Massive Wheeled Loaders: Part One: Caterpillar, Leibherr, Volvo

The stunning Carrara marble quarries in the Italian Apuan Alps are home to a number of machines frequently called on to move their own weight in marble. One example at Guilio Vanelli Marmo's mountain-top quarry is Liebherr's largest offering - the 30-tonne L 586. Not far away at an equally dizzy height Volvo's largest wheeled loader, the 50-tonne L350F struggles to lift a huge block of marble. Carrara is also home to the recently-launched ZW550, which marks Hitachi's return to the 50-tonne market. There is also footage of Liebherr R 974 and Hitachi EX870 excavators struggling to position mind-bogglingly heavy marble blocks. In England, Volvo's flagship wheeled loader and a Cat 988H provide the muscle at Singleton Birch's Melton Ross chalk quarry, in North Lincolnshire. Further south, the only pair of 100-tonne Komatsu WA900s in Britain work side by side at Hanson Cement's Ketton limestone quarry. Steven then takes us to France to see an even heavier 130-tonne Caterpillar 993K at the largest limestone quarry in France. Across the border the Belgian Carrieres d'Antoing limestone quarry is home to a 100-tonne Cat 992G and a pair of huge Catterpillar 200-tonne 994s. The oldest was the very first 994 to come to Europe in 1993. The programme concludes with a visit to the Norwegian Titania ilmenite mine to see the world's largest mechanically-driven wheeled loader - the Komatsu WA1200, which tips the scales at 225 tonnes. Filling Cat 789 trucks with 40 to 45 tonnes at a time, this mountain mover dwarfs the mine's Letourneau L-1100. This WA1200 works alongside a 374-tonne Terex O&K RH 170 hydraulic excavator. See more