Kiesel adds '-5' Hitachi excavator to rental fleet

German Hitachi dealer Kiesel has added a new Zaxis-5 excavator to its rental fleet. The ZX670LCH-5 is one of the first '-5' Hitachi models to be sold in Germany and is the largest excavator in Kiesel’s fleet.

The 72 t machine is now working on a six-month contract at the Calcitwerk Heidenheim limestone quarry near Heidenheim, west of Stuttgart, owned by Schön + Hippelein.

The ZX670, which is operating alongside two Hitachi ZX870H-3 loading shovels, is being used to load overburden material on to the quarry’s two Euclid-Hitachi EH750 rigid dump trucks, which then haul the materials to fill in another part of the site.

Christian Wogenstein, Calcitwerk Heidenheim’s technical manager, said: “The ZX870H-3s are excellent machines and they have worked well in conjunction with the EH750s.

“This is a challenging working environment for construction machinery, but the Hitachis are helping us to meet our production targets. We also enjoy a strong working relationship with Kiesel and we were happy to rent the new ZX670LCH-5 to test it alongside our existing fleet."

Robert Hahn has been an operator for 20 years and is the sole operator of the new Zaxis-5 machine; “Productivity is so important in a quarry and that’s why I think the speed of the swing mechanism is the best thing about the ZX670LCH-5. It only takes four passes to fill one of the trucks and the loading cycle is fast, even when emptying the bucket."