Looking after your body

One of Europe'S Largest porphyry quarries recently renewed its dumptruck fleet and also opted to continue with its dumpbody protection system from Metso's Trellex division.

The Porfibel quarry in Quenast, Belgium, produces around 2 million tonnes of the super-tough porphyry rock a year and maintenance of the hauling fleet - five new Komatsu HD605s - is crucial to the operation.

To cut down on body wear from the very abrasive rock, quarry operator, Gralex, opted to line the dump bodies of the new Komatsu trucks with Trellex rubber lining plates. The O&K K100 rigid dumptrucks that the Komatsu units replaced, which had been on site for almost 20 years, also used the body protection system.

According to Quarry Workshop Manager, Galio Laureiro, the life span of the plates is dependant on many factors including the shape of the rock and place of impact. He said that a minimum of two years life is expected in the main impact area of the dump body, while plates on the sidewalls will each last between five and six years.

He added, “The benefits of the Trellex wear plates are principally to prevent wear to the dumper's steel body. It's cheaper to replace a plate than a dump body.”

The plates, up to 1500 x 750 mm, comprise rubber pads vulcanised to a 5 mm thick metal plate. There are three different types of Trellex plate, PP50, PP75 and PP100, which are 50 mm, 75 mm and 100 mm thick respectively. Usually the PP100 is fitted to the bottom of the body, the PP75 to the sides and front, and the PP50 to the cap.

Covering a total area of 365 hectares, the quarry's production is used in road and rail construction, airport work and concrete production. The quarry, which recently started phase six of its extraction programme, is around 20 km to the south-east of Brussels.