Construction equipment supplier High Power Equipment (HPE) Africa, as the sole Southern African distributor of Hyundai earthmoving equipment, will launch its range of Hyundai 9-Series wheel loaders this month.

The Hyundai 9-Series equipment range was first launched in South Africa last year, in conjunction with the release of the Hyundai excavator range, which included, most notably, the 120 t R1200-9 Hyundai hydraulic excavator. HPE Africa says this is the largest Hyundai excavator to be launched in the country to date.

HPE Africa GM Neil Sauls tells Engineer- ing News that the most important feature of the wheel loader is the fully automatic transmission system.

“The transmission system features variable operating modes, including manual, auto-light, auto-normal and auto-heavy modes. Depending on the terrain and the load, the transmission system is suited to the specific application.”

Not only is the transmission system suited to the application but it also ensures that the correct amount of power and fuel is supplied, resulting in significant fuel cost savings, says Sauls.

The Hyundai 9-Series wheel loader also features a variable clutch cutoff system, with a low, medium and high mode. “For instance, if the wheel loader is set to low mode, the transmission system only uses a certain number of gears and employs shorter gear changes. This improves cycle times and saves on fuel consumption,” notes Sauls.

HPE Africa notes that the wheel loaders’ Cummins Tier II-compliant engine, equipped with a Bosch in-line fuel system, makes it suitable for Africa, as it can handle the lower-quality diesel used in the rural areas of Africa.

Further, the wheel loader’s bigger cabin ensures better visibility and increased operator comfort, which enables easier operation.

Like the other equipment used in the Hyundai 9-Series range, the wheel loader is fitted with a Hi-Mate remote manage- ment system that provides operators and dealer service personnel with access to vital service and diagnostic information about the machine through the Internet.

With Hi-Mate, users can pinpoint machine location using digital mapping and set machine work boundaries, reducing the need for multiple service calls.

The Hyundai 9-Series has a Z-bar link- age to the bucket, which provides better visibility of the corner of the bucket and has a better breakout force and a bucket roll-back angel of 48º, which ensures good load distribution.

An additional feature of the wheel loader is its 5.7 inch liquid crystal display monitor at eye level, which enables the operator to select personal machine preferences. The operator can preset the boom kick-out and bucket-level position while monitoring the preferred settings.

The monitor also displays information such as revolutions per minute, speed, transmission selection, fuel consumption and temperature.

Sauls says the wheel loader is suitable for materials handling and loading applications, such as those used in mining, quarrying, construction, demolition and municipal applications.

The biggest Hyundai 9-Series wheel loader that HPE will import into Southern Africa is the 29 500 kg, 260 kW HL780-9 wheel loader.

HPE Africa has already sold an HL780-9 wheel loader to a Zimbabwe-based company that is replacing its 7-Series loader.