5 interesting facts about large tires

We continue our column where we talk about different types of tires and interesting facts about them. Today we will tell you about tires for mining large-scale equipment. 

Sizes
The sizes of tires for mining equipment are truly impressive. Those who see this huge equipment for the first time certainly try to take a picture with the wheel, because it's the only way to realize the scale. The undisputed leader in terms of its dimensions is the BelAZ-75710. Due to its size, this equipment is included in the Guinness Book of Records. The Guinness Book of Records recorded a cargo weighing 503 tons, which the dump truck was able to take on board. The tire sizes with the giant dimensions of the dump truck are also world record holders - 59/80 R63. Of course, the production of such a tire requires enormous resources, hence the record cost of one tire. 

Cost
Each of these dump trucks transports extremely heavy cargo every day, usually over rough terrain. This is a schedule that cannot be more challenging for tires, which means you need to protect your mining truck tires with the best tools in the industry. The fact is that four out of five large tires fail before they wear out, so ignoring mining truck maintenance can be not only expensive but also dangerous.
That's why there is a solution like protective chains. They protect tires from damage, especially on those sections where sharp elements of the mined rock can damage the tires. The cost of such chains can reach the cost of a new tire, so they are often used on the front most vulnerable to damage axis.  

Advanced technologies.
As strange as it may seem, it is in the segment of mining equipment that the most advanced technologies in the industry are used. Customers in the form of mining companies literally extract all precious materials from the planet from the earth. Tires have huge importance in this process. The failure of at least one tire can result in downtime of up to 24 hours. That's how long it takes to install a new tire in difficult conditions. This is both the downtime of the equipment and the difficulty of movement for the rest. Therefore, people are willing to pay huge money for tires. In return, record strength and high resource are expected. It is these parameters that the best resources of world companies are focused on. Nothing unexpected - where there is a lot of money, there are also huge opportunities for development.

Additional equipment
In the fleet of mining equipment, there is often a group of specialists for tire maintenance. As we wrote above, it is here that the uninterrupted operation of the equipment is of huge importance. To exclude sudden tire failure, specialists constantly monitor the tires using various devices for monitoring. As a rule, pressure and temperature are monitored. In case of sharp temperature spikes, specialists try to determine what is going wrong and fix the problem before the tire ruptures. 

Unique conditions.
This is the only equipment that drives underground. That's why tires for such equipment don't need a tread pattern. The tread pattern is needed to ensure traction, while movement in mines occurs at ultra-low speeds. At the same time, strength and maximum amount of rubber on the tread are crucial here. That's why tires simply don't need any tread pattern.