Weighty Innovation to Revolutionise Earthmoving

An innovative new mobile weighing system for excavators is set to revolutionise the construction and earthmoving industries, according to Loadrite Product Manager, Excavator Series, GORDON HAIN.

THE X-Weigh system for excavators improves productivity by quickly, easily and accurately weighing the material in the bucket, then displaying the payload information on a monitor in the machine’s cab. This information can be stored as daily, weekly or monthly reports in the monitor for later retrieval, a hard copy can be printed using the optional printer, or the information can be sent straight to your desktop using the Loadrite soft ware’s optional MMS technology.

What makes this system truly groundbreaking is the fact that, with its unique sensor configuration, it can be applied to quick hitch systems, making it an unobtrusive and natural part of the excavator’s operation, says Gordon.

“When you’re working on a project you need to be able to swap between buckets fast and easily and that’s why the quick hitch system has become so widespread,” said Gordon. “Being able to continue to accurately weigh the payload regardless of which bucket you’re using or how frequently you swap buckets means the entire project can proceed at maximum efficiency with weighing and measurement in the hands of the excavator operator.

“In addition, the ability to weigh as you go rather than rely on weighing measurements taken at weighbridges on site creates further efficiencies and saves time. With the industry’s focus increasingly on maximising productivity, a mobile weighing system like X-Weigh is worth its weight in gold. The information it provides allows you to make critical decisions more effectively.”

The best example of this is in loading road trucks to take material to landfills. For safety reasons, trucks can’t be overloaded, which sometimes leads to operators under filling them to be on the safe side. This means the under filled trucks not only have to make more trips overall, but can also create additional costs because landfills charge per load, not by weight.

“It is far more cost and time effective to make sure the trucks are filled to capacity,” said Gordon. “That’s where the X-Weigh system comes into its own. You’re measuring each load before it goes into the truck. As soon as the truck is full, you know it. There’s no waiting to be weighed on the weighbridge and dealing with inaccuracies the truck is ready to go.

“You can also monitor what material was loaded into which truck, like rocks versus dirt, which is important for when the project is being charged rock body rates.”

The ease and practicality of this solution means it provides a faster and more economical solution to weighbridges on some jobs and replaces the “guesstimation” that often takes place.

When John Holland became an open alliance partner in the recent South Morang Rail Extension Project, they turned to The CAT Rental Store to provide the excavators they needed. Two excavators were fitted with the X-Weigh system by Victorian Loadrite distributor, Galesafe Weighing.

“The X-Weigh system with added sensors absolutely adds to your competitive advantage on a project like this,” said The CAT Rental Store Business Development Manager, Mark Gubbels.

“With a site like South Morang they don’t have space to set up the number of mobile weighbridges that would be required for fast processing. If you’ve only got one or two weighbridges then the trucks have to line up to be weighed, which is a real waste of time. The X-Weigh is a far cheaper, more efficient alternative.

“With the inclusion of the additional quick hitch sensor and soft ware upgrade, utilising the X-Weigh doesn’t take any more time than the traditional load and dump cycle, so operators can continue to work at maximum speed whilst maintaining tight accuracy.”

John Holland’s Earthworks Superintendent – South Morang Rail Extension project, Garry Auld, says the X-Weigh system provided a number of benefits. As a member of an open alliance, the company shares in the job’s profits and losses, so accuracy and productivity are extremely important to them and the X-Weigh system provides the tools that allow them to manage that productivity very closely.

“Using X-Weigh, we know we’re not overloading trucks and we know we’re getting value for money by getting maximum weight in the trucks,” said Garry. “It helps us work out our conversion rates from tonnage to cubic metres, which can change a bit depending on the type of material. Information goes directly to one of the engineers’ computers and they can receive accurate daily reports, which should all match up with what we’re paying at the tip.”

“The technology is good and the advantages of using it are evident. There’s really no other cost effective way of knowing that you’re not overloading the trucks but are still getting the most out of them. And you know how much you’re getting out of the gate every day so you don’t even need a weighbridge.”

Gordon agrees that the X-Weigh system is likely to remove the need for weighbridges in many situations.

“X-Weigh is simple, accurate, cost effective and it directly affects the productivity of a project,” he said. “It is absolutely going to revolutionise the industry and allow earthmoving and construction contractors to be completely certain that they are getting the most from their excavators and their trucks.”

Galesafe Weighing are the distributor of Loadrite Products, including the revolutionary X Weigh system, in Victoria.

For more information, contact Jim or Rowena at Galesafe on 03 9465 0900.

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