Barracuda Archives - International Mining

Schlam says it has been certified as a Hardox® In My Body member for its Barracuda range of excavator, shovel and wheel loader buckets.

The Barracuda range of buckets is custom made for the customer’s ground conditions, commodities, material properties and OEM earthmoving fleet, Schlam says.

From high production lightweight buckets through to armoured buckets, each attachment is tailor-made to get the best out of the client’s fleet of load and haul equipment, according to the company.

General Manager of Schlam Payload Solutions, Glenn Brearey, says a poorly designed bucket will slow productivity and performance of the load and haul ecosystem.

“The biggest bucket is not necessarily the best; that’s why a fit-for-purpose solution engineered to suit the conditions is critical to maximising the investment in your dig machine.

“It’s also why we choose Hardox wear plate. Its properties – exceptional strength, hardness and toughness mixed with bendability and weldability – means that we can purpose-build a Barracuda HX for low wearing conditions where weight can be saved using linerless attachments or high wearing conditions with short bucket change-out intervals. Hardox wear plate allows us to be agile to our clients’ needs.”

Manufactured by global steel company SSAB, Hardox wear plate is a leading abrasion-resistant steel.

While the Barracuda has been in Schlam’s growing product catalogue for some time, the acceptance into the Hardox In My Body program means each Barracuda HX with a Hardox In My Body logo will have passed SSAB’s strict quality control with regard to welding quality, manufacturing process and design, and is approved as a premium product by SSAB’s board, Schlam said.

Each logo comes with a unique ID that is traceable and identifies the origin and material used in the bucket. This way, customers know that the product is made from genuine Hardox wear plate and not an inferior imitation.

The addition of the Barracuda line of products into Hardox In My Body program follows its Hercules dump truck bodies also being welcomed into the program earlier in the year.

The Schlam Group – Schlam Engineering, DT HiLoad and The Pilbara Clean Machines (TPCM) – has been amalgamated under one name, Schlam.

The move, which will unify the three companies under the one banner, purpose and set of principles, the company says, was initiated to better to reflect Schlam’s status as a “globally relevant company wholly focused on making mining equipment more productive”, it said.

Schlam Chief Executive Officer, Ryan Schlam, said the move would provide a stable platform for future growth.

“Bringing the group together under the one name will better position us to achieve our purpose of ensuring that the customer experience is exceptional,” he said.

“How we will do this is by solving the whole of equipment maintenance and payload challenges that keep our customer’s mines from being better tomorrow than they were today.”

The new brand has been partitioned into three distinct but related divisions covering Payload Solutions, People Solutions and Engineering Solutions.

According to Ryan Schlam, the roots of the company are secured deep within the People Solutions division.

“For almost 25 years we have been providing the industry with superstars in equipment maintenance, rebuilds and shutdowns,” he said.

“Be it mechanical, electrical or fabrication, our people are ready to join your team for as long as you need them, or to bring their expertise and field equipment to your site at a moment’s notice.”

Previously known by the name DT HiLoad, the Payload Solutions division will continue to manufacture and develop products such as the Hercules and Bullant trays, and Barracuda buckets for Tier 1 clients on six continents. Hercules truck trays are currently in place on the Cat 793s at BHP’s Eastern Ridge (Newman East) operation in the Pilbara. These trucks have just started to move to autonomous mode.

Ryan Schlam says the company’s growth was only possible due to its engineering mindset and holistic view of equipment productivity.

“Engineering is at the heart of everything that we do,” he said.

“Productivity problems don’t solve themselves and our Engineering Division will give customers access to people and technology that will enable them to help them rethink and reinvent how they’re currently doing things.”

The three divisions will be headquartered at the company’s offices in Forrestfield, Perth, in Western Australia.

Schlam’s Barracuda buckets receive SSAB Hardox seal of approval

Schlam Engineering, DT HiLoad and The Pilbara Clean Machines unite