The machines are currently working in the Birmingham area on the site of the former Hams Hall power station, a structure built in the 1920s. It was completed in three stages – 1927-9, 1949 and 1958 – and once boasted 13 cooling towers and some interesting early power-generating machinery. Collins has the contract to complete the ground remediation.
A variety of hydraulic attachments are available on the site for the EC700 machines, both of which have had the OilQuick OQ90 quick coupler and attachment brackets installed by ECY Haulmark, the Warrington-based attachment specialist. The attachments in use on the site include a 3.8-tonne VTN MD610 selector grab and a 8.7-tonne VTN FP70 rotating concrete processor, also supplied by ECY Haulmark, as well as a variety of hydraulic breakers and buckets.
Collins Demolition director Scott Craddock says: “The two machines have been a brilliant addition to the demolition fleet. Having OilQuick fitted to the excavators improves health and safety for our operators and site personnel, machine productivity is increased and downtime suffered by operators having to make manual attachment has now become a thing of the past.”
He adds by way of further endorsement: “I will definitely be looking into to converting the remainder of the demolition fleet to OilQuick in the future.”