Hydraulic and Pneumatic were engaged in the Design Refurbishment of a Head-End Transporter (DHT).

The DHT is powered by a 269kW V12 Mercedes diesel engine and can carry 450 tonnes of payload traveling at a speed of 30 meters per minute. It was originally designed in Germany to comply with the industry standards of it’s time in 1975.

Hydraulic and Pneumatic were engaged to extend the life of the DHT through a modernisation program. This project required many hours of planning, due to the DHT having limited windows of opportunity to be out of action as it is a critical part of the mine performance.

• The engine and the drive planetary were the only parts used from the machine, all hydraulics in between were replaced.
• The original electrical system was retained with the addition of a performance monitoring system.
• The original hydraulic drive motors were replaced with variable displacement hydraulic motors to assist with increased performance and speed.
• A splitter box was added to make drive pumps modular and cooling was included in the design to prolong gear and bearing life.
• Additional filtration was added to control and cooling systems.
• The original pipe work was replaced due to corrosion from product build up of years living out in the open.

The considerable transformation was achieved in 6 weeks from the initial stages of taking it offline to the shake down speed testing and recommissioning. The DHT is predominantly used for short haul work of the head structures.

Shortly after the refurbishment program and recommissioning there was a fire that caused the DHT to be used to move head-end’s extended distances. The DHT clocked up 5 years of normal service in a little over 4 months. The machine performed faultlessly with its new hydraulic transmission and piston pumps when it was needed most thanks to Hydraulic & Pneumatic.