A new remote-controlled all-terrain belly guard jack, manufactured by safety and maintenance products manufacturer Safety MITS, has been designed to increase the safety and efficiency of tracked machinery maintenance.
The jack, also known as a Tracked Elevating Device (TED) allows an operator to remotely control the jack to lift the heavy machinery and secure it tightly in place.
Traditionally, the removal of a tracked machinery’s belly plate requires a mechanic to crawl underneath the giant machines to line up the bolt holes which poses as a serious hazard. According to Safety MITS, one death and over 45 serious injuries have resulted in Australia in the last 10 years from belly plate removals.
To solve the issue, Safety MITS installed a 360 degree turntable at the top of the TED which makes lining up the ball joints for the belly plate removal safer, quicker and easier.
The TED can also travel across any terrain and is able to safely lift up to 800kg.
Safety MITS’ Director of Product Development Timothy Lightfoot says the TED not only enhances tracked machinery maintenance safety but also increases efficiency and reduces downtime.
“Safety MITS collected customer data from Thiess, Peabody Energy and Glencore over a one year period and found that by using TED to remove and install belly plates they were able to reduce work time by 73.5% while using one less mechanic,” he says.
The TED successfully removing a belly plate
In addition to belly plates, the TED can also be used for equaliser bars, cutting edges, steer cylinders, load rollers, sound suppression equipment, engine sumps and several other applications.
The TED comes with a range of attachments that allows for the different applications, including:
- The Rhino stand locator, which allows users to locate stands underneath elevated bulldozers without crawling underneath the suspended load.
- The Cutting Edge tool, which has been designed to assist in the safe removal and installation of cutting edges on bulldozers, graders scrapers and loaders.
- The Load Roller Cradle, designed to assist in the easy removal and installation of track roller components on bulldozers, drills and excavators.
- The Tie Rod and Steer Cylinder Cradle, designed to assist in the safe removal and installation of steer cylinders and tie rods. The cradle bolts to the turntable on top of the TED allowing it to rotate 360 degrees.
TED is designed and manufactured in Australia in compliance to Australian and New Zealand mining standards (ANZ 4240), ensuring the highest levels of safety are achieved.
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