LATEST NEWS

Have you ever questioned whether a mini excavator could get to work on some the highest mountain peaks in the UK? Well one specialist plant hire firm had to do just that.

O’Malley’s Groundworks and Plant Hire firm have recently put a 3-tonne mini excavator to work in the Lake District some 773m (2,536 ft) high involving a major air lift to site and some very special engineering skills.

The Lake District National Park needed vital repairs to Sail Fell one of the best known and well used paths in the Lake District. The main task involved finding a firm capable of getting a mini excavator on top of the fell, an area only accessible by foot or air. O’Malley based in Penrith are one of Cumbria’s best known plant hire and civil engineering contractors with a strong reputation for groundworks and plenty of Takeuchi excavators in the fleet between 1-8-tonne.

Tom O’Malley MD - “We knew we had a machine to do the work, the big question was the engineering skills to dismantle and reassemble an excavator on top of a mountain and the logistics of the airlift”

Normally, at least a 5-tonne mini excavator would be best to do the ground engineering but O’Malley’s advised a smaller 3-tonne Takeuchi was the best fit. The National Park Authority regularly use air services to reach some parts of the Lake District. Inverness based PDG provide frequent air deliveries to remote mountain regions of the Lakes and Scotland and advised on the best practice for the excavator airlift. Critical was the maximum airlift capacity of 1000kg.

Takeuchi’s TB125 proved to be a good choice, it is designed for relatively easy break down into modular parts.

Bill Hodgson is the long established Takeuchi dealer in the region and has never known a request quite like this “we have put mini excavators down mines but never on helicopters”. With Bill’s full support providing Takeuchi machine engineering O’Malley’s were able to organise the machine break down into critical weight loads; boom arm, tracks, engine, sprockets and idlers, cab, stripping the machine to get the basic undercarriage under the critical airlift weight.

The biggest issue was of course, the stripped down undercarriage and frame are the heaviest part of any excavator. It came close to the helicopters maximum load capacity of 1000kg and took some significant flying skills to slowly gain altitude to ascent the fell. With PDG’s assistance the helicopter needed to be completely stripped internally to provide the weight balance to complete the lift. PDG completed the air lift in one hours flying, making 5 lifts. PDG Helicopters are the largest on-shore operators of helicopters in the UK; in addition to passenger transport and aerial surveys the company flies a wide range of under-slung loads; anywhere in the country, for a wide range of customers, every day. The helicopter minimises the environmental impact of moving heavy machinery in sensitive areas and lifting up to 30 tonnes of materials per hour, it is often the most cost effective method of accessing difficult to reach or remote locations.

O’Malley’s engineers were on the mountain side to quickly re assemble the mini with ease. For the machine operator the 2 month ground works involved a daily steep quad bike ride followed by a 1 mile steep hike, a fitness regime suitable for the toughest athletes.

The ground works and drainage work across Sail Fell, focused on one of the most regularly used tracks that is prone to water deluge and has been badly damaged from walker erosion. The path’s washed out stones meant walkers encroach on the path edges, developing far wider paths than originally intended, with paths as much as 15m wide in parts. The excavation involved sod removal, ditch excavation for improved drainage control, damaged materials replaced into an excavated trench and well compacted material on the path rather than stones. The drainage is directed away from the path to avoid repeat wash-outs and gradual zig zag climbs introduced. Original sods were replaced to create an effective green vista to maintain a 4ft wide path and a very scenic fell.

The fell path repairs were completed in record time before the start of the autumn and wet weather. An excavator for this type of application is essential and saved valuable time. The TB125 was air lifted down in similar circumstances to be re assembled and put back into the fleet for plenty more work at ground level.

"Looking after the lakedistrict for the enjoyment of millions can be challenging. But even challenges like this one can be successful if you have the right people, with the right skills and the right tools." - Richard Fox, Fix the Fells Project Officer, Lake District National Park Authority.

PR Contact: Gemma Sharpe Tel 01625 267152