TRUCK TRAYS - THE STRONGEST IN EARTH - DT Australia

DT HILOAD AUSTRALIA
At DT Australia, the
company specialises
in dump truck trays
for all rear dump truck
models, including
Caterpillar, Komatsu,
Hitachi, Liebherr, Belaz
and Terex.
Written By Robert Hoshowsky
On mine sites, equipment has to
be tough and built to handle demanding
conditions. All machinery
must be strong enough to handle
plenty of wear and tear, especially
dump trucks at coal, iron ore, and
gold mines, as they haul thousands
of tonnes of materials every day, and
are faced with constant punishment.
At DT Australia , the company specialises
in dump truck trays for all
rear dump truck models, including
Caterpillar, Komatsu, Hitachi, Liebherr,
Belaz and Terex. Other companies
may make trays for dump
trucks, but few rival DT Australia’s
Hercules High Performance Dump
Truck Body. Designed to suit all
OEM makes and models, the company’s
trays feature a unique, patented
design, and are built entirely
from a hard wearing steel plate. In
addition to offering superb wear resistance,
the company’s innovative
panel construction is considerably
lighter than other trays, and more
durable, allowing for increased payloads,
less maintenance, increased
productivity and greater bottom
line profitability for the world’s demanding
mining industries.
Designed to suit
all OEM makes
and models, the
company’s trays
feature a unique,
patented design,
and are built entirely
from a hard wearing
steel plate.
Crafted from Flexible
Hardened Steel
There are many reasons for the
company’s outstanding quality,
starting with the superior, flexible,
hardened steel used to make the
truck trays. Arriving at DT Australia’s
factory in Perth in lots from 500 to
1,000 tonnes, the steel is shipped in
large, flat sheets, then cut, rolled,
and fabricated on-site in WA.
“It’s a quenched and tempered
steel,” says Steve Turner, Sales and
Marketing Manager at DT HiLoad
Australia Pty Ltd. “Very hard-wearing,
the material is a 450 Brinell
hardness.” Widely used in engineering
and metallurgy, the Brinell
scale is one of the first widely used
and standardised hardness scales.
“It is a very hard steel, but the difference
with our steel and the body
design is that they combine to produce
a flexible and resilient body.
This helps the body longevity.
“It is a very hard steel,
but the difference
with our steel and
the body design is
that they combine
to produce a flexible
and resilient body.
This helps the body
longevity.”
The Hercules trays are made to order,
not mass-produced. “Every one
is made custom specific or mine specific,”
says Turner of the dump truck
trays, which take about six weeks
to complete from start to finish, depending
on production schedules. It
is crucial that the trays are not only
specific to the model of truck being
used, but the mine site the vehicle is
being used at, since hauling different
materials – such as iron ore versus
coal – presents a variety of demands
and requirements.
Once the truck model is determined
and the mine site is established,
the company’s team
of engineers, cutting and rolling
experts, fabricators, boilermaker
welders, fitters, and skilled production
people get to work. Hardened
steel parts are precisely cut,
and a variety of components such
as the floor plate, ribs of the floor
and the front sheet are rolled. All
elements are then welded together
on a production line.
Unique Curved Floors
Unlike traditional square trays, the
Hercules’ unique floor sheets are
curved, stronger and more durable,
resulting in numerous benefits
to mining companies. Since the
Hercules trays weigh less, dump
trucks experience less wear and
tear, perform better, and use less
fuel. Additionally, loading and unloading
is more even, there is less
clean-up required due to more
accurate tipping, and reduced
dump times. DT trays are uniquely
designed and made using panel
construction and they are easier
and considerably less costly to repair
than conventional square box
trays.
At mine sites, common accidents
like impact damage from shovels
happen, but they don’t have
to cause excessive downtime for
dump trucks outfitted with a Hercules
tray. Since the steel used in
manufacturing is more flexible, the
trays are more durable and forgiv
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