New Volvo excavator punches well above its weight

Babcock’s equipment business has introduced the Volvo EC550E crawler excavator to the local market. Sales of the 55-tonne machine, which delivers the type of performance normally associated with excavators in the 60/65 tonne class, have got off to an excellent start, with five units ordered and some already working on site.

The EC550E fills the gap between the highly successful 48-tonne EC480D excavator and the 75-tonne EC750D, also a very strong seller. It is one of the most advanced excavators in the Volvo line-up and offers class-leading productivity and fuel economy. According to Babcock, it is the perfect partner to Volvo’s 30-t and 40-t capacity articulated haulers, the A30G and the A40G, with the ability to reduce the number of required passes and dramatically improve cycle times.

“We are extremely excited by the capabilities of the EC550E,” says David Vaughan, MD of Babcock’s equipment division. “It offers 25 % better fuel efficiency than other machines in its weight class and up to 40 % higher productivity and we believe it is going to be a real winner. We see it repeating the success we’ve had with both the EC480D and the EC750D, which are both market leaders.”

Lance Mannix, General Manager– Sales, says the EC550E even stands up well against the EC750D. “We’ve put the two machines up against each other in the field and the EC550E keeps up with its bigger brother in ways that we would never have anticipated. It can do almost everything that the EC750D does in light to medium applications although, of course, it will fall behind in more demanding heavy-duty applications in very hard rock.”

Features that enable the EC550E to punch above its weight are a powerful Volvo diesel engine delivering a maximum power of 320 kW at 1 600 rpm and a robust undercarriage of 60/65-tonne calibre, which provides superior levels of stability and durability. The transport dimensions, however, are roughly equivalent to the EC480D. Breakout force is an impressive 251 kN and tearout force 220 kN.

The EC550E is available with a range of heavy-duty rock buckets – from 2.5 to 3.5 m3 – designed for use in abrasive conditions, with the Volvo Tooth System making easy work of teeth replacements thanks to its place, push and click functionality.

Customers can take further control of their productivity with On-Board Weighing, helping to ensure the optimum amount of material is loaded. This optional system provides real-time information to eliminate under and over-loading of haul trucks and also records total tonnage for complete production management.

A major contributor to the EC550E’s fuel efficiency is the next-generation electro-hydraulic system with Independent Metering Valve Technology (IMVT), which replaces the conventional spool-type main control valve. It is the latest pioneering innovation from Volvo and is said to be the most high-performing hydraulic system in the industry. It provides significantly more precise control than conventional systems.

“The new electro-hydraulic system has resulted in a very clean design with far fewer hydraulic hoses than you would find in machines using conventional technology,” Vaughan says. “This is a real plus and, of course, makes maintenance that much easier.”

Another feature of the machine that has impressed Vaughan is the optional Volvo Smart View system, which uses front, rear and side cameras to provide a real-time, overhead view of the machine, which is especially helpful when working in confined spaces. “The system is really impressive and definitely enhances safety and operator productivity,” he says.

The five units sold so far are going to three separate customers, two of whom are repeat buyers. “They’ve added to their initial orders and are each taking two machines,” says Mannix. “This speaks volumes about the product and the impression it makes once it is operating in the field.”

The EC550E forms part of a comprehensive 12-model line-up of Volvo crawler excavators ranging from a compact 4-tonne machine through to the 95-tonne EC950E, the flagship of the range. The most popular machine locally is the EC750 model, with total sales now numbering around 200 units. The EC950E has also done extremely well with nearly 50 machines purchased since its launch in South Africa in 2017, an impressive figure given the limited market for heavy excavators in this class.