Case Studies

MD4855 Gen I Wheel Flusher – Decatur, Illinois

Project involved improving the operation and efficiency of the highly automated rear wheel flushing machine cell. The test bench was used to initially rotate, lubricate, and test the operation of heavy duty mining truck wheels. The machine had the capability of testing the rear wheel braking assembly and ‘defuzzing’ the wet braking system to improve the overall operation of the truck’s bearings and braking lubrication and cooling systems. With the various improvements to the hydraulic filtering and controls systems, the cycle times were reduced from 45 minutes per wheel to approximately 15 minutes per wheel and improved the production and throughput of the production of mining truck models 777, 785, 793, and 797. Caterpillar’s warranty costs were also reduced saving the company millions of dollars per year.



Machine Specifications – Allen-Bradley SLC500 control system, VFD’s controlling 100HP motor for rotating the 100 to 200 ton truck wheels, 6 hydraulic pumping units for filtration, Oil Temperature heating & control systems for (2) 500 gallon resivoirs, Pamas Particle counter communication to Allen-Bradley Visual Basic Card through RS232C port. Custom software was written to issue commands to particle counter.

AstraZeneca 2.2MW Solar Energy System – Mt. Vernon, Indiana