Tesmec’s equipment can be found worldwide in all types of underground construction applications. A typical Tesmec customer needs a method of cutting ground material to create a ditch for subsequent use, for example when constructing pipelines, utilities and surface mining.
Customers have the option of the following four types of Tesmec machines. Tesmec Chief Engineer John Welch gives a brief explanation of each:
* Rocksaw: “Think of a circular saw that you would use to cut metal or wood. Now think of that saw on a track system and the disc cutting through rock. Then think of it all weighing up to 150,000 pounds. Tesmec currently makes the world’s largest rocksaw.” * Chainsaw: “This is similar to a chainsaw you would use to cut down a tree, except our chainsaw is mounted on a track system, the cutting chain cuts rock, and the machine weighs up to 300,000 pounds.” * Rockhawg: “This surface machine utilises a set of wide drums for the mass excavation of material. A Rockhawg is especially useful in environments where blasting or more traditional methods of rock removal are not practical (i.e. inside metropolitan areas, residential subdivisions, etc).” * Bucket machine: “This wheeled machine is similar to a water wheel that contains a centre conveyor. The buckets remove material from the ditch and deposit it into a conveyor system.”
Tesmec has been using Cat industrial engine power in its full line of trenching machines for many years.Article continues below…
“We bought our first Cat engine – a Cat 3306 – in 1984, and we chose it because it met the horsepower requirement we needed at the time,” says Mr Welch.
“We’ve adopted newer Cat engines with ACERT™ Technology as they’ve become available,” he adds. “And we continue to purchase Cat engines from our dealer not only because they meet our horsepower requirements, but also because the engines are reliable, are requested by our customers and are backed by a strong, worldwide dealer network.”
Today’s Tesmec trenchers are powered primarily by Cat engines with ACERT Technology — C9 ACERT, C11 ACERT, C13 ACERT, C18 ACERT and C27 ACERT. The engines are utilised to power hydraulics, which in turn are used to power additional functions on the trencher.
Tesmec trenchers are capable of pulling 100 per cent of engine power while digging. The engine is typically utilised at high idle and full power — usually at 2,100 rotations per minute.
An environmentally friendly machine
Tesmec is continuously updating its trenchers with engines that meet, or exceed, current and upcoming emissions standards.
Mr Welch notes that replacing an older Cat engine with a newer Cat engine with ACERT Technology requires a bit of work.
Tesmec Plant Manager Arkie Owen says “Physically incorporating the engine into our machine is the easy part.”
He says that the more challenging aspect is working with the heat rejection.
“Repowering a unit with a Tier 3/Stage IIIA engine can be fairly involved,” notes Mr Welch. “Heat rejection has been increased and therefore jacket water and charge air heat exchangers have to be recalculated.
“Generally the heat exchangers have to be redesigned because they often fall below our ambient requirements (54–57 degrees Celsius), and the result is an increase in size due to the additional heat load.”
In Tesmec trenchers, engine envelopes can be tight. Serviceability is a main consideration for each engine installation.
“We pay close attention to serviceability because the working environments that our machines operate in are very dirty,” explains Mr Owen. “We keep the engine as clean as humanly possible, using the best filter and precleaner we can source.”
In addition to internal machine design considerations, Tesmec also reduces engine-related noise in its machines, as well as update the control panels with the latest Cat electronics.