Chinese off-road dump trucks: the dragon is preparing to leap... (Part 1)

Price

JAC N350 6x4 is the most inexpensive three-axle dump truck among heavy Chinese trucks of other brands in Russia. Initially, the price tag started at 4.9 million rubles, later the price increased slightly. The current cost of dump trucks should be checked with dealers. There are no leasing schemes yet, but there are banks that provide loans for the purchase of a JAC N350 6x4 on individual terms. One of the obvious advantages of the JAC N350 6x4 is a good guarantee. For 12 or 24 months with a mileage limit of 200 thousand km, while other brands have limitations on warranty mileage from 65 to 180 thousand km.

Chinese off-road dump trucks: the dragon is preparing to leap... (Part 1)

P. Lunyashin, mining engineer

International Construction magazine annually publishes the "Yellow Table" of the world's fifty largest manufacturers of construction equipment. The ranking is based on each firm's construction equipment sales data for the most recent fiscal year. Sources of information also include annual reports, company statements and reputable consulting firms.

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The “Yellow Table” has existed for 10 years. During this period, there were a number of changes in the ranking, and the most obvious was the growing importance of manufacturing companies from China. If in the 2003 edition of the Yellow Table the share of Chinese manufacturers in sales from the TOP-50 was 1.6% - less than $1 billion, then in 2012 it was 15% ($27.9 billion). In 2003, the highest position in the ranking was occupied by XCMG - 29th place with sales of $300 million, in 2012 - in the 5th and 6th positions by Sany and Zoomlion with sales of $7.93 and $7.75 billion . respectively. In 2012, 9 Chinese companies already entered the global TOP 50. But if in general China has won high ratings in the production and sales of construction equipment, then in the production of off-road mining dump trucks (on a rigid frame and articulated with 4x2 and 6x6 wheel arrangements) it is just beginning to master it. However, just 4-5 years ago, few people had heard of Chinese dump trucks for construction quarries and mining, but today there are already several dozen vehicles on the ready line, some of which surprised the world community.

All over the world there is an opinion about the low quality of Chinese technology. However, special equipment in China is produced either under licenses from world-famous manufacturers such as Komatsu, Caterpillar, Terex, Liebherr, etc., or at enterprises with partial or full government support. In both cases, reputable services are responsible for quality. One of the reasons for the increase in production volumes of Chinese mining dump trucks is the country’s internal need for equipment. The construction and commissioning of dozens of factories and enterprises, powerful government support for the development of their own mechanical engineering demonstrated to the world the abilities of Chinese technicians. Most enterprises have research laboratories, and many of their own developments are patented. The Chinese want to show that they have entered the special equipment market seriously and for a long time. Every year they improve their product ranges, sensitively responding to market needs. In recent years, China has been very sensitive to all products exported. In the field of off-road vehicles, this is especially evident: new vehicles are tested and improved on the Chinese market, and only the best models are offered to foreign buyers.

In recent years, the necessary conditions for civilized trade in mining dump trucks have appeared on the Russian market. The number of dealers whose service centers provide a guarantee on Chinese equipment sold has increased significantly. This is especially important because a large number of Chinese partners still use various gray schemes for imports. This approach makes warranty service of equipment difficult. The lack of information even about large Chinese manufacturers also does not contribute to the accelerated promotion of new technology from the Middle Kingdom. There is also a misunderstanding among Chinese partners in providing complete technical information about the equipment being produced - the proposed brochures do not reflect all the necessary data that would allow a full assessment of the quality characteristics of the machines.

Chinese off-road mining dump trucks are just beginning to appear on the Russian market, since most of the vehicles discussed below were created only 2-3 years ago and have not passed the appropriate certification.
Technical characteristics of SANY mining dump trucks

The main supplier of mining dump trucks in China is Inner Mongolia North Hauler Joint Stock Limited Company (NHL), a joint stock company created in 1988 with the attraction of foreign investment; its main shareholders are Inner Mongolia North Heavy Industries Group (42.5% of share capital), part of the Chinese multi-industry military-industrial corporation NORINCO, and a foreign partner - UK Terex Equipment Ltd (UK, 25.1%).

NHL has created significant production capacity to produce, under license from Terex, more than 300 mining dump trucks per year with a payload capacity of 20–360 tons, as well as other special construction and mining equipment. The main products are machines with a capacity of 28–91 tons, produced under British and American licenses. The company controls more than 50% of the local market for mining dump trucks and exports them to many Asian countries, Australia and New Zealand. The production program includes several models of rigid dump trucks and one model of an articulated dump truck. NHL also has another joint venture for the production of super-heavy mining dump trucks, North Terex - Unit Rig Co., Ltd, established jointly with Terex - Unit Rig Equipment Corporation (USA).

However, the prices for NHL products are only slightly lower than the prices for the originals (at the same time, Chinese machine manufacturers installed a number of their own components, which created problems with spare parts), so the attempt to promote the Chinese Terex to the Russian market failed.

In China, there are currently 6 more companies that are already producing or preparing to produce mining dump trucks on a rigid frame with a 4x2 wheel arrangement, and 3 companies producing articulated dump trucks (6x6).

The largest factories for the production of off-road equipment belong to the companies SANY, XEMC, BZK, XCMG, Sinoway, Shougang.

SANY (Sany Heavy Industry Co. Ltd) was founded in 1989, and today is one of the five leading engineering companies in the world. The corporation has over 30 foreign subsidiaries, employing 35 thousand employees, its marketing network covers more than 150 countries, and products are exported to 110 countries. SANY Corporation owns factories that are located outside of China - in India, the USA and Germany. SANY brand is one of the three most famous and influential brands in China's engineering machinery industry. Despite the fact that SANY’s main activity is the production of construction equipment, the company began producing mining dump trucks only in 2008. To date, SUVs on a rigid frame are being mass-produced: the 33-ton SRT33, the 55-ton SRT55 and the 95-ton SRT95. The machines are equipped with Cummins engines, Allison hydromechanical transmissions with planetary gearboxes providing 5–6 forward gears and 1–2 reverse gears, and Rexroth hydraulics. Bodies, axles, frame structures and cabins are of our own production. It is noteworthy that in terms of the ratio of carrying capacity to its own weight, all these machines are superior to their foreign counterparts. For example, this ratio for the SRT95 is 1.47, and for the American analogue Cat 777F - 1.32; the difference is even more impressive for 30-ton dump trucks: SRT33 - 1.41, Cat770 - only 1.06.

In 2012, SANY introduced the 230-ton diesel-electric model SET230 with a 2,500 hp Cummins diesel engine. This vehicle, with a gross weight of 393 tons and a body capacity of 146 m3, was the first in a series of SUVs with electric drive. The 280-ton SET280 has already been prepared for production, and the 180-ton and 360-ton SET models are next in line. In 2013, production of the SRT45 with hydromechanical transmission and the first SAT40 40-tonne articulated dump truck will begin. The full line of articulated vehicles will consist of four models - 25, 30, 35 and 40 tons. Thus, Sany will soon become the only company in China with a complete range of standard sizes of off-road mining vehicles. In 2013, Sany included its mining dump trucks for the first time in the official catalog presented in Russia. There have been no deliveries to our country yet. Zhichun Cao, director of the Sany mining equipment plant in Kunshan, which produces dump trucks, noted that the Russian market is very interesting for them; he believes that the 95-ton SRT95 SUVs will be most in demand in Russia. At the same time, he does not exclude that mining dump trucks can be designed for a specific customer. Currently, Russian dealers offer the SRT95 for $1,150 thousand, while the 91-ton BelAZ-7557 costs $1,435 thousand (this vehicle is in the small series stage, and so far it is the only Belarusian model that surpasses its foreign counterparts in price), Terex TR100 (91 tons) – $1400 thousand.

XEMC Electric Manufacturing Group) was founded in 1936 and has become the backbone of China's electrical industry, ranking among the nation's top 500 industrial enterprises. Starting with the development of electric drives for heavy-duty mining dump trucks, it itself began producing off-road vehicles when Xiangtan Electric Manufacturing Heavy-Duty Equipment Co. was established in October 2007. Ltd. The model range includes dump trucks SF31904 (108 t), SF32601 (154 t), SF33900 (220 t) and SF35100 (300 t). All vehicles are equipped as standard with Cummins engines ranging from 1217 to 2739 hp. and diesel-electric AC transmissions. At the request of the consumer, design changes can be made. For example, in mid-2012, XEMC shipped SF33900 mining trucks to Rio Tinto's Pilbara iron mines in Western Australia. These 230 t capacity vehicles were equipped with MTU 16V 4000 C11 diesel engines supplied by MTU Hong Kong. The 300-ton SF35100 is especially impressive with its parameters. The operating weight of this giant is 510 tons, the power of the 16-cylinder Cummins QSK60 diesel engine is 2739 hp, and the capacity of the body “with head” is 215 m3. The length of the quarry monster is 15.1 m, width – 8.58 m, height – 7.68 m, fuel tank capacity – 4500 l. Despite such impressive dimensions, the dump truck reaches speeds of up to 64.5 km/h.

Technical characteristics of XEMC mining dump trucks

BZK (Beijing Zhonghuan Kinetics Heavy Vehicles Co., Ltd) is a joint venture between Singapore Technologies Kinetics (STK, Singapore) and Beijing Heavy Duty Truck Plant (BHDTP), which was established in 2003. The latter is a pioneer in the production of off-road dump trucks in China - since 1971, it has produced more than 4 thousand of these vehicles with a capacity from 20 to 50 tons. In 1984, BHDTP entered into a license agreement with Aveling Barford (UK) for the production of a mining dump truck model RD030 with a capacity of 27 tons. In 2000, an agreement was signed with Timoney Co. Ltd (Ireland) on technology transfer for the production of articulated dump trucks. This created a reliable basis for the future production of modern machines. BZK began its operations in April 2004 at its Chinese partner's plant in Tongzhou, 30 km southeast of Beijing. In March 2005, new production lines were launched, the company received ISO 9000 certification. The plant's production program included off-road rigid dump trucks with a payload from 20 to 50 tons, including models BJZ3364 (20 tons), BJZ3380 (22 tons) , BJZ3420 (25 t), BJZ3530 (32 t), as well as one model of the ZHA250D articulated dump truck (25 t). This equipment was equipped with Cummins diesel engines and transmissions, which were manufactured under license from Detroit Diesel Allison (USA) at the Peking Construction Machinery Corp. plant. in Pekin. To date, BZK has completely updated the model range of dump trucks produced, which includes five models of rigid frame dump trucks with a capacity of 20–52 tons of the D series and two models of articulated dump trucks BZK A25 with a capacity of 25 tons and a BZK A300D with a capacity of 28 tons All vehicles are equipped with Cummins diesel engines with power ranging from 284 to 608 hp. and Allison automatic transmissions. The latest new products introduced were the 45-ton D45 (4x2) and A300D (6x6). The BZK A300D articulated dump truck is actively offered on the Russian market. The machine with a maximum load of 28 tons and an operating weight of 23.5 tons is equipped with a Cummins QSM11 engine with a power of 335 hp. and automatic transmission ZF 6WG260. The suspension is hydropneumatic. It’s quite difficult to talk about the competitiveness of this car. For example, at the STT-2013 exhibition, the Bell B30E, similar in characteristics to the new series of South African machine builders, was offered for $350 thousand, the minimum price of a Chinese new product in Blagoveshchensk was $372 thousand.

Technical characteristics of BZK mining dump trucks

Chinese mining dump trucks on a rigid frame

*Dump trucks being prepared for release.

Part 1 Part 2

Operating area of ​​XCMG mining dump truck

A mining dump truck, the characteristics of which allow the vehicle to be operated in any weather conditions, has found wide application in various industries. The equipment makes it possible to transport bulk materials and raw materials over short and long distances, and ensures the unloading of objects by mechanical or forced tipping of the body.

The dump truck helps to effectively solve the problems of transporting goods at construction sites and factories, in mountains and any open areas, in agriculture, during mining and road repair work.

The production of XCMG mining dump trucks is subject to strict controls at all stages.
The products undergo preliminary tests for strength and reliability. All this, combined with high-quality materials, guarantees stable operation of the mechanism for a long time. If you are interested in Chinese mining dump trucks, please contact our company representative by email or phone. We will tell you about the features of each model and help you choose the best option.

Chinese mining dump trucks: design features

To obtain a machine with unique characteristics, Chinese developers used the global experience of leading manufacturers in combination with their own patented solutions. New XCMG mining dump trucks are equipped with advanced Asian electronics, European and American components from reliable manufacturers, and innovative technologies to save resources.

Characteristics of mining dump trucks:

1. Key components and mechanisms that experience the main workload are made of particularly durable material. The body and cabin have a rigid steel frame.
2. High efficiency

   process and
   optimal fuel consumption
   are the result of the introduction of an automatic pre-start warm-up mechanism, a special powerful engine and electric transmission.

3. Power steering

   , connected to an electronic system, is the key to smooth and precise working manipulations. Easy-to-use joysticks are provided for control, which even a novice driver can handle.

4. For comfortable work of the operator, an adjustable chair with shock absorption is provided, which reduces the impact of vibration. To maintain optimal temperature and purify the air, an autonomous heating device, air conditioning and ventilation system are provided.
5. On a wide monitor, the driver can observe the current parameters of the work process. The software package facilitates management, diagnoses errors and, if possible, eliminates them independently.
6. Maximum visibility

   Provided with a wide viewing angle and a rear view camera.

Mining dump trucks, the price of which is determined by load capacity, configuration and technical parameters, are represented by several models. Depending on the scope of work, each customer will be able to find the best option for the implementation of large and small projects.