A fire at Bridgestone's tyre factory in Togichi, Japan, recently resulted in a shortage of tyres for large construction equipment. It became common to hear of expensive tyres and large construction equipment standing idle, resulting in a reduction in production and therefore falls in revenue — simply because tyres could not be purchased.
Similarly, tyre shortages have been a significant problem for mines for a considerable period of time. The fitting of RUD ERLAU's mining tyre protection chains, which help preserve the life of existing tyres, proved to be a cost-effective solution to the problem.
RUD ERLAU's mining tyre protection chains comprise a dose chain mesh, which is placed over the face and sidewalls of mining tyres to protect against materials that can cause damage. Furthermore, they also improve traction, particularly at quarry faces covered in sharp-edged loose rock.
Tests by RUD ERLAU have shown that its mining tyre protection chains can reduce tyre costs by up to 72%. In proof of this, a Caterpillar 9SEB wheeled loader at a German limestone quarry, running on 36/65-33DT tyres with a mean service life of 1,200hr and a cost of €27.91 per hour, saw mining tyre protection chains increase its tyres' service life by ten times (therefore also cutting costs by 90%). Downtime for tyre repairs fell from 160 hours per year to just 36 hours per year.
Speaking in Aggregates Business Europe magazine, RUD ERLAU claimed "that opting for mining tyre protection chains could offer a better solution for quarry operators to the current tyre shortages than paying the high cost of new tyres or repairing old ones. Although tyre protection chains need to he inspected and adjustments made to the chain tensioning, RUD ERLAU believe that using TPCs gives quarries more competitive edge by ensuring maximum availability.
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