Modern Quarrying July-August 2016

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July - August 2016 MODERN QUARRYING 35
The mining sector worldwide remains
under pressure to reduce operating costs
and this has seen a number of plants cut-
ting back on essential maintenance in an
effort to decrease what is perceived to
be unnecessary expenditure. This stance
is cause for concern as cutting back on
maintenance will increase long term
operational costs on a plant.
Mark Baller, MD of Weba Chute
Systems says this is particularly true when
taking short cuts in maintaining material
transfer chutes and systems. He explains
that when cutting back on maintenance
activities on transfer points the focus is
almost always on reducing the cost of
individual parts, components or tasks
and not on the total cost of ownership.
This can result in cutbacks in inappropri-
ate areas leading to subsequent future
additional costs.
“While we understand this is a tough
time for the mining sector, and opera-
tions are under extreme cost pressure, the
sourcing of cheaper alternatives will not
Purpose-built for the robust applications typically found
in Africa, Caterpillar’s B20, B30 and B35 top mount ham-
mers (TM) are now available locally for diverse markets
that include municipal, general construction, demolition,
quarrying and mining.
These units are designed for fitment across a broad
spectrum of Cat carriers: the B20 TM is an ideal match for
the Cat 320D2 L; the BM30 TM for Cat 323D2 L and Cat
329D2 L machines; and the B35 TM for Cat 336D2 L and
Cat 340D2 L excavators.
“A distinctive feature is their excellent power-to-weight
ratio, outstanding impact output, and simplicity,” points
out Barloworld Equipment product and application spe-
cialist, Craig Christie, adding that the weld-free hydraulic
kit mounting supplied is a standard feature. “This high
pressure accumulator protects the carrier’s hydraulic cir-
cuit by absorbing pulsation spikes created during the fir-
ing stroke.
“Every aspect of these hammers has been designed
and tested to provide years of trouble-free daily operation,”
he adds.
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save costs over the medium to long term
for the plant,” Baller says.
He points to actual instances where
damage caused through the installation
of inferior components manifested itself
within the first months of such a decision,
and led to substantial unplanned expen-
diture, both in terms of production and
repair to the transfer point.
An example would be where an
existing chute is modified to accommo-
date cheaper wearing parts. Weba Chute
Systems are specifically engineered to
control the direction, flow and velocity of
material being transferred, and through
this these transfer chutes and systems are
able to achieve equipment plant availabil-
ity as high as 90 to 95%.
Modifying an existing engineered
chute system will adversely affect the
dynamics of material transfer which, in
turn, affects the performance of the chute
leading to issues such as increased fric-
tion, blockages, spillage, higher rates of
wear and inevitably unplanned downtime.
“It is in the difficult times that OEM
suppliers and customers must work
hand-in-hand to ensure the sustainabil-
ity of the operation, and we would urge
customers to communicate with us as it is
through this approach that maintenance
programmes can be tailored to suit indi-
vidual customer needs and budgets, and
assist in ensuring that equipment is kept
in optimal running condition,” Baller says.
Maintenance short cuts are costly
Simplified breakers for high impact
The optimisation of chute performance is a process of
defining the geometry of the chute to reliably convey
material fromone point to another.
The top-mount (rectangular) style increases impact power
by keeping hammer and stick forces in line.