TWO Bobcat T320 compact steel tracked loaders supplied by local dealer Aetco are performing well in a very arduous application at Amman in  Jordan, working in 16 drying beds with sludge up to 0.8 m in depth at the Samra wastewater treatment plant (WWTP).

At the Samra plant, once the liquid sludge is digested, it is conveyed to 16 lined solar evaporation lagoons where it is first dewatered for a year before being transferred to the storage area by trucks. The loaders were tested and purchased for work on these two stages of the process. During the drying process, the sludge must be mixed regularly in order to avoid crust formation and consequently to maximise evaporation.
“Considering the dimensions and geometry of the lagoons, the only feasible way was to consider a machine able to operate in not less than 50 cm of liquid sludge without affecting the sensitive ground structure (liner under 30 cm of sand) of the lagoons,” says a spokesman for Bobcat. “During the operation, pushing by the T320 loaders causes bow waves which either deflect the muck from the loader or, when reversing, force it into crevices in the machine.”
Meanwhile, in addition to the T320, Bobcat now offers steel- tracked versions of the company’s T250 and T300 loaders, which together are the three largest models in the company’s compact tracked loader range. The steel-tracked versions can work with over 40 different attachments and can be used in a wide variety of applications.
All the three loaders, with a 1.87-m machine width, have a better turning ability than larger tracked machines, says Bobcat.
The steel tracks, which are 340- mm wide, offer up to three times the track life of rubber tracks in heavy-duty applications.
Compared to the rubber- tracked versions, the steel- tracked models have an increase in operating weight of approximately 280 kg each.