Alfie Jones, who has worked for 30 years at the Imerys Group which uses EARTHMAX SR 45 M tires from BKT in a clay quarry in Cornwall.
“A couple of drops of rain and the quarry terrain changes completely.
The depth of the tread is our salvation.”
A fully-loaded 120-ton dumper to drive in a (slippery) clay quarry. This is Alfie Jones’ job and every day he moves four-wheel giants in Nanpean, Cornwall (UK), on one of the most important sites of the multinational Imerys, a world leader in the extraction and supply of special materials for industry.
To fit out the dumpers (CAT 775G), the choice fell on a quarry best seller from BKT, EARTHMAX SR 45 M, in the 24.00 R 35 size. A choice dictated by the unique characteristics of this tire, specifically designed for rigid dumpers which have to move around muddy environments.
“We have to move quickly in the quarry on difficult terrain, to load and transport the extracted material. For this reason we need a tire which gives us a sense of safety, with excellent grip, a wide tread, capable of great performance even when fully loaded, without this impacting on the vehicle’s consumption” – Jones notes.
EARTHMAX SR 45 M is a radial All Steel tire which has been specifically designed for rigid dumpers which operate on muddy surfaces and is available in three types of compound – normal, heat resistant and cut resistant. A characteristic of this top of the range tire is the E-4 depth of the tread which allows constant resistance against the numerous obstacles on sites such as quarries, where conditions are very challenging. The versions with the cut resistant and heat resistant compounds guarantee excellent traction and great resistance also for long-distance transport.
“With a little water the clay-rich terrain becomes very slippery, and that is when we have to rely on the vehicle and the tires. This is the real challenge to be faced when working in this type of quarry”– Alfie Jones concludes.
As if opening a new investigation, in Nanpean too BKT asked all the right questions to identify the real needs, in order to be able to always provide the best possible solution.
