New HX900 wear segments used on the bucket of an excavator are playing a significant role in improving the company’s bottom line and reducing operational downtime.
Founded in 1967, Hallstaviks Schakt is a family business with about 50 employees, based in northern Roslagen, Sweden. Its main activities include stationary and mobile stone crushing, excavation and demolition, foundation and road building, and equipment service. Naturally, and given these areas of operations, shifting stone is a big part of the company’s activities. It can involve anything from aggregate products to construction rubble, and it is this tough work that causes extensive wear and tear on machines.
“Stone is a demanding material by nature,” Hallstaviks Schakt’s Rasmus Forsman said. “The degree of wear depends on the type and hardness of stone you’re dealing with. Other factors are the size and form of the material and the presence of other materials such as metal.
“Metallic ores in mining applications create some of the biggest demands on moving equipment.”
Forsman said the ground at the site was another important aspect.
“You get more wear when it’s difficult to dig and you have to work harder to fill the bucket.”
In June 2015 Hallstaviks Schakt began testing Sandvik Construction’s HX900 wear segments. The buttons and bars are fitted on the bucket of a Caterpillar 365 excavator, which is being used to feed a jaw crusher in a stone quarry.
The results were extremely promising.
“Our machines are always on the go,” Forsman said. “They take a constant battering. Minimising wear is always an important goal when you operate machinery but when it comes to moving stone, it can have a very big effect on your bottom line.”
However, Forsman said it wasn’t just about the cost of materials — time was an even bigger factor.
“Time is money! Typically, we might need to rebuild a bucket every three to four months when exposed parts wear out. It’s a job that can take 20 to 30 man hours. That’s expensive downtime. And for a company with a lot of equipment, it can add up to a substantial annual cost.”
The Sandvik HX900 wear segments performed well compared with the hardened steel wear plates the company regularly used.
“We can clearly see there is less wear on the bucket than we would expect for this amount of hours and tonnes shifted,” Forsman said. “The material is very hard and resilient. I anticipate these products will last much longer than our previous wear plates. It’s also very quick and easy to change these stripes and buttons when needed.”
Hallstaviks Schakt is a business founded on reliability and expertise. The company has enjoyed a 35-year relationship with Sandvik and values the advice and support it receives. “Sandvik has the quality we need,” Forsman said. “But what’s more, I know I can always call with questions. They’re very engaged and service minded – if they don’t have the answer right away, they’ll go the extra mile to help me get it.”
Following the trial, Forsman said he expected to adopt the Sandvik HX900 wear segments more widely in the future.
Source: Sandvik Construction