Performance specifications
Applying the most stringent criteria, Megatraction Equipment Inc. designed the MEGALIFTER® to be the ultimate shovel lifting solution. Its development was heavily informed by the demands expressed to us by the world’s leaders in mine maintenance. MEGALIFTER® incorporates the following design aspects:
Universal application
- Can be fit to any type or size of shovel or hydraulic excavator on the market today
- Can separate shovels in any lift mode be it boom-on or boom-off, boom/handle/dipper on or boom lowered
- Wide span construction (up to 60 ft) that can accommodate any width of tracks (up to 12 ft) while keeping ample clearance to walk out the car body
- High extension capacity that can allow separating any shovel while walking the car body either to the front (normal) or towards the rear (on-demand for many models)
Safety & structural aspects
- Safe lifting design based on the principle that the load is completely supported not suspended (e.g. crane)
- Rigid frame design that can allow lateral winds up to 130 km/hr with no lateral swing of the structure
- 100% structural & hydraulic redundancy that permits a 100% unplanned overload on any component without damage to the structure and providing high worker confidence for working underneath the load
- Twin jack lifting structure, each side capable of supporting the total load while keeping a comfortable safety factor on bulk & burst limits
- Each jack hydraulically independent from the other by means of a tap-in-body counterbalance valve
- Total independence and safety from failures on any hydraulic component outside of the jacks
- High flexural resistance capacity that can sustain ground failure (sudden vertical displacement) of up to 12 inches at any lifting point without loss of overall structural stability.
- Robust earthquake resistance criteria of 7 Richter scale (9 Richter on-demand) that also provides inherent structural resistance to mine blasts in close proximity.
- Absolute fail safe response to any possible failure of the hydraulic systems
Assembly, loading & transportation
- Portable and compact design that can be loaded by a single crane in only two pre-assembled pieces, e.g. the front and rear lifting assemblies
- The entire system can be readily transported when part-assembled with two (2) truck loads on controlled (internal) roadways
- Normal trucking on public roads (disassembled) requires 4 to 6 loads, depending on local road limitations
- Easy and quick three step installation on any shovel can typically be executed in a single shift using our weld-less type jigs
- Clean and compact 4 lift points design that allows 100% free access for workers and equipment all around the raised shovel
Operational performance
- Full automatic to full manual operating control modes, easy set up of desired reference lifting plane and accurate monitoring of the lifting plane relative to the reference plane
- Lifting and lowering precision of up to 1/8 in with respect to the preset reference lifting plane
- Lifting speeds of over to 2 in/min and lowering of up to 4 in/min allowing lifts in as little as 40 minutes and lowering in 20 minutes
- Micro-speed when lowering in re-decking operation as low as 1/8 in per minute
- Upper/lower parts laser based parallel control system allowing achieving accurate parallelism of the upper deck with the car body to facilitate re-decking
Controls characteristics
- ISO 13849-1-Class 4 (Design and integration of safety-related parts of control systems (SRP/CS))
- PLC controlled lifting program with laser level sensors
- Control parameters:
- Cylinder pressure monitoring
- Leg extension monitoring (camera and laser)
- Maximum leg to leg deviation monitoring
- Leg to leg maximum extension deviation protection
- Fully automated PLC based or manual c/w laser level
- Convenient electrical quick connects
- Voltage display and phase order monitoring
- E-stops at each jacking leg as well as in the operator’s cabin
- Low 24VDC voltage used in the main control panel and at each jacking leg control box
