Capital Equipment News June 2017

HAULING – RIGID DUMP TRUCKS

Liebherr believes that with fuel efficiency, hauling productivity and operating costs high on their list of priorities, mine operators are particularly drawn to trucks with electrically driven wheels powered by diesel generators, instead of mechanical powertrains with gearboxes and driveshafts.

REVISITING THE ELECTRIC VERSUS MECHANICAL DRIVE DEBATE

T he mechanical versus electric drive debate has always taken centre stage as far as rigid haulers are concerned, particularly at the larger end of the payload scale. The origins of diesel-electric trucks go back many years and these were developed as a solution to the shortcomings of early mechanical drivelines, which suffered reliability issues. Some original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) have found the diesel-electric option to offer many benefits than the conventional mechanical option, while some have maintained that mechanical options remain the best driveline option. BELAZ is one of the OEMs which maintains that trucks from 130 tonnes (t) payload class and above should be electrical and machines in the 30-60 t class should be mechanically

driven. However, the Belarusian OEM also successfully developed an electric truck of 90 t payload, and Rost Lavrenov of BELAZ Africa, tells Capital Equipment News that in this class size (90-100 t), both electric and mechanical drive options are quite viable depending on cost factors. Caterpillar remains the only OEM to offer both drive options in its different rigid dump truck (RDT) offerings, even on the larger payload units. The OEM says its developments in the alternative drive systems have always been informed by proper monitoring and investigation to ensure that products bring the best value to customers. In the early years of exploring alternatives to mechanical transmissions, several firms opted to use DC wheel drives, and Caterpillar was one of the first

In the rigid chassis truck sector, there has long been a rivalry between the mechanical and electric driveline concepts, especially at the larger end of the payload scale. The pros and cons of either drive system are well- documented, but there is much more to that, as Munesu Shoko plods through the fundamentals

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