Golden Bay has snapped up the first two Cat 350 excavators that Terra Cat has released in New Zealand, and the machines are already proving their worth in productivity, fuel efficiency, safety and comfort. Golden Bay is a Kiwi institution, providing a range of cements since the late 1880s. Over the past century, it has maintained its commitment to producing a high-quality product. These days, Golden Bay focuses on providing New Zealand’s lowest carbon GP cement and is committed to reducing its carbon footprint by 30 per cent by 2030. Naturally, that means the gear they use needs to be at the cutting edge of sustainability, economical but highly productive, and comfortable to operate. So, when the company needed to upgrade a couple of diggers in its quarry in Hikurangi, Northland, it opted to buy two Cat 350 large excavators. “This is a new model for Terra Cat,” says industry manager Tim O’Meara. “It is specifically designed for quarry applications and is ideal for jobs like truck loading. Better yet, for Golden Bay, they are the ideal size for their application – not too big and not too small.” One 350 has been fitted with a rock breaker and is tasked with smashing the drilled and blasted limestone into smaller rocks, to a maximum size of around 300mm. The second machine spends its time loading these rocks onto trucks, for transport to Golden Bay’s manufacturing plant in Portland, south of Wha- ngarei. “These machines are fuel efficient, and productive. In fact, our two-year Fuel Edge guarantee says they won’t burn more than 32 litres of fuel per hour. This is very efficient. If they do run the machines really hard and go over that, we will give them a parts and service credit.” Tim says they’re able to calculate the C0 2 outputs of the machines by looking at the fuel use and
Golden Bay quarry manager Michael Mead confirms that the 350's fuel consumption is really low, and as far as the operators are concerned, safety and comfort is high. “Operator ergonomics are a big thing – the guys are in the cab for eight hours a day,” he says. “I was talking to one of our operators and he says, in his 25 years in quarrying, the 350 is the best cab he’s had for comfort. He loves the ability to configure the controls and is stoked with the mass power output – he says it’s got ample power to do the job.” “Safety on site is a big priority for us, and these machines are next level. They have red and green safety lights to alert people whether the machine is in use or stopped, which gives the person approaching the machine confidence the operator knows they’re there.” “The other safety feature that’s great is that you can set the swing limit, which is great for operating in tighter areas.” “We also really like that you can do all the machine pre- starts off the ground – it’s simply safer for the operator.” Michael says the two new Cat excavators also have VisionLink, the Terra Cat fleet management software, to manage the prestart and any issues that may come up. “It sends me all the data about the machine – all the telemetrics including fuel use, operating hours, and overall utilisation. I can access this on my phone or laptop, at home or in town or anywhere.” As part of the deal with Terra Cat, Golden Bay has a 10,000-hour full maintenance and service agreement, which along with the Fuel Edge guarantee, gives them certainty around the productivity of the two excavators. “I have to say Terra Cat’s service response and backup results in low downtime for us,” says Michael. “The machines are performing well – fuel consumption is low and our operating costs are down. It’s working out well.”
productivity level. And the 350 offers up to 10 per cent more productivity coupled with industry-leading fuel efficiency.
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