New slag handling bucket is hot stuff

Designed as the perfect complement to its application-specific range of Slag handlers (wheel loader models L150H, L180H, L220H, L260H and L350H) Volvo Construction Equipment (Volvo CE) has launched an all-new Slag handling bucket. Unlike previously, where a robust rock bucket was used as the base for its steel mill buckets, the new Slag bucket is designed from the ground up for this most demanding of applications. 

With their blistering temperatures, toxic fumes and heavy dust, steel mills are about as extreme a work environment as you can get. Designing a bucket for this application takes a lot of special engineering, as well as considerable amounts of reinforcement to cope with the high temperatures and abrasion found when handling hot slag.

Build quality taken to the extreme

The new bucket is tough from the floor up – literally. The floor is not only made from heavy duty thick plate, its protruding design protects the integrity of the side plate welds. Welded to this is an 80mm (3.465in) single piece cutting edge. Moving up, the side cutters are two parts, with the lower half made from thicker steel, while at the top there is a reinforced spill guard. Even connecting the bucket to the loader is protected, thanks to a reinforced interface. One clever feature is the lower-than-standard digging depth – which takes into account the fitment of protective tire chains.

Now part of the company’s standard attachments offering, the Slag buckets are ‘plug and play’ and ready for action, but they can still be further tailored to the needs of the application, thanks to Volvo CE’s Customer-Built Attachments program. Given the far more robust nature of the Slag bucket, any modification is likely to be minor, meaning faster delivery times for the finished bucket than previously.

Bullet-proof build quality 

The Slag handlers to which the Slag bucket is attached are the perfect tools to stand up to the rigors of work in a steel mill – day in, day out. They feature additional thermal protection, including heat resistant fuel and oil lines, fire protecting materials throughout, as well as additional guarding against slag explosions, falling objects and air blown debris. 

The James Bond fans among us will doubtless appreciate the Slag handlers’ bullet proof glass. And also keeping operators cool under pressure is a cab air filtration system that circulates 90% of cab air through the main filter. Given the nature of the work, an emergency limp home function is a welcome added feature.

The Slag handlers form part of Volvo CE’s wider application-specific wheel loader configurations, which also include Agriculture, Rehandling and Rock, Block, Log and Waste handlers.