Track loaders handling red hot slag - GIF

[Altair]

Track loaders handling red hot slag.




Previously:

Slag pot carrier - photo
Steel mill slag rake - photo
Hot slag tire protection chains - video
Train dumping slag - GIF
Slag removal clamshell bucket - GIF

[Frank S]

I would hate to have to work on one of those loaders after it spent time in the slag pit. It is bad enough trying to chip cement dust deposits off one that works at a cement manufacturing plant, everything you do one requires the use of a small jack hammer just to get to the bolts

[IntheGroove]

Those machines must be driven into the furnace on a regular basis because as Frank S would know, "I'm not working on that!"...

[KustomsbyKent]

Those look like a maintenance nightmare, not to mention the safety concerns.
If a track breaks, or engine quits when it's in there with a fresh hot load of slag, I sure hope the operator has the safety equipment to get out of the machine and get to a safe area.
The undercarriage has got to take a beating in a short amount of time, I wonder how long the life is of the rollers/bearing and the tracks????

[Frank S]

unless this is not normal routine for these machines, I'd say 3 months tops from being new to needing a major amount of work done to them.
Hydraulic hoses can be semi protected by wrapping them with heat shielding fabrics additionally covering the most exposed areas of them with a cladding might help them to last a full 3 months the bearing in the rollers of the track groups will have lost any lubricant by the end of the first week if not sooner. but the bearings pins and rollers would continue to do their job until they completely self-destruct, they have been known to last for several months being ran dry in harsh dusty conditions buit the constant heat on them will soften them, take all of the temper out of them is a short amount of time they would wear out in only a few weeks not several months under those conditions. the track pads will coat over but the pins in track rails will suffer like the bearings and rollers but would possibly last 4 to 6 months anyway. the drive sprockets will go about the same as the pins in the rails the big problem is going to be the seals in the track adjuster and the final drives. The radiator and the after cooler are going to be a huge problem especially on newer equipment since a lot of aluminum and sometimes even plastic are used but those cold be critical use specked at time of purchase. There is quite a bit of harsh environment specialty components available for cold hot dusty wet and chemical use I just don't know about how well things would fair in a molten metal environment. I'm sure a lot has changed in the 30 years since I worked as a contractor at a Caterpillar rebuild shop.

[bob_3000]

What are the operators breathing?

[mr mikey]

The boss says he needs a service on this equipment now. not me.

[hemmjo]

AH, its not that big of a deal, there is the little puddle they drive into to cool the tracks running gear between trips into the "gates of hell"!!

As for breathing, just take a deep breath and hope you don't get stuck in there!!!


I sure would not want anything to do with that job. But I guess someone has to do it.