawler loader, with an operating weight of 29,892 kg, replaces the CAT 973K globally and joins the 953 (160 hp/119 kW) and 963 (202 hp/151 kW) in the Cat track loader line-up.
Volvo CE adds three new electric machines
In a further move towards a more sustainable construction industry, Volvo Construction Equipment (Volvo CE) has announced three new electric machines, adding to its already wide offering of zero exhaust emission solutions. The L120 Electric wheel loader and the L90 Electric wheel loader are the latest powerful innovations to be introduced to the market and support customers’ fossil-free ambitions.
Unveiled for the first time at Volvo Days 2024, they are a cleaner, smarter choice for customers looking to decarbonise their operations, lower operating costs, open new business opportunities and enjoy a more comfortable working environment.
JCB wheel loader keeps production going at Much Asphalt, Gqeberha
The ‘just in time’ concept is often used in industry as a cost-saving method to cut down on keeping a large inventory, but in the asphalt industry, it is the norm that demands that all components from raw materials to mechanical tools create a synergy without which there would be no product to sell.
Asphalt is made when mixing raw aggregates supplied by quarries with bitumen, a by-product of the fuel refining industry. At the Much Asphalt plant in Gqeberha (formerly Port Elizabeth), the company’s Maintenance Supervisor of some 34 years, Louis Blume, tells us more: “We’re a major supplier of asphalt to SANRAL (the South African National Roads Agency SOC Limited), a host of district and local municipalities, private contractors, and even smaller customers like plumbers who all work with asphalt in one way or another. We have ten different mixes that we make up and these each contain different sizes of dry aggregates that we receive from various quarries in our area. The different aggregates are stockpiled in separate concrete compartments.
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