Liebherr R9350 Hydraulic Excavator "Taavura"
Taavura Holdings Ltd is one of Israel’s largest road haulage and logistics companies engaging in various types of road haulage, earthmoving, mining, cranes & heavy lifting as well as heavy haulage of oversize loads. It was formed even before the establishment of the state of Israel by Avraham (Bondi) Livnat with a single Mack truck. By 1952, his fleet had grown to four trucks, an excavator and a bulldozer and several years later in 1955, Taavura was registered as a limited company. By 1960, their new front end loader and heavy dump truck fleet were hard at work in the Timna mines, disposing of 8 tons of overburden for every ton of copper extracted. Today, Taavura's Earth-Moving division specialize in earth works for infrastructure and road construction, quarrying of rock aggregates for the construction industry and mining, making them one of the largest earthmoving contractors in Israel with an ongoing operation in Israel’s phosphate mines and operations in several quarries throughout the country.
The company has recently taken delivery of a brand new Liebherr R9350 hydraulic excavator which arrived in 15 main parts and was transported to the mine by the company’s heavy haulage division. A team of engineers and mechanics who had been to Liebherr’s Colmar facility for training on the giant machine then fully assembled the excavator, with the help of a crane from the cranes division within 2 weeks with a further week needed for calibrations and adjustments to get the machine working perfectly. Once operational, the chosen operators for the new machine received 2 weeks on site training by an experienced Liebherr trainer before the R9350 was put to work loading Caterpillar 777 dump trucks. Weighing in at over 300 tons with a 21.5 cubic meter bucket capacity and a power output of 1500hp, the R9350 is the largest machine in the company’s fleet, finished in a striking green colour scheme.
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A limited edition 1:50th scale die-cast model of the Taavura R9350 has been produced by NZG and is highlighted here. The upper deck is finished with metal safety railings around the edge with a line of fire suppressant canisters, the main exhaust pipes and air intakes all prominently displayed.
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At the heart of the chassis is the hydraulic distribution block with pipe work running along the boom where flexible hoses are connected to the cylinders. Fine printing is used to highlight the service walkways and this achieves a realistic look with surface ridge engraving of the various cooling grills on the body panels. |
The cabin has a finished interior with sun blinds fitted over the side and rear windows and safety mirrors, roof mounted light housings and an orange beacon located on the roof. Walkways provide safe entry and exit from the machine at the front and rear, complete with a rotating ladder.
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The digging equipment has a fairly good range of movement and the hydraulics are capable of holding the boom in any chosen position.
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When it comes to detail on a model, few are as highly detailed as the R9350 and attention to detail has been followed right down to the panel on the underside of the rear body which houses the fuel and hydraulic fluid refuelling system which can be lowered, revealing the hose connections. |
The undercarriage has individually mounted lower rollers with tensioned idler wheels keeping the tracks taut and the main final drive housings have good surface detailing. The paint finish is of a very high quality with authentic placement of the Taavura markings on the boom, body sides and counterweight.
