ALWAYS ON THE LOOK OUT FOR IMPROVEMENT AND INNOVATION
During Condition Monitoring inspections at mine sites across the world, Progress Mining teams see many worn components. As part of our mission to build on world best practices through continued improvement and innovation, our team is always looking for ways to help our clients’ machines and operations run as smoothly as possible. One component that caught our eye was the track guides on the Liebherr R996B. Typical OEM track guides feature a wear plate welded to a frame which allows the tracks to guide onto the idler. These play a critical role in maintaining alignment and reducing the load carried by the idler. When these plates wear out, the entire track guide needs to be replaced which takes extra time and money.
Our solution, a design that replaces the welded-on wear plates with bolt-on units. This allows the wear plates to be replaced without having to lift the machine and remove the whole track guide from the side frame. The design provides a more cost-effective solution whilst improving safety and reducing the downtime required for the replacement process.
What may seem like a small part of a complex mining undercarriage is actually vital to the safe and correct functioning of the machine. For the past 18 months Progress Mining has been testing this new bolt on design on a Liebherr R996B at a Central Queensland mine in Australia and so far, the results are great.
If you encounter similar problems with the machines at your mine site visit Contact Us to find your nearest sales manager or email us at info@progressmining.com