Rokbak RA30 excels at German gravel pit

Requiring a robust, reliable articulated hauler to remove overburden for ten hours a day, five days a week, Erdbau Schrader found the perfect solution with Rokbak and its RA30.

In a pit near to Calbe, a town in the district of Salzlandkreis, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, around 6,000 tons of gravel is removed daily by earthworks specialist Erdbau Schrader. Gravel extraction started at the site around 30 years ago and it’s expected to continue for another three decades. Now navigating this tough terrain, up and down steep inclines to unload around two kilometres away, is the Rokbak RA30, the latest addition to Erdbau Schrader’s fleet.

"We chose Rokbak because of its reliability and the price-performance ratio, as well as the hauler’s ability to cope with our long, heavy off-road operations,” says Ines Schrader, Managing Director of Erdbau Schrader. “We also wanted to ensure that our experienced operators would be able to work with maximum comfort.”

Erdbau Schrader was founded in April 2011. The company specialises in removing overburden for gravel extraction and renaturation, utilising its machines at several locations near its bases of Staßfurt and Brumby. Erdbau Schrader already owned four Terex Trucks TA300s – which it bought before Terex Trucks rebranded to Rokbak in September last year. In July, the company added the RA30 to its fleet, purchasing the machine from Rokbak dealer Klarmann-Lembach. Three other articulated haulers are working alongside the RA30 at the pit near to Calbe.

“The Rokbak RA30 is a strong, reliable and high-performing machine – which is exactly what Erdbau Schrader needed,” explains Klarmann-Lembach salesman Thomas Keil, who recently visited the Calbe site with Rokbak to see the RA30 in action. “Our confidence in the Rokbak brand and the haulers is such that, when we were approached, we could assure our customer that the RA30 was the ideal addition to their fleet.”

Erdbau Schrader’s articulated haulers move at full power five days a week, for ten-hours from 6am until 4pm. Materials from the site are transported over sandy and spongy ground for two kilometres before being unloaded at a railway loading station. The RA30 has to navigate tough terrain, prove its durability over long shifts and be a machine that employees want to operate.

With the capability of transporting a payload of up to 28 mt (30.9 t), the RA30 has a maximum engine power of 276 kW (370 hp) with a heaped capacity of 17.5mᶟ (22.9ydᶟ) and a maximum torque of 1880 Nm @ 1400 rpm. All Rokbak haulers can be relied upon to operate effectively and efficiently, with optimal traction in difficult terrain, combatting steep inclines with ease. Routine maintenance is as quick and efficient as possible, keeping service time and costs to a minimum. Furthermore, the factory-approved parts are backed by a two-year/6,000-hour warranty – one of the most comprehensive guarantees in the industry. Operational comfort is also at the forefront of the RA30 design. A spacious, ROPS/FOPS compliant, pressurised cab with excellent heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) keeps the operator comfortable and focused.

“Our operators have highlighted to us that they have found the RA30 to be extremely reliable and easily adapted to our heavy, difficult working conditions,” says Uwe Schrader, who oversees machine usage at Erdbau Schrader. “The notable construction of the front axle, with true independent front suspension, offers a very high level of operator comfort across a comprehensive ten-hour working day, which is further elevated by the fully automatic eight-speed transmission.”

The RA30’s EP320 transmission comes with eight forward gears as well as four reverse gears and features a top speed of up to 55 km/h (34 mph), high overall gear ratio spread, equal ratio steps between gears and optimised gear shifting with partial load shifts. All of this means that the RA30 offers lower fuel consumption with smoother gear shifting and thereby higher levels of operator comfort as well as faster cycle times and reduced carbon emissions. Overall, the entire drivetrain helps the hauler deliver class-leading rim pull for superior performance and productivity. It also ensures the machine offers excellent navigation and fast haul cycles. The RA30’s long life transmission fluid increases the length of time between oil maintenance intervals to 4,000 hours. This helps customers achieve increased productivity and uptime, as well as lower cost per tonne.

“The RA30’s transmission strikes the perfect balance between efficient power, effective gearing and weight distribution, allowing the hauler to move more loads quicker,” concludes Thomas Schmitt, Rokbak’s Customer Support Manager for Europe. “The RA30 is simple to operate and easy to maintain, it delivers low total cost of ownership with a fuel-efficient performance and high productivity – so it’s no wonder the Erdbau Schrader team are so happy with it.”