Hitachi Construction Machinery (Aust) has delivered a fleet of three new 40t articulated dump trucks to Tasmanian-based Shaw Contracting for use at the Savage River iron ore mine.
Shaw Contracting asset manager Cranston Shaw says the company runs a mix of rigid and articulated trucks and drew on this experience when researching its buying decision to expand the fleet.
“Each size and configuration of truck has its advantages and disadvantages in terms of carrying capacity, work site suitability and operational cost,” Shaw says.
“The type and scale of projects we take on calls for equipment that will adapt to the dynamics of a range of sites while returning good productivity.”
Shaw says along with adaptability and versatility, features such as manoeuvrability, gradeability and operating costs were important considerations.
“From our experience we’ve found artics to be extremely fuel efficient. Given the same operating conditions they will have comparable productivity to a rigid truck of the same capacity, but are a lot cheaper to operate.”
Shaw says a rigid truck uses around 600L in a 10-hour shift, whereas an artic consumes around 200L to do the same job, which he says represents bankable savings.
According to Shaw, when all these factors were taken into account, the Hitachi artics were the way to go.
Shaw says the work schedule in place for the new trucks will capitalise on their site adaptability. The company is involved in a range of civil engineering projects along with a series of infrastructure earthworks jobs at the Savage River iron ore mine in Tasmania’s north west.
Hitachi says the AH400 is forging a strong reputation for performance and reliability across a variety of site and operating conditions, including underground mining.
Power comes from a six cylinder turbo-charged Mercedes diesel developing 308kW at 1800rpm, driving all six wheels through a six-speed Allison automatic gearbox. The AH400-D weighs in at 28.85t empty and has a payload capacity of 37t.