The key to efficiency in underground haulage

2006-09-12

Powerful LHDs are vital to efficiency in underground loading and haulage. But an underground vehicle that can be relied on to deliver precisely the right amount of power at exactly the right moment has been little more than a dream – until now.

During mucking, it is possible to move the bucket with minimal losses of traction force.

Whenever a loader “attacks” a rock pile underground, a tremendous amount of power is required to thrust the bucket deep enough so that it can be filled to capacity. Wheels spin, buckets get stuck and the vehicle often has to make several attempts before successfully penetrating the muck. Sometimes, the driver has to be content to pull away with only a partial bucket load.

In the same way, LHDs that have to tackle steep, uphill gradients need extra power to maintain sufficient traction to ensure that the load will reach its destination within the projected cycle time.

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