New Design Builds in Mobility

Because there is minimal bouncing, the system is also able to achieve higher haul speeds, even when fully loaded. Haul speed is now 20 to 25 mph, since the system is no longer required to slow down for bumps in the haul road.

A further benefit of the system is reduced transport costs. Because of its shorter length, the system can be hauled on a single lowboy. "It can actually be moved in one piece," says Ziller. "Rather than two lowboy moves, we got it down to one."

Once on site, it can be driven off the trailer as a system and is ready to operate in five minutes.

After a week of testing, Ziller and his cohorts were already starting to explore other possibilities for the gooseneck configuration, including mating it to the track-equipped scraper tractors.

"With the pans set up the way they are now, it's a lot of weight on the tongue on the very rear of that tractor. Consequently, we have had some problems with the rear tracks," Ziller comments. "If we can put that gooseneck setup on a track machine, we're thinking we can eliminate a lot of that problem."