MM November 2016 Final

PRODUCT News



MODERN MINING



November 2016

Martin Engineering of the US – which is

represented in South Africa – has intro-

duced a more effective return belt tracking

system that uses high-quality materials for

easier maintenance and a longer unit life.

Building upon the standard crowned

roller, the Martin® Roller Tracker™ uses a

unique ribbed lagging made of durable

polyurethane to increase performance and

wear life. The roller does not come in con-

tact with the belt edge, which means no

fraying and excellent tracking for single-

direction or reversing belts. The result is

more centred cargo loading, less spillage

and increased safety from the hazards of

belt wander

“Crowned tracking rollers have been

around for a while, but we saw design

issues that prevented them from reach-

The Cat® LatchFree® dipper system is

claimed to be the first successful solution

to the most common cause of rope shovel

downtime. The system replaces the stan-

dardmaintenance-intensive latch assembly

with a durable steel link assembly mounted

to the dipper back. The key to the design

Improved belt tracking system uses ribbed lagging

ing their full potential,” said Rudolf Beer,

Engineering and Development Manager

at Martin Engineering. “After creating a

working prototype of the new design and

testing it at our Centre for Innovation, we

discovered that we had truly improved

upon the technology and engineered the

best tracker of its kind on the market.”

Used for lower tension belts from

500-1 500 mm in width, running at a speed

of up to 5 m/s, crowned roller trackers have

a slightly larger diameter at the centre than

at the edges.

When the belt wanders off-centre, the

assembly tilts to the opposing side and

steers it back towards the normal posi-

tion. By retaining a consistent path on the

return side, the belt passes over the tail

pulley and enters the loading zone cen-

tred, delivering equal cargo distribution

and reducing spillage.

Previous designs had lagging made out

Installation of the Roller Tracker is straightforward and

service can be performed by a single person using a

socket wrench.

of a single smooth piece of rubber or soft

gripping material, to retain a hold on the

belt and train it back into position. Being

in constant contact across the entire sur-

face of the belt caused the material to wear

quickly, requiring frequent and expensive

replacement.

The Martin Roller Tracker improves

upon this technology with ribbed lagging

made from thick, rugged polyurethane.

Covering the entire belt width using less

surface contact, the ribbed design reduces

lagging wear and improves resistance to

better train the belt back to centre.

With fewer working components than

its counterparts and no contact with the

belt edge, the Roller Tracker also has a

smaller diameter of 190 mm (similar in size

to other rollers), allowing it to react quickly

to fluctuations in the belt path.

Martin Engineering, tel (+27 13) 656-5135,

website:

www.martin-eng.co.za

Lighting towers provided to coal miner

Pilot Crushtec International has supplied a

further five free-standing TowerLight light-

ing towers to Mpumalanga coal mining

specialist Just Coal.

TowerLights offer a range of cost-effec-

tive, environmentally sound, mobile and

free-standing lighting tower solutions that

enable mining and construction operations

to work safely and productively throughout

24-hour working cycles.

This is the second consignment to be

supplied to the Middelburg-based cus-

tomer, which has increased its TowerLight

fleet size to a total of nine units.

Pilot Crushtec International’s CEO, Sandro

Scherf, explains that the results delivered by

the coal miner’s first TowerLight VT8 units –

purchased in 2014 – made them the natural

choice for ensuring itsnewSpringForest open-

cast mining site would be capable of working

safely and efficiently around the clock.

“Apart from their lighting performance

(each unit can illuminate an area of up to

3 800 m²), they have impressed with their

reliability and ease of transportation. The

TowerLight telescopic lighting mast is

regarded as a major safety feature and is

easy to raise and lower. Previous experience

with designs based on folding towers had

proved them to be unstable, dangerous as

well as prone to damaging the lights them-

selves,” he says.

TowerLight systems are compact, eas-

ily transportable (most are supplied street

legal for towing purposes) and driven by a

Lombardini diesel motor with a 75-litre tank

which ensures they can operate when and

where required for an unbroken 24 hours

without refuelling.

Pilot Crushtec International, tel (+27 11) 842-5600

is the geometry of the locking mechanism.

The unique arrangement makes it possible

to locate the components away from the

abrasive flow of material.

The system has been designed and field

proven for a service interval of 3 000 hours,

as compared to the standard system that

requires adjustment as often as each shift.

In addition to delivering greater uptime

and lower maintenance costs, the system

eliminates false trips – unplanned release

of the dipper door – caused by dirt build-

up or the need for shim adjustments. The

result is fewer delays, consistent produc-

tion and lower cost per ton.

The LatchFree dipper system is currently

available for Cat electric rope shovels with

dipper capacities of as large as 49 m

The system has proved its performance

on a Cat 7495 HF loading Cat 797 trucks

in the challenging oil sands of Alberta,

Canada. “We’re giving it the best challenge

– with the environment along with the

volumes we mine every day – to test this

product to the limit,” said Dino Colbourne,

Maintenance Manager of Shell Albian

Sands, during field testing of the LatchFree

system.

Caterpillar’s dealer in Southern Africa is Barloworld

Equipment, tel (+27 11) 929-0000

Dipper system reduces shovel downtime