Customer case

AMI Attachments’ 2-Pass bucket multiplies productivity, delivering high capacity

August 03, 2021 6 min read

Canadian manufacturer uses Hardox® 500 Tuf to build a better heavy-duty bucket for quarries, recycling operations and municipalities.

Case details

Product Hardox® 500 Tuf

Country Canada

Company AMI Attachments

Industry Yellow goods and construction

Brand program Hardox^® In My Body

It’s a simple but profitable concept - reduce cycle time to increase productivity. This is exactly what the new 2-Pass Bucket from Ontario, Canada’s AMI Attachments achieves by filling trucks in just two 9.14-meter (10-yard) bucketful’s, thanks to the use of both Hardox® wear plate and Strenx® performance steels.

When every cycle counts, quarry operations looking to maximize productivity without wasting payload, fuel or time have an improved option in high performance attachments for wheel loaders. Designed to hold a true 9.14 meters (10-yards) heaped, AMI Attachments’ 2-pass bucket reduces the number of loads needed to fill trucks to capacity.

AMI Attachments builds a true, 2-pass 10-yard capacity bucket to boost efficiency and save fuel.

Case details

Product Hardox® 500 Tuf

Country Canada

Company AMI Attachments

Industry Yellow goods and construction

Brand program Hardox^® In My Body

Innovation driven by efficiency demands

In response to a growing demand for improved efficiencies and costs savings, AMI Attachments put its engineering team to work on a better wheel loader bucket design. Feedback from quarries, municipalities and recycling companies, drove major functionality improvements.

For exceptional strength, hardness and toughness, Hardox^® 500 Tuf appears in the bucket’s shell and side cheek plates. Hardox^® 450 puts stability and wear protection in the front side cutters and end plates. To remove weight while maintaining structural integrity, Strenx^® performance steel makes up the lugging and adds stability to stand up to long rigorous running hours.

Combined engineering powers at SSAB and AMI Attachments create game-changing buckets using special steels.

By partnering with the engineers at SSAB, AMI Attachments designs game-changing buckets using special steels.

“When our customers explained their consistent lineup of trucks sitting idle, waiting to be loaded, we identified a productivity bottleneck that could be solved. By designing a new high-capacity wheel loader bucket using lighter steel that is just as durable, the engineering team shaved off enough bucket weight to successfully handle a full 9.14-meters (10-yards) of aggregate. Not only does it hold more material, the 2-Pass loads easier, it features a convex-shaped sidecut profile and a deep floor that delivers a balanced rollback for easier travel.”

Dwight Myers, AMI Attachments’ Vice President of Engineering.

Calculate wear performance, potential weight savings and service life with ease

To calculate the comparisons for specific application parameters, engineers use SSAB’s proprietary web application called Hardox^® WearCalc. Looking at different grades by thickness, Brinell hardness factor and what materials are being used for wear, the online tool can calculate the expected wear life projections and show any potential weight savings that may occur when upgrading to a higher-grade wear steel.

“To determine which components would benefit from an upgrade, we look at the current solution and using the WearCalc app, we can determine what steel benefits will translate to the specific application” explains SSAB Technical Development Manager, Maurice Picard. “For example, if we need equipment to have a longer wear life when working with iron ore, loose gravel or granite, we will be able to suggest the right steel for the application with longer life.”

For AMI Attachments, the goal was to reduce the weight of the shell by 20% to increase capacity of the bucket to 9.14 meters (10-cubic yards), while maintaining the same long wear life. After running the sliding wear simulations, the report showed they could maintain a long service life even if the thickness was reduced by 20%. Using a thinner material also reduced the overall weight. With the new design, customers can now load 15.29 meter (20-cubic yard) trucks in 2 scoops, making it 33% more efficient.

Hardox® WearCalc web application predicts potential benefits of upgrading.

Hardox^® WearCalc web application shows users potential benefits of upgrading to thinner grades of high performance steels. AMI Attachments ran simulations to use thinner Hardox^® 500 Tuf wear steel to achieve less weight and a higher capacity on an innovative 2-pass bucket design.

Welders enjoy the same easy-to-use properties of Hardox® 500 Tuf as other Hardox® wear plate grades.

Welders in the AMI Attachments’ workshop enjoy the same easy-to-use properties of Hardox^® 500 Tuf as they have come to expect from other Hardox^® wear plate grades.

In the workshop with Hardox^® wear plate

Hardox^® 500 Tuf wear steel can be cut with the same processes and be bent with the same top punch radius and same bottom die opening as Hardox^® 450. For a same thickness Hardox^® 500 Tuf will require approximately 15% more press break tonnage than Hardox^® 450. But by taking advantage of the higher wear resistance of Hardox^® 500 Tuf, users can reduce plate thickness and actually require less press break tonnage than the thicker Hardox^® 450.

Hardox^® 500 Tuf also can be welded with the same welding consumables as for Hardox^® 450. In the case for AMI Attachments, neither material required preheating. This saves time in the workshop, uses less weld material and is suitable for use with standard equipment. Proper designs with the processes in mind, can also lead to significant improvements in terms of service life and payload capacities. For such a highly specialized consultation, AMI Attachments works directly with SSAB engineers.

Only certified products earn the right to wear the signs of quality

Although anyone can buy a product branded with Hardox^® In My Body or My Inner Strenx^® stickers, not just anyone can make those products. Equipment bearing these product logos are certified and manufactured to the highest standards by the qualified program member. All members are thoroughly assessed to earn the right to display these stickers. Once a company becomes a member, it must continue to maintain and uphold stringent professional criteria.

AMI Attachments joined both of SSAB’s brand programs, Hardox In My Body and My Inner Strenx, with qualifying product designs and undergoing rigorous certification procedures.

“AMI Attachments is a brand that has been built on quality. Being part of this program supports what we stand for,” says Steve Frey, President. “The program decal on our attachments gives our customers confidence in our product that it will last a long time. When the paint wears off and customers see the raw steel, there is nothing to hide.”

It is no surprise that a company like AMI Attachments would be willing to adapt designs to meet the ever-changing needs of the market.

AMI Attachments enjoys membership in both of SSAB’s Hardox^® In My Body and My Inner Strenx^® ingredient branding programs. Specific products in their portfolio wear the signs of quality.

“We spend a lot of time on different job sites watching how operators need to be more efficient. We also listen to our customers describe areas causing setbacks, safety issues and downtime. They know they’ve been heard when we deliver innovative products using quality steels to address their issues and improve their operations.”

Bernie Howorth, Vice President Sales and Marketing.