Liebherr L 556 - Manual (Page 40)

40 // Quarrying
It all started in 1934, when Joe Swap, the father of todays
managing directors David and Lewis Swap, shoveled river stone
from a river at the back of his dairy farm in Te Poi in the central
North Island of New Zealand. He put the material onto a 1930s
Ford truck and delivered the aggregate to local building sites and
farms. This was the starting point of his commercial activities.
Today, almost 80 years later, the company is one of the top
aggregates producers and a leading dairy stock food supplement
distributor in New Zealand. The company has regularly added
new business areas as opportunities have arisen. Many rural
customer relationships that started in the 1930s are still on-going
under the direction of Joe’s sons David and Lewis.
Besides them, the fourth generation has already started working
for the company. Joseph, who is Lewis’s eldest grandchild, is
already very active in the family-owned business. “When you’re
part of a fourth generation business it’s in your blood,” Joseph
Carter says. The family members are always on the go, either to
one of their ten aggregate quarries, four stockfood storage
facilities or six agricultural farms. Next to quarrying, stockfeed
and bulk storage they are also active in the contracting and heavy
haulage business – supported by their 380 employees.
Fuel economy: Keeping the environment green
“New Zealand is fortunate to have a clean green environment and
we want to keep it that way,” Lewis Swap says. “We work in an
industry that is important to New Zealand’s economy but could
be seen as environmentally challenging. We give special attention
to managing our environmental impact. Fuel economy is the first
step to do so.”
Nevertheless, powerful machines are needed to cope with the
heavy loads as in the quarry business. Over 2.2 million tons of
material is supplied from the ten aggregate quarries per year.
Thousands of tons of crushed aggregates have to be handled
by the company’s wheel loaders per year. Five large Liebherr
wheel loaders are operating in the company, three L 586 and
two L 556. The big machines are mainly used for bulk material
handling and are equipped with L 5 tires. For general works,
forestry and maintenance, the L 556 is used. All the machines
are operating fifteen hours a day without a break.
“We bought our first Liebherr machines three years ago. In 2013
we bought another L 556 and an L 586. The machines turned
out to be satisfying in terms of capacity and economy,” Lewis
Swap says. “What is especially striking is the L 586. Although
David and Lewis Swap, managing directors.
Capacity and economy were the crucial factors for the
management to buy Liebherr wheel loaders.
J Swap Contractors in New Zealand:
Efficiency in heavy operations
What started in 1934 as delivering shoveled riverstone to local customers, ended up becoming a company
supplying over 2.2 million tons of material from ten aggregate quarries per year. Now, 80 years later,
J Swap is one of the top aggregate producers in New Zealand. Among other Liebherr wheel loaders the
largest hydrostatically driven wheel loader in the world, an L 586, is used to cope with the heavy loads
in the 100 % family-owned quarrying business.
Feature: J Swap