His machinery has to cope with tough demands. In particular during earthworks, Luc Bosch’s excavators are exposed to a challenging working environment. Hard surfaces, sharp edges and high payloads hold a particular risk for increased tire wear and punctures.
In addition, there are varying operating conditions as regards the state of the soils for example. “Downtimes caused by punctures quickly lead to considerable economic losses”, reports Luc Bosch from his experiences. “Damage to the tires occurs out on rough terrain in most cases. As a consequence, there are long downtimes for the machine due to necessary mounting efforts and the time needed to get to the repair shop and back, and there are resulting repair costs. Factory-mounted and later also retreaded truck tires used to cause substantial problems. We had punctures of all kinds almost on a weekly basis, be it blow-outs or damage of the carcasses”, adds Bart Schollaert, operator of a Dossan DX 190 W, an excavator of the 19.2 tonnes class.
Innovative tire concept for harsh demands
Together with ATG Field Engineer Jeroen Reedijk, Luc Bosch and his team started to look for a suitable solution. In the end, the decision was made to test the Alliance Dual Master 506 in size 315/80R22.5.
Special tire design for more safety
The special sidewall construction allows close contact between the two tires, thus preventing the penetration of stones between the twin tires without the need to mount a special rubber ring between the tires of each pair. The construction as radial tire allows longer tread life, and the robust all steel carcass offers optimum puncture protection.
Continuous operation
“In retrospect, choosing the Dual Master 506 was a very profitable decision”, confirm both Luc Busch and Bart Schollaert. “The Dual Master has saved us a lot of work and money – because it has been in continuous and faultless operation on the Doosan DX 190 W for more than 6,000 hours.”
Based on the good experiences, Luc Bosch decided to also use this tire on a Volvo EW-1803. And again, the Dual Master proved its excellence.
Multiple advantages
“In practical operation, we do not only appreciate the puncture resistance, the stability and reliability of this tire. Particularly our Doosan DX 190 W often operates with high load weights, for example when laying central crash barriers on motorways. During these operations, precast concrete parts of up to ten tonnes are attached to and moved with the bucket. The Dual Master proves to be the optimum tire concept also for these operations. High load carrying capacity and stability of the carcass provide additional safety”, comments Bart Schollaert.
“The reason for the success of the Dual Master is surely that the tire was specifically designed for the use on excavators. Comparable re-treaded solutions mostly come from truck operations and thus do not fulfil the necessary requirements”, says Bart Schollaert.
And his boss adds: “Even when retreaded solutions are less expensive to buy, this investment pays for itself several times, because in addition to more safety during operation and fewer punctures, also the longer life-span of the tire clearly speaks in favour of the Dual Master. Our tires have already reached a service life of more than 6,000 hours – and we expect to add at least another 1,000 hours on top.”
