Lifting an Underground Mining Truck to Fix a Flat Tyre
Customer
Location
Challenge
Changing a flat tyre on heavy machinery is one of underground mining’s most hazardous and time-consuming maintenance tasks, often taking up to 12 hours to complete in confined spaces with sloped surfaces.
This issue was such a problem that some manufacturers began selling underground machinery with in-built jacks, but this posed a significant extra cost to the end-user.
Solution
Leading Australian engineering and fabrication specialists CME Boilermaking has designed an efficient solution that allows manual jacking of the vehicle for safe and reliable lifting and maintenance.
CME’s underground jacking system comprises of an Enerpac XC-Series cordless hydraulic pump, connected to an RAR-Series durable, lightweight aluminium cylinder, which can handle loads up to 100 tonnes. These are integrated into CME’s custom-fabricated lifting plinths and pedestals, which are designed to optimise stability and safety.
"The lightweight cylinder and battery pump are crucial elements in our underground jacking system. With sloped or rough surfaces and limited space, once a huge mining vehicle has reversed down the track, no other vehicles can access it to perform maintenance tasks," explains Mr Peter Camarri, Managing Director, CME Boilermaking. The WA-based company serves customers Australia-wide and prides itself on its problem-solving and ability to tackle complex challenges.
CME Boilermaking has extensive experience in design, engineering and fabrication for industries such as cranes and lifting, mining, food and beverage, agriculture and steel.
"There’s also no power source down there, so air or electrical options are ruled out. The Enerpac battery pump is the perfect solution. The battery power means that it can operate underground, and not having cords adds to the safety of the operators," said Mr Camarri.
"Once a mining vehicle gets a flat tyre, the chassis is essentially on the ground, which means that many conventional lifting devices are not an option. The entire lifting system had to be under 25kg so that it was as light as possible to manually carry to the vehicle."
"My engineering team worked closely with Enerpac to come up with a solution to this perennial problem for underground miners. Enerpac’s reputation in the industry made them the clear choice for hydraulic lifting equipment. Their safety and reliability is second-to-none," he said.
Enerpac WA Territory Manager Mr David Capper says that CME are onto a real winner with the underground lifting jacks. "Changing heavy vehicle tyres underground has caused the industry a lot of pain. CME’s innovative solution will save many hours and lots of frustration in the underground mining industry," he said.
The technology is in the final stages of an on-site trial, and CME expects it to be ready in the second half of 2017.
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