28 Oct Tractor pulled dump trailer
Case study
Over 1 million tonnes of granite & ‘no way in the world you’ll break it’.
Allan & Marie Noble, Lachlan Noble & family. Sunnyside Gravel Supplies / Sunnyside Farm.
Farm / Business Location: Eugowra, Central NSW, Australia.
Farming & Agribusiness: On Farm granite quarry & mixed arable farming operation.
Livestock: 2,500 crossbred & Merino sheep.
Arable: Grain cropped, mixed arable over 1,700 acres.
Herculano Equipment: HDPA 25 Dumper.
Allan Noble and his son, Lachlan, farm at Eugowra, a small town in the Lachlan River Basin, 348 km west of Sydney.
In addition to their significant farming business, the Nobles operate a busy open pit quarry highly regarded for its clean, red & white decomposed granite. The granite is very clean, which makes it desirable for all manner of civil and housing projects, including roading, residential development and walking tracks.
Since purchasing a Herculano 25 tonne dump trailer in 2017, the Nobles have kept the machine busy moving 10-15 loads a day. One of the features they like most is its loading height, which is lower than just about any other dump trailer on the market. (This allows for their 13 tonne wheeled loader to load into the trailer with ease & without the need for a high tip bucket.).
We interviewed Allan in August 2020 to get his take on whether this tractor-trailer combination is a worthy alternative to the 6-wheeled articulated dump truck widely used in the quarry industry.
Allan is adamant he made the right purchase decision.
“The build quality of this trailer is incredible. There’s no way I’m going to break it.”
He says he can access any part of the quarry in any conditions and the twin hydraulic rams running each side of the bin are a safer and more stable system on uneven ground than the single multi-stage hydraulic cylinder used on a truck.
They’ve also been very impressed with the massively solid chassis design & how the bin weight rests directly on the main chassis rails.
One of the things that has impressed Allan are the purpose-designed wheels on the trailer, which combine heavy duty aircraft rims with specially moulded agricultural treaded tyres to create a semi-floatation wheel that can endure constant heavy loads and tight turns.
Before purchasing his Herculano Dump Trailer, Allan says his John Deere 8000 Series tractor was an under-utilised asset that spent much of the year in the shed. With the Herculano trailer in tow, the tractor is now on the job almost every day, carting 24-26 tonne loads off the quarry face with ease.
Despite granite being one of the hardest, most abrasive rocks, Allan says the HARDOX steel bin on his trailer has stood up remarkably well considering how many tonnes of rock have been moved.
‘After three years, this 6mm hardened steel is hardly showing any signs of wear,’ he says, he says ‘it’s shined up like a ‘silver plate’. Given that granites’ hardness is such that a steel knife is unable to scratch a granite benchtop it amounts to a lot of sliding wear on the trailer bin over many thousands of loads.
‘The other advantage of HARDOX is its high strength to weight ratio compared to other types of steel. This lightens the load and helps reduce wear and tear on my tractor and the trailer itself.’
When it comes to repairs & maintenance, the only work outside the occasion squirt of grease, Allan has done in three years is replacing the towing eye on the trailer drawbar.
“The towing eye is designed to be replaceable because it takes all the stress from the drawbar’s constant shunting and turning. I would expect to be fitting a new eye about every 3000 to 4000 hours & consider it fair wear & tear.”
If you want to purchase a dump trailer contact us on 03 5047 4111 or sales@groundgear.com.au