English
Servicing Equipment 1,250 feet underground
Winter 2015
Underground operation, especially mining, can be demanding for both the operators and the machines, according to Dave Skaggs, maintenance sub-foreman at the Doe Run Company — a privately held natural resource company in Missouri that deals primarily with mining and metal production. Its operators depend on the machines to work well when they are underground, and “when one of these goes down, it is a crisis situation. Every hour down affects our ability to meet quota,” Skaggs says.
Doe Run currently utilizes three Doosan articulated dump trucks (ADTs), including a newer DA30, to transfer ore 500 to 1,250 feet underground from the mine face to the surface. Within the mine face, crews excavate large areas — typically 14 feet high by 32 feet wide — using massive pillars to support the ceiling. Then, after excavating the ore, the pillars are removed before closing the mine face. According to Doe Run’s website, crews then transport the blasted ore — containing approximately 4 percent lead, 1 percent zinc and 15 percent copper — to the shaft area.
Another challenge? Before the company’s Doosan ADT can operate underground, they have to be completely dismantled, lowered by an elevator and then reassembled. That’s why the relationship between Doe Run and its Doosan equipment dealer is so invaluable.
Since their initial meeting, Skaggs says Doe Run and Bobcat of St. Louis have formed a close working relationship, contributing to Doe Run’s success.
“The improvement in service, relationship and parts has tremendously helped in maintaining our production goals at the Doe Run 29 mine,” he adds. “With the dependability of the trucks, as well as the dedicated men and women at Bobcat of St. Louis, we have successfully met production goals every month for the last two and a half years.
“Jim Lynch (corporate service manager), Larry Kohler (sales specialist) and their mechanic Chris Mercurio all came to help solve our issues. This greatly impressed me, compared to what I had been dealing with previously,” Skaggs says.
Kohler says the Doosan ADTs work well underground, but servicing them can be a real challenge. “There’s a time restraint because the elevator only goes up or down when they have materials to transfer below or above the surface. So you have to have everything in place at one time,” Kohler says.
Even though workers have lights, the elements are much different underground than at the surface. “It’s dark, damp, wet and the roads are slippery. It’s just a totally different environment,” Kohler says.
Being able to react to the environment is just part of the job. The crew experienced a damaged hydraulic line on an ADT that Doe Run was unable to repair in its shop. Employees reached out to Kohler to fix the issue, who quickly responded, driving 100 miles to pick up the hydraulic line at Doe Run. He took it to St. Louis where another part was made and returned the same day. “Anything I can do to make their job easier, I will do. I would do that for any of my customers,” Kohler says. “It’s the little things you do to help customers out that keep them coming back to you.”
Taking ownership and selling a great product are factors that Kohler says make Bobcat of St. Louis stand out from other dealerships. “I’ve been in this industry for more than 35 years, and I’ve seen a lot of manufacturers that just didn’t put the fit and finish in their product like Doosan does,” Kohler says. “They have a very well-built machine in every aspect — smooth controls and a lot of metal in the machine. They’ve built a very good machine.”
Well-built machines, quick servicing times and a customer-first attitude are why Doe Run continues to do business with Bobcat of St. Louis.
“The fact is — they realize the importance of our success in business. And they take ownership for our success,” Skaggs says.
