Sweden: Volvo Construction Equipment (Volvo CE) has launched a new slag handling bucket intended for use with vehicles such as wheel loaders. It has designed the slag bucket specifically for this application unlike previously, where a rock bucket was used as the base for its steel mill buckets.
The new bucket has a floor made from thick plate with a protruding design to protect the integrity of the side plate welds. Welded to this is an 80mm single piece cutting edge. The side cutters are two parts, with the lower half made from thicker steel, while at the top there is a reinforced spill guard. The bucket uses a reinforced interface to protect the connection of the bucket to the loader. It uses a lower-than-standard digging depth, which takes into account the fitment of protective tire chains. The company offers the slag buckets as part of its standard attachments but they can be customised via Volvo CE’s Customer-Built Attachments program.
Volvo CE sells a range of wheel loaders marketed for the slag handling market including the L150H, L180H, L220H, L260H and L350H models. These vehicles feature additional thermal protection, including heat resistant fuel and oil lines, fire protecting materials throughout, as well as additional guarding against slag explosions, falling objects and air blown debris. They also include bullet proof glass, a cab air filtration system that circulates 90% of cab air through the main filter and an emergency limp home function. The slag handlers form part of Volvo CE’s wider application-specific wheel loader configurations, which also include agriculture, rehandling and rock, block, log and waste handlers.
