Maintenance staff at ArcelorMittal’s Mine de Mont-Wright in Quebec are now able to reach new heights, thanks to a custom solution created by Manulift.
The Mont-Wright mine is one of the largest open-pit iron ore mines in North America. Naturally, a large mine requires big machines to extract the ore.
To facilitate maintenance on the machines, ArcelorMittal required a telehandler and custom basket with frontal entry.
“They were looking for a special basket, and no one was able to deliver on their specs. When they called us, we said we would make it happen,” said Michel Robert, director of marketing and communications for Manulift.
Working with its in-house team of engineers and welders, Manulift built the basket from scratch.
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When complete, the 2 x 1 x 1.3 metre basket was equipped with the requested frontal opening, which enabled staff to walk outside of the basket to complete maintenance safely.
“We worked for several months to make sure what they wanted was done, legal and safe at the same time,” Robert said. “It seems like something quite simple, but it was a major project.”
Manulift also designed the procedure that would allow staff to exit the basket safely and legally.
“When you’re up, you’re not allowed to go out of the basket, or open the door. We were able to make it bigger and have a frontal opening they could open with a certain procedure,” Robert said. “We wrote that procedure to make sure no one is going to be able to get hurt.”
The custom basket is paired with the Merlo Roto 60.24 MCSS.
With a 6,000-kg capacity and 24 metres of reach, the continuous rotation of the Roto turret also provides a safety advantage by operating within the confines of its stabilizers.
“The cab and the turret will rotate inside the stabilizer. If you’re in a small space, you know if your stabilizer is out, you’re not going to hit something by turning in the 360-degree rotation,” Robert said.
The Roto 60.24 is also the only machine of its kind to feature a cab that tilts up to 18 degrees.
“You’re not breaking your neck to look up. You just tilt the cab,” Robert said.
