Ryedale Organics Adds To Hyundai Fleet With Hl960a XT

Green waste specialist Ryedale Organics has added a Hyundai HL960A XT wheel loader to its fleet, equipped with a high-tip Ulrich bulk handling bucket. The loader joins two other Hyundai HL960As, already operating at its Melbourne, Yorkshire facility.

The third-generation family business specialises in in-vessel composting, with a wash plant facility for heavily contaminated oversize and an optical sorting line. Taking food and green waste from local councils and private companies, throughout Yorkshire and as far afield as Manchester, Ryedale currently processes around 80,000-tonnes of material a year. It creates a range of composts and soil improvers from the waste, for use in farming and landscaping.

Run by cousins and co-directors Ollie and Jeremy Kemp, the composting plant sits within an agricultural complex on the family’s Ryedale Farm, which was established in the 1930s by Maurice Kemp. Along with the composting facilities, the business also incorporates an arable farm, a poultry unit and a cold store site.

Waste material is transported into the business in bulk walking-floor trailers, before being run through a series of screens, shredders and sorting machinery to remove contaminants like metals and plastics. The Hyundai loaders move the material into sealed composting vessels, that are aerated through the floor. Microorganisms rapidly decompose the material, releasing heat and water vapour.

The material is removed after a few weeks and laid on a curing, or maturation area. It finishes decomposition as it cools, stabilising nutrients, before being used as a soil conditioner or screened again to create either a 10mm landscaping compost or a 20mm organic peat-free compost for farmers. The complete process takes 10-12 weeks.

Ryedale purchases its Hyundai loaders from local dealer Taylor & Braithwaite. Over the years the two companies have built a strong working relationship, with the dealer also providing the high-tip bucket for the latest model.

“The Hyundai machines are really competitive pricewise,” said Ollie Kemp. “They haven’t let us down and we get a really good service from Taylor & Braithwaite. They are a family business like us and we find that everyone gets involved. We are really confident in their experience.”

All three of the Hyundai machines are HL960A XT models. The machines are the ideal size for the task, as there is a weight limit within the vessels due to the aeration system in the floors, that would make a larger loader impractical. However, one of the loaders is always equipped with a tipping bucket along with the XT specification’s longer arms, to make loading of bulk trailers easier.

“We like to keep the machines for up to 8,000 hours, though we have gone as far as 12,000 hours in the past,” said Mr Kemp.

“We have extended warranties to 6,000 hours and then we service the machines ourselves after that. Our business is about keeping things moving and we can’t have anything stopped. The back-up that we get from Taylor & Braithwaite is the biggest plus for us.”

The HL960A XT is a mid-weight in the Hyundai A-Series range of wheel loaders, tipping the scales at around 20-tonnes, depending on specification. Powered by a 168kW (225hp) six-cylinder diesel engine, the machine drives through a five-speed transmission, with lock-up clutch. The XT machine has extra-long loader arms and linkage, taking the bucket hinge pin height from 4,105mm on the standard machine to 4,535mm and dump clearance at maximum height from 2,935mm to 3,885mm. The Ulrich tipping bucket installed on Ryedale’s machine raises that loadover height further, making it easier to fill the high-sided bulk trailers.

Demand for sustainable waste management continues to grow, particularly across municipal and industrial sectors, making in-vessel composting an increasingly popular solution. As a leader in the field, Ryedale Organics’s Yorkshire site is well placed to make the most of that potential demand.