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August 2005 |
FleetWatch is an on-the-road truck magazine but we do occasionally come across stories of the big 'uns operating off-road which we feel will be of interest to our readers. This is one such story. Just check the loads and the demands placed on these trucks. Amazing stuff.
The story involves two 30 ton payload Western Star dumpers operating at one of the South Africa's largest aggregate production facilities, Zimbiwa Dolomite which feeds Gauteng's booming construction industry with sand and crushed stone. Western Star off-highway trucks are sold and supported by Liebherr Africa.
Zimbiwa's crusher-hoppers place an unrelenting 24-hour demand on the Western Stars to deliver a minimum 28 tons per truck/trip at around 42 cycles per shift during a three-shift day. This translates into a total of 3 500 tons per day per Western Star. The round trip is only 1,2km from hopper to loading and return. Despite the short lead distance, the trucks still manage to get into top gear on the Allison automatic torque converter transmission. In trucking terms, the conditions could not be tougher.
Quarry Cats - owners and operators of the Western Star 30t dumpers - are pleased with the performance of the two dumpers. Ian Burford, Quarry Cats technical manager, says the two Westerns have now done 9 000 and 8 000 hours respectively in these harsh conditions and are still operating with their original driveline equipment. "We've not experienced a single major component overhaul or power train failure," he says.
In terms of productivity, the outstanding feature of this operation is the fuel consumption - an excellent 8,5 litres/hour/Western Star. The two trucks only use a total of 408 litres of diesel to deliver 7 000 tons of material in 24 hours - an average of 17 litre/292t/hour or only 0,058 litre/ton/hour, a remarkably low cost when reduced to Rands per ton for energy consumed.
The crowning point of success is that Quarry Cats Western Star fleet number DT02 is an original launch unit presented to the South African off-road, quarry, mining construction and heavy haulage markets almost four years ago.
After 9 000 hours quarry work, transporting and dumping 'rock-around-the-clock', this 30t Western is still hard at it with original engine, gearbox and differentials intact - a tribute to the inherent design strength of Western Star trucks against carefully selected specifications for work in Africa.
It's impressive stuff to say the least.
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| HEAVY LOADS being hauled in adverse operating conditions are being handled well by the Western Stars. It's a different league to what we're used to. Interesting stuff hey? |
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