TowHaul is based in Belgrade, Montana, USA, a town of just under 10,000 people. We are proud of our small-town roots and equally proud to be a part of the global mining community with equipment operating on six continents in 26 countries. Improving the mobility of tracked equipment has become crucial for increasing operational efficiency and TowHaul has over 30 years of experience in helping surface mines do just that.
Operating in such diverse areas can bring a variety of challenges. Like many other mining equipment manufacturers, TowHaul has adapted our lowboy designs to best match the environment in which it will be working. For instance, we have lowboys and tow trucks operating in diamond mines above the Arctic Circle. For these and other customers in cold weather climates, we offer enhanced slip-resistant walkways, heated control screens and Arctic grade steel for select components. In collaboration with our clients in the oil sands of northern Alberta, Canada, the TowHaul team developed an “Oil Sands Configuration (OSC)” for improved performance in the unique conditions found in that region.
In addition to dealing with extreme cold, TowHaul has also developed innovative solutions for handling excessive heat. Nearly 20 years ago, TowHaul developed a brake cooling system for use with Caterpillar axles. But this wasn’t just any cooling system. Instead of using an engine (costly and maintenance-intensive), TowHaul engineers developed and patented a ground-driven system that utilizes the forward rotation of axle tires. This is a stand-alone system with no hydraulic connection to the truck. With its own oil reservoir and pumps to both circulate the oil and power the fan on the cooler, the closed system can withstand dust, dirt and whatever else a mine site can throw at it and keep on going. The original design gave way to a more powerful version that is better equipped to handle the high ambient temperatures found in the Pilbara iron range in Australia as well as high temperatures in west Africa and the southwestern portion of the United States. Today, the TowHaul team is working on the third generation of our ground-driven brake cooling system focused on simplicity and efficiency.
No matter what the conditions or the commodity, TowHaul equipment can help increase productivity, equipment availability and reliability while reducing maintenance costs in your surface mine.