Schönkirchen gravel
Bucket for new CAT 988K XE
Schönkirchner Kies relies on a customised bucket from Winkelbauer for the new CAT 988K XE. Schönkirchner Kies Kiesgewinnungs und -verwertungs ges. m.b.H. was founded almost 30 years ago and has since established itself as one of the most important gravel suppliers in the greater Vienna area. With around 20 employees, up to 600,000 tonnes of material are extracted each year.
It is not only the high-quality raw materials, processed into sand, round gravel or rolled gravel, that play a central role. The vehicle fleet is also impressive. With a few exceptions, the gravel plant in Schönkirchen mainly uses CAT equipment, most of which is equipped with Winkelbauer products. Winkelbauer and Managing Director of Schönkirchner Kies, Andreas Kisling, have been working closely together for many years.
The CAT 988K XE is equipped with a special 7.2 m3 bucket, which was customised by Winkelbauer. The reason for the larger bucket lies in the application profile of the machine, as the CAT 988K XE transports the material over a distance of up to 200 metres directly to the feed hopper. As the rest of the material is transported to the gravel works via the conveyor belt, no loading cycles with a skip are necessary. The CAT 988K XE is therefore equipped with a short mast, which can also be used to load the feed hopper. However, due to the long distances involved, it was important to utilise the maximum possible loading capacity of the wheel loader for highly efficient operation.
“I have also worked closely with Winkelbauer for many years. For example, we used a Cat 345 for dredging as the predecessor to our current Cat 336. At our request, Winkelbauer extended the stick on this machine by 2 metres. At the time, we were a little sceptical about how long the stick would last. However, there were no problems until the excavator was replaced. As a result, almost all of our machines are equipped with Winkelbauer products. This includes the new CAT 336 with the bucket for wet excavation and the CAT 988K XE with the special bucket, which is optimised for more volume.”.
Andreas Kisling
Fact check
“We manufactured the bucket of the new CAT 988K XE at the customer’s request and in consultation with Zeppelin. It is a round bottom bucket with a trapezoidal cutting edge for better penetration behaviour and wear soles at the rear. With a width of 3.6 m and a weight of 6,460 kg, it has a capacity of 7.2 m3. It is manufactured from Hardox 500 for the wear plates and with original Caterpillar intermediate tooth segments to protect the cutting edge. The toothing is also the original CAT Advansys system, and sideshrouds are fitted to protect the side cutting edges.”
Thomas Weiß, BA, Key Account in the Construction machinery equipment division at Winkelbauer
