Bradken’s customer, located in the Hunter Valley, was dependent on their CAT6060 excavator being adaptable to varied digging conditions. This machine was being utilised across locations and needed to maintain effective penetration performance in all digging conditions.
The customer’s need to reduce machine downtime motivated them to trial Bradken’s Eclipse Solid points in the aim of finding a more robust GET solution with increased reliability.
Solution
The Eclipse Solid points were fitted on the site’s CAT6060 excavator. The trial was conducted over 18 weeks, in what was described by mine site planning personnel as a “difficult part of the mine”.
Results
The customer was pleased with the Bradken PPS30PLB Eclipse Solid points and the trial showed they are ideal for use on large excavators working in varied and extreme digging conditions such as double benching and digging un-shot coal. Effective penetration was maintained throughout the duration of the trial.
Many advantages were experienced by the customer, the main one being over 2000 hours of service before requiring change-out, with no rotation of the points. There was also no unplanned downtime due to GET issues during the trial.
At the end of trial, the improved reliability and consistent penetration performance of the points was validated by the mine crew who commented that a sharp tooth profile was maintained throughout the life of the point.’
Other advantages that the client noted were the reduced inventory through holding less parts, and that GET component weight was almost a half a tonne less compared to two-part systems.
“We will be sticking with the (Eclipse Solid Points) and not going back to the ‘quick tips’,” the customer said.
