TPC – The Essential Accessory

A guide to tyre-protection chains

In less than a century, quarry load and haul methods have changed beyond all recognition. In the early 1900s, quarrying was a labour-intensive industry where what could not be done with picks, shovels and barrows was carried out by lumbering steam navvies and horse-drawn rail tubs. Rope-operated draglines such as the RB-19, 22 and 38 shifted the larger tonnages of rock and dredged sand and gravel. A little more recently, nostalgic quarrymen will recall heavy-bodied Scammels and Fodens carrying rock for crushing and screening and delivering aggregates to customers.

It was not until the late 1940s, however, that the technological advances that were to make loading and hauling what it is today reached the UK’s quarries and mines. Drawing on the pneumatic tyres and hydraulic systems that had already revolutionized agriculture, the newly-introduced wheel loader, although unsophisticated, ran circles around the lumbering tracked alternatives.

According to mobile plant historian Mike Woof, author of Ultra-Haulers: Global Giants of the Mining Industry – a definitive guide to heavy off-road machinery, the Hough HM is generally acknowledged as the first four-wheel-drive loader. Boasting an ‘impressive’ 1.5yd3 bucket capacity, the HM was also one of the first machines to offer hydraulically assisted loading.

As the reliability and capabilities of wheel loaders steadily improved so the capabilities of purpose-built off-road haulers, such as Euclid and Aveling-Barford, evolved to match.

However, despite valiant efforts from manufacturers such as Dunlop and Michelin, for some time, owing to the vulnerability of pneumatic tyres, this new-found flexibility was only available to earthmoving projects and soft-rock quarries.

Attrition from highly abrasive rocks and sidewall-piercing shales made tyre-shod plant uneconomical and such operations would have continued to depend on slow crawler-based machines had it not been for the invention of the tyre-protection chain.

With the introduction of tyre-protection chains, quarrying versatility had truly arrived and wheeled loading and hauling was really on the move.

Pioneered in Germany by RUD-Erlau, the tyre-protection chain (TPC) was developed from the snow chains that, in many countries, are essential to winter mobility. And just as the loaders and haulers evolved into the sophisticated tools seen today, TPCs gradually took on a distinct nature of their own as well.

Companies such as RUD-Erlau refined the TPC into the accessory which, today, is considered essential to quarrying, mining, steel-making, scrap handling and demolition throughout the world.

Working with plant operators and metallurgists, industrial designers have  created lighter, stronger, more abrasion-resistant alloys with profiled links configured to match specific working environments.

Choosing the best TPC for an application depends on many factors, such as:

• Are you loading in a clayey coal mine or hauling over ice-covered roads?
• Are your tyres working in extreme heat?
• Are you losing tyres to heavy abrasion or sudden-death from sidewall piercing?
• Is safety important to you?
• Are self-cleaning properties a requirement?
• Will the links stand up to extreme wear?
• What about quality and reliability?
• What about product support?
• Will you save money?

Originally developed to bring modern load and haul methods to the hard rock quarries, the TPC has proven so cost-effective that, nowadays, very few operations would consider running loaders and haulers without them. Correctly matched to the application, TPCs can not only double the life of expensive tyres, but can also bring productivity gains of at least 10%.

But with several suppliers to choose from, it pays to consult an established company and proven TPC expert, such as RUD-Erlau, who can draw upon 65 years of TPC experience. Wherever the machine is in the world, from initial enquiry, through delivery and installation to life-of-chain support, a dedicated engineer will be on hand to ensure the TPC matches the operation and delivers optimum performance.

Load and haul has changed dramatically in 100 years. Diesel-electric power, assisted steering, articulated chassis’, heated cabs, CCTV reversing aids, FLIR vision and GPS – all now play their part in shifting tonnages at rates that were unimaginable in 1909, but there is little doubt that today’s machines would ever have become universally available had not been for the invention of the TPC.

For further information about current and future developments of TPCs, contact: RUD Chains Ltd, Units 10–14, John Wilson Business Park, Thanet Way, Whitstable, Kent  CT5 3QT; tel: (01227) 276611; fax: (01227) 276586; email: [email protected]; website: www.rud.co.uk

Alternatively, contact RUD-Erlau, Friedensinsel, 73432 Aalen, Germany; tel:+49 7 361 595 3496; fax: +49 7361 595 3214; website: www.rud.com


The RUD-Erlau essential guide to TPC

Description
A tyre-protection chain (TPC) is a tight, flexible mesh which covers the tread and sidewalls of the tyre and forms a barrier between the tyre and the working surface. The chain mesh design varies depending on the site and application and can be fitted to all types and sizes of tyre without affecting the flexibility and function of the tyre.

Applications
TPCs are used to protect the tyres of wheel loaders, excavators, dumptrucks and graders in quarries, opencast and underground mines, tunnelling, cement plants, steel mills, forestry and the military.

Advantages
The essential purposes of a TPC are to:

• avoid sudden-death sidewall punctures from flints, shales and slate-type rocks
• radically extend tyre life by reducing attrition from harsh and abrasive sandstones and ores
• allow wheel loaders to operate successfully in extreme temperatures, such as steel slag rehandling
• improve traction and provide operational safety in clayey or icy conditions, such as those encountered in coal mines, forestry and at high altitudes
• offer wheeled earthmover operators measurable productivity gains and optimum tonnage costs.

The economics
The service life of a TPC will depend on many factors including site conditions and the way the earthmover is operated. However, correctly installed TPCs can extend the life of a new set of earthmover tyres by as much as five times (compared to having no TPCs), as well as:

• reducing earthmover operator costs
• reducing earthmover downtime
• reduce maintenance costs
• increasing earthmover efficiency and availability
• providing predictable production costs per tonne
• saving on the cost of buying and stocking replacement tyres
• allowing operators to use part-used tyres
• eliminating short-term repairs.

Product options
RUD-Erlau claim to have the most comprehensive range of TPCs and the ability to match any situation:

Link-ring system:

• super-dense mesh with additional grip
• optimal strength
• excellent self-cleaning properties
• asymmetrical components (no sharp surfaces against the tyre)
• link depth gives optimum isolation of tyre from terrain.

Ring-ring system:

• super dense mesh for additional sidewall protection
• compact wear rings forged from case-hardened special steel alloy
• exceptionally high surface hardness and core strength for optimum service life and productivity
• extends tyre life by up to five times.

Ring-locking system:

• highly dense mesh for protection from hot slag
• manufactured from special heat-resistant steel alloy
• through-hardened links with un-welded connecting rings
• excellent self-cleaning properties.

Service
A product should be fully supported. With strategically located dealers, an international sales team and a worldwide service network, RUD-Erlau claim to be the only company to be able to have an experienced engineer on site within 48h.