Cobra Middlesbrough Limited has been operating Liebherr wheeled loaders at their rock salt processing facilities in North Road for a number of years and these highly specialised materials handlers are fully equipped and protected for what is an extremely corrosive working environment.
Proof of the success of these machines is that Cobra has taken another Liebherr loader on a three-year equipment supply and maintenance contract. A new generation L 5502plus2 ZK-HL wheeled loader joins an existing L 566, replacing an L 544 which has come to the end of its long, productive and trouble-free working life.
Cobra Middlesbrough Limited handles and processes around 500,000 tonnes of rock salt a year under contract to Cleveland Potash Limited and which arrives on site by rail from Boulby Potash mine. The main uses for this product are road treatment during the icy winter months and, in a finer screened form, for animal feed salt. The incoming bottom-dump rail wagons discharge the rock salt into conveyors below ground, from where it is conveyed to the main stockpiles and subsequent processing. Cobra distributes nationwide, with some of the rock salt destined for export to continental Europe and America.
The Liebherr wheeled loading shovels carry out numerous tasks, including stockpile management, loading trucks and spreaders and conveyor hopper loading for feeding specialist dry bulk tankers. The winter time is undoubtedly the busiest period, when large volumes of salt need to be handled and loaded onto trucks and specialist vehicles for the vital task of ensuring that roads are treated against icing. The loaders work predominantly outside but also undertake stockpile management and conveyor hopper feeding inside the processing sheds.
The Liebherr L 5502plus2 ZK-HL is a high-lift version with Z-pattern bucket linkage and is an articulated, hydrostatically driven wheeled loader in the 16 tonnes class with a tipping load of 11,650kg. Power is supplied by a Liebherr made en-gine which develops 130kW and is fully compliant with Stage IIIA / Tier 3 emissions. The standard general purpose bucket has a capacity of 3m³ and, combined with the HL arms, provides a superb load-over-height of 4.3 metres - ideal for loading material into bulkers and a combination that gives excellent productivity in a simple and cost-effective package.
An important feature of the L 550 is a high level, isolated cooling system which is equipped with an automatically reversing fan to maintain radiator cleanliness and efficiency; cyclonic engine air pre-cleaners are also included to combat the dusty environment. The hydrostatic driveline system on the loader contributes to considerable fuel consumption
