Gargantuan Lube Trucks Take On Big Mining Jobs

The bigger the job, the bigger the equipment needed to perform that job. And as the mining industry continues to evolve and develop larger equipment, the need arises for larger and larger vehicles — including lube trucks — to service that equipment.

As mining operations increase in size, so too does the amount of money lost during downtime. Tom Wibben, sales and service manager for Maintainer Corporation of Iowa Inc., says that mining operations often end up going 24/7. Instead of bringing equipment back to a shop for maintenance in off hours, they save time and money by bringing in a lube truck during shift changes or other periods of unavoidable downtime.

“A lot of these applications are where the job site is several miles away from shops or refueling stations, so to get the large equipment back and forth would take quite a bit of time and effort,” Wibben says. “And the size of the equipment is continuing to grow. Whether it be for fueling or just the hydraulic equipment, it’s getting so large that it requires larger volumes of tanks and heavy pumping equipment that can dispense at larger rates.”

Maintainer builds its large-scale trucks on Kenworth chassis, some of which have a gross vehicle weight rated higher than most road limits. Wibben says that Maintainer offers in-depth filtration systems, as manufacturers have stringent guidelines for the cleanliness of oil being transferred. Maintainer also uses quick-connect hook ups, so operators can couple equipment to change oil without having to open a fill cap — thus reducing potential spills and leaks. The company also offers a variety of lighting options.

“With a 24/7 operation, a lot of this can be done during the night hours so some good lighting for both site visibility and safety is very important,” Wibben says.

Customization is king

Brett Manahl, general manager of California-based Valew Quality Truck Bodies, says his company’s large lube trucks are generally built on larger Caterpillar equipment. Valew has a few standard models, but when it comes to mines the business is primarily based upon customization.

“Primarily, it fits within a standard framework,” Manahl says. “The only variations will be gallon capacities or pumping capabilities, whether they want diaphragm style pumps or if they’re looking for something hydraulically driven. It boils down to how many products they’re going to want on the equipment. We’ll cater to whatever their needs are for capacities of fluid needed to service their equipment.”

Wabash Manufacturing Inc. of Westlock, Alta., Canada, also uses Caterpillar bases, primarily the Caterpillar 745-C factory long wheelbase. Dan Hunt, mining sales coordinator for Wabash, says his company orders the factory long-wheelbase to have an extra 1.4 meters of space for the additional equipment.

“We manufacture custom lube and fuel solutions for supporting large units like hydraulic shovels, large excavators or dozers — mostly tracked equipment,” Hunt says. “They need the big lube trucks to go to the tracked equipment. Wheeled equipment can go to a service station area, but the tracked equipment cannot.”

Caterpillar 745s are primarily used for dump trucks, but Wabash orders them without the dump boxes. Other features of Wabash lube trucks are their environmental controls.

“We primarily work for cold climate customers,” Hunt says. “So keeping your lubricants warm so they’re viscous enough to pump is a big concern.”

Wabash also provides a variety of protections from potential spills and contamination issues. All lubricants have complete secondary containment systems, as well as fail-safes for spills and drips throughout the truck.

“We try to make sure there are no hydrocarbons leaked onto the ground ever,” Hunt says. “The mining environment is very concerned about environmental issues, like spills and contamination control. Caterpillar has a very aggressive warranty program. We have to maintain quality to the ISO standard that Caterpillar requires, so we maintain full ISO contamination controls.”

Tote system solves problem

Combatting the elements is also a key focus for Ontario-based Oro Design & Manufacturing Ltd. President Barry Smith says that the company was making standard-sized lube trucks until it received a request from one of their customers.

“A customer that had some of our existing trucks asked us to solve a problem they had on the lube side,” Smith says. “In the mines in the north, oil is delivered on site in 100 liter totes. It was always a chore and very time-consuming transferring the oil from a tote to a lube truck. And in the winter time, they had to pre-heat the tote so they could transfer the oil. They asked us if we could come up with a solution.”

The Oro solution ended was to design a massive lube truck that would accept and work with the 100-liter totes. The totes can be installed directly into the trucks and connected directly to pumping and heating systems.

“It was based on our pre-designed lube body that we’d been manufacturing,” Smith says. “We just had to take it to the next level — a little more on the heavy-duty side.”

Oro’s customer liked the first massive lube truck so much they ordered a second, this one including a crane for loading grease barrels and a skid that would fit both 100-liter totes or barrels. Smith says this gradual evolution is typical when creating a new vehicle.

“Because what we build is usually non-existent, when you see it on paper the customer gets it and says ‘Oh, we should do this, this and this.’ That’s always the trend with new products when you’re on the cutting edge,” Smith says. “It’s a normal every day for us. Usually we’re creating the standard as we go.”

Keeping up with the trends

North Carolina-based Taylor Pump & Lift offers road-ready lube trucks — none of its models are off-road units. However, those trucks can be up to 40 or 50 feet long, and carry up to 2,000 gallons of fuel or lube. Vice-president Jeff Taylor Jr. says the company has made some unique lube trucks for its clients.

“We’ve done hydraulic and gas-powered pressure washing systems,” Taylor says. “We’ve done parts washers, like you see in shops. Hand cleaning stations. I just quoted one job with a filter crusher. This customer wanted a filter crusher so he didn’t have to sit around and let them drain.”

With the wide variety of potential equipment and an evolving industry, Taylor relies on vendors and customers to keep the company up-to-date on the latest trends. Sometimes by working with a customer over a number of years, Taylor eventually ends up supplying an entire fleet, as in the case of a couple of lube trucks currently being constructed for phosphate mining.

“This is the number seven and eight trucks that we’re building for them in a long line over the past few years,” Taylor says. “These ones are different from the ones in the past — each one is a matter of ‘this is what we’re changing because of what we’ve seen in the field.’ It’s ever-evolving and we’re willing to adapt to what the customer wants.”

As the mining industry and the customer’s needs evolve, lube truck manufacturers will have to continue to evolve as well. Wibben says that Maintainer and the other companies in this industry must be prepared for that.

“You keep thinking the machines are as big as they can get, but they keep coming out with larger equipment,” Wibben says. “And a lot of these job sites keep moving further away from the shop or filling and maintenance stations. Due to that combination, the equipment continues to evolve. Most likely, we’ll continue to have to make larger equipment.”

Matt Jones

Service Truck Magazine