GF Job Ltd, based in the Scottish Highlands, has become one of the first companies to trial Sandvik’s new Superior tooth jaw plates.
From talking and listening to customers Sandvik has developed a new profile of jaw plate, designed not only to increase durability and productivity, but also aimed at decreasing operating costs and service time.
The new Superior tooth jaw plates have been designed around adding material where it matters most. The new profile allows for a higher percentage of the jaw to be worn which results in longer wear life and less manganese waste. The improved tooth profile also allows for better breakage and improved material flow. This results in a more cubic product and a higher quality product shape.
With a keen interest in business efficiency and running the operation cost-effectively, GF Job has previously used a variety of different jaws to test durability and performance. One of the jaw crushers, a Sandvik QJ341, has been employed in the same granite quarry for the majority of the year and this produces 500,000 t of 5” crusher run to feed an aggregate processing plant. On this application both the heavy duty 20% style square tooth jaws and the conventional 14% corrugated jaws were used and a history of tonnages produced from each jaw recorded to give a true account of performance in relation to costs. For this reason they decided to trial the new Superior tooth jaw plates on this machine.
Following the trial at GF Job, the initial test data has been extremely encouraging. The average output increased from 200 to 250 tph and wear rates increased upwards of 30%. Graeme Watt, Plant Manager for GF Job who is delighted with the outcome, comments “In this particular granite application previous jaw plates have been ranging between 20 000 – 30 000 t of crushed material and that’s the life of the jaws. Since we went onto this new jaw we’re up 50 000 55 000 t for the life of the jaw. If you go into a limestone quarry, you’ll get double but this is a hard abrasive material.”
In addition to the increased wear performance, GF Job has also seen benefits in relation to fuel economy and an improved product shape, due to the new profile design of the Superior tooth.
“The new jaw plates are creating a better shape of product, but it’s also crushing far more economically for us as well. It’s reducing the load on the crusher, therefore you’re creating better fuel economy whilst also reducing the physical hardship on that machine” says Graeme.
The unique design also makes the plates easier to turn over or replace, saving you time and money.