Hägglunds Drives South Africa, a Bosch Rexroth Company, recently commenced with a retrofit project on the bucket wheel of a stacker reclaimer at Richards Bay Coal Terminal (RBCT). The project, acquired via a tender process, was realised late in 2022 which entailed replacing a gearbox drive solution with a direct drive solution from Hägglunds Drives SA.

Installation of the drive unit commenced at the end of August 2023 with commissioning conducted in late September. In addition to supplying the equipment, Hägglunds Drives SA’s scope of work involved fitting the motor to the main shaft of the bucket wheel and positioning the drive unit on the slew with all relevant piping installed.

“While we were awarded the contract via tender,” says Ashley Mohun, Sales Engineer at Hägglunds Drives SA, “we have a long-standing relationship with RBCT, having provided solutions and services to them over the years.”

RBCT was established in 1976 as a 12 million-ton export terminal and, over the years, expanded to its current 91 million-ton capacity export terminal providing coal to the global market. “Hägglunds Drives’ systems are incorporated in our tipplers and stacker reclaimers due to their high availability and high reliability,” says Kubendren Naidoo, General Manager Asset Management, RBCT. “The terminal prides itself on being a world-class, efficient and technologically advanced terminal and Hägglunds Drives’ solutions offer efficient, high reliability and high availability that ensures fast turnaround times of trains and vessels.”

“Hägglunds Drives’ systems eliminate delays and unnecessary stops,” Naidoo adds, “and ensure that we get the maximum useful life of our equipment. They also ensure maximum availability, especially on our stacker reclaimers where we use the Hägglunds Drives CBM motor.”

“The Hagglunds Drives team provides a professional and excellent service to RBCT,” he adds. “The technical teams from Hägglunds Drives and RBCT work together to ensure that the systems work efficiently from concept and design phases through to implementation. The team from Hägglunds Drives provides an excellent aftersales service with no challenges envisaged or experienced,” he says.

The direct drive solution installed on the stacker reclaimer is accompanied by a 12-month warranty on parts and workmanship, and a service agreement has been tailored to meet the requirements of RBCT.

“RBCT can be assured of our commitment and ongoing support”, says Greg Daniels, Service Engineer at Hagglunds Drives SA.