Tag Archives: dump truck body

Schlam adds SSAB Hardox wear plate to Hercules dump truck bodies

Equipment maintenance, Mining equipment, Mining services, Steel and iron ore, , , , , , , , ,

Schlam has teamed up with global steel giant SSAB to offer its Hercules dump truck bodies with Hardox® wear plate. The move follows Schlam being accepted into the Hardox In My Body program.

Glenn Brearey, General Manager of Schlam Payload Solutions, said the company is choosing to use Hardox steel due to its wear resistance, hardness, strength and overall performance, which surpasses the metal found in competitors dump bodies.

“Hardox has used the latest technology to create the world’s leading abrasion-resistant steel, giving our clients extended service life and high productivity in the most challenging mining environments,” Brearey said. “The Hercules is the dump body of choice for many Tier 1 miners around the globe due its lightweight and, therefore, greater payload potential. By using Hardox wear plate in the Hercules HX we’re adding another dimension to our already world-class offering.”

The Hercules HX can withstand heavy impacts without permanent deformation or cracking, ensuring more service life from the truck body investment, resulting in a lower total cost of ownership, the company said.

Every Hercules HX made by Schlam will have a ‘Hardox In My Body’ decal on it to verify it’s been manufactured using Hardox wear plate and not an inferior imitation, Schlam says.

SSAB Marketing Manager – South East Asia & Pacific – Kirs Chua said: “Each application with the sign attached has passed our strict quality control and is approved as a premium product by the SSAB board. Specialists within wear and structural technology carefully analyse each application regarding welding quality, manufacturing process and design.

“Each sign has a unique ID that is traceable and can secure the origin and material.”

Every Hercules HX is custom engineered and built from the ground up based on a mine’s unique operational requirements and is designed to deliver the same outcomes across all commodities, including coal, gold, copper and iron ore, Schlam says

WA gold mine looks for payload boost in Austin Ultima truck body trial

Equipment maintenance, Mining consumables, Mining equipment, Mining services, Precious metals, , , , , , , , ,

One of Western Australia’s key gold mines is trialling Austin Engineering’s new Ultima truck bodies on several of the operation’s 240 t haul trucks as it looks to optimise and maximise its haulage fleet payloads.

The trial has the potential to be converted into a fleet-wide body upgrade, according to Austin, continuing a program that started in 2014 when the engineering company fitted its JEC bodies and increased payload by more than 20 t/load at the operation.

The new Ultima body (pictured on a truck) will take the payload up to 240 t/load and further maximise the haul fleet’s availability and productivity, Austin said.

Going back to the previous payload increase program, the JEC bodies were fitted to the haul fleet after the mine identified a series of production-oriented challenges – including weight of the OEM bodies, the high cost of maintaining the bodies (and subsequent non-availability of the haul truck) and non-achievement of target payloads – impacting on performance and productivity of the load-haul fleet, according to Austin.

Initially 11 bodies were ordered and ultimately the mine’s load-haul fleet was retrofitted.

The customised bodies lifted payload capacity to 230 t/load – an increase of around 20 t/load over the OEM bodies – an outcome of the weight differential between the OEM tray and the JEC body. “Along with increased payload, the body change-out improved haul fleet availability and performance – the result of less frequent unscheduled body repairs, an outcome of the replaceable floor in the JEC body, which eliminated the need for heavy, maintenance-intensive wear line plates,” Austin said.

Now, with the trial progressing, the long-serving JEC units are in line to be replaced by the Ultima bodies which, due to further advances in the payload capacity vs body weight equation, will lift payload to 240 t/load and still meet all OEM dump truck specifications, according to Austin.

“The Ultima haul truck body has the potential to be a significant gamechanger in haul fleet operation due to its advanced steel and design technologies,” Austin said. “A lighter-weight module design, it features improved structural integrity for superior impact and wear resistance, extended fatigue life and lower maintenance costs – all targeted to maximised payload, improved cycle efficiency and significantly reduced total cost of ownership.”

A ‘V’ profile floor, designed to actively channel the load to the centre of the tray, improves machine stability and safety, according to Austin. The floor design also reduces dump cycle times (empty is achieved at 3/4 tipping).

Although the new tray is lighter and stronger than current OEM bodies – which translates to a 10-15% weight saving without sacrificing payload – its design reduces overall tray wear, which significantly increases availability and improves productivity of the mine’s load-haul cycle, Austin said.

The miner’s expectation of the Ultima body is for 240 t/load and, according to the manufacturer, when matched with the appropriate loading tool – such as the 32 m³ bucket on the mine’s shovel excavator – this load figure will be consistently and efficiently achieved.

Just as it did for the JEC units, Austin will maintain a condition monitoring program for the new bodies and advise the mine on any maintenance issues, it said.

The miner is also using Austin bodies in other operations around the world. Specialised hauler bodies have been customised to add significant value and reduce operational costs in underground mining operations, it said.

Austin Engineering expands into South Africa with ETT partnership

Equipment maintenance, Mining consumables, Mining equipment, Mining maintenance, Mining services, , , , , , , ,

Australia-based Austin Engineering says it has signed a partnership agreement with South Africa’s ETT to market and support their combined mining-oriented product ranges throughout Africa.

The agreement, which follows around 12 months of talks, will bring together two of the southern hemisphere’s largest mining equipment design and manufacturing entities, Austin said.

Austin has more than 50 years of global experience in engineering and manufacturing equipment for the mining industry with operations in Australia, Asia, North and South America, and now South Africa. ETT, meanwhile, is a privately-owned South Africa-based company with products already distributed in more than 20 countries around the world.

Austin Engineering Managing Director, Peter Forsyth (pictured on the left), said: “We are looking forward to growing this partnership. It gives both companies a solid and reliable platform from which to offer customers throughout the continent proven world-class products backed up by world-class service.”

ETT Managing Director, Andre McDuling (pictured on the right), added: “ETT’s manufacturing and innovative record, as well as our strong presence and product supply into Africa, is one of the key reasons why this partnership was formed. We are confident that the industry is ready for a partnership like this that will provide the widest range of mining attachments and support products in the world.”

The combined product range of the new partnership will include customised dump truck bodies, water trucks, diesel lube trucks, gooseneck-equipped recovery vehicles, tyre handlers, low bed off-road trailers and excavator buckets.

Austin Engineering looks to set dump truck body benchmark

Equipment maintenance, Mining equipment, Mining maintenance, Mining services, , , , , , , , ,

A unique ‘V’ profile floor, designed to actively channel the load to the centre of the tray, is one of the standout design features of Austin Engineering’s new Ultima dump truck body.

Designed and manufactured by the Australia-based engineer, the new body also features improved structural integrity and payload advantages, the company said.

Based on Austin’s WESTECH, JEC and JEC-LD series of bodies, the new tray is lighter and stronger than current original equipment manufacturer (OEM) bodies, which translates to a 10-15% weight saving without sacrificing payload, according to the company.

This is the next generation in mining dump bodies, Austin Engineering says, with the Ultima carrying a greater payload, meeting all OEM dump truck specifications and delivering the industry’s lowest cost per tonne.

“By channelling the payload to centre line of the tray, the unique V-floor, with its lower centre of gravity, improves machine stability and safety and reduces overall tray wear,” the company said. “The floor design also reduces dump cycle times (empty is achieved at 3/4 tipping).”

The body also features large radius transitions to assist in the reduction of material carry-back, which also provide superior impact resistance and substantially extend operating life, Austin said.

“Overall the optimIsed shape of the Ultima body means better material distribution within the structure while maintaining the payload/weight advantage,” Austin Engineering said.

The new body’s increased structural integrity gives superior impact and wear resistance, extends fatigue life and lowers maintenance costs, according to the company. Tapered sides run the full length of the body to minimise wear, assist in carry-back reduction and reduce side spillage in the dumping cycle, while a low-profile rear floor shape, combined with a reduced height bolster, provide additional ground clearance when dumping.

The body is available in both ‘Straight Floor’ or ‘Flow Control Combo’ designs to cater for fixed or varying SG values and is designed to operate as a liner-less configuration.

“It can be adapted to suit any mine specific application, is suitable for any current OEM dump truck chassis and is designed to comply with all OEM haul truck operating limitations,” the company concluded.