How to Load a Dump Truck with an Excavator

The process of collection of material, though starts with blasting and drilling but doesn’t end without loading and transporting. In short, the material can’t be used without being transported to the processing plant. Both of these processes are crucial and require expertise. Usually wheel loaders and excavators are used to complete the process of filling haul trucks. One should know that if this process is not completely planned out, this might lead to increased production cost and decreased efficiency. Which in turn might increase the overall cost of the project.

“Yes, money is important. But it’s all about the creative process.”

– Travis Scott

The excavators that are a versatile earth moving equipment, are used in this instance to scoop the material that is blasted from the surface and haul it to the trucks. One thing that is wide known about excavators is that these have excellent digging power. Because of this property, these machines are also sometimes preferred to carry rock in its naturally fractured state. In addition to this, other materials that are in an uncombined form are also carried directly from the surface. Well, you might be thinking that only excavators are capable of doing the job which is not the case. Front end wheel loaders, rope shovels, and in some instances draglines are also involved in the process.

Conditions

For hydraulic excavators there are multiple conditions that can either increase or decrease the efficiency of job completion. Conditions such as tight loading areas, multiple sizes of the truck, digging selectively, and poor floor conditions favor the excavators. Factors such as multiple and high benches, tramming in excessive, and repose material having a low angle deteriorate the working efficiency of the excavators. As far as the hydraulic excavators are concerned, the requirement for safe operation is sufficient bench height. One can ask what might be the sufficient height. Well excavator stick’s length can be taken as the guided point. Excavators can also load the hauling trucks on bench below and at same height.

Equipment Selection

Equipment selection is one of the most important process in increasing the production capacity and getting more work done in a short span of time. This further depends on composition of the material, requirements of production, and last but not the least, financial aspect. If you are calling the shots, you must keep in mind what would the equipment be used for, which equipment you have in the fleet, and sort of equipment currently available.

Some Things to Keep in Mind

Another criteria which you would already have in your mind is the size of the bucket, the capacity of the bucket or any construction equipment, and performance of the machine. Keeping a tab on all of these is important because of the direct impact these choices can have on the production capacity and financial aspects. Why do we say this? The answer is summing up of all the costs. The cost of each task in the end sums up to become the total project cost, therefore you need to make sure that each process helps you out.

Steps

One needs to make sure that what material will be transported because energy consumption, digging forces, and ratings pertinent to torque, all vary according to the type of the material. Considering the bucket capacity would be the next step because it would tell us how many passes will be required to completely be done with the job. Second step would be the equipment matching. For this you don’t need to bring out the big guns just do a simple calculation keeping in mind the truck size, bucket size, and material weight per yard. Depending on this, you will come to know how much time an excavator will take to make a complete pass. Now you are the boss for making the decision. You now know how much time it will take to load the truck so decide if you are at peace with the current loading time or you want a bigger size machine to do the job. It doesn’t matter what you are using, used dump trucks or new dump trucks, you need to map out everything.

The Process

Placement of the truck in accordance with the position of the loading machine is the next critical step. Establish a proper loading geometry with the help of the equipment supplier or engineering department. After that the operator of the loading machine should measure the process with the machine bucket. What the truck operator does is that the truck is backed up or moved into the perfect position so that process can be completed smoothly. Smoothness of the operation is imperative to less time taken for the procedure. For example, while loading the truck, focus should be on containing while loading the material. The more material is pushed to the sides, the more time it will take to collect and load it into the used dump trucks. Each pass should be made in such a way that it should push the material towards the center of the pile. Apart from this, special care should be taken to time the bucket raising. This should be simultaneous with the timing of dumping. You can also make first few runs as trial runs so that you can find the optimum point where the raising should begin. One should also take caution of never raising the bucket when the truck is advancing towards the loading machine.

A World of Options

In all of this process, buckets should also be matched to the type of work done and machine employed. Material specifications, breakout force, and height of dumping should all be accounted for. You don’t need to stay with the standard bucket that comes with the excavator. You have plenty of options and you should utilize the options when making the choice for increased productivity. Another option is to think before time. When you do this you will measure the specifications and order a machine that comes with the same specifications that you require. Although this might cost you a bit more but on the other hand it would reduce the time taken for hold up and total project cost in the end.

This is the whole process of loading the dump trucks along with preventive measures and tips to increase work efficiency and production capacity. If you still have any questions, feel free to ask us. We’ll be more than happy to help you. Till then Happy reading!.