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Mining & Open-Cast

Rolling powertrain rebuild programme across a hauler fleet

Transmissions and final drives rebuilt on a rolling schedule set by oil analysis, so units come off before they fail.

Client
Contract miner, Mpumalanga
Location
July Street workshop, Middelburg, Mpumalanga
Started
5 August 2024
RollingProgramme
Oil trendTrigger
Build sheet per unitDocumentation
Standard, not emergencyParts lead time
The brief

What we were asked to solve

A hauler fleet was losing transmissions without warning, each failure taking a machine out for weeks and pulling parts forward at emergency pricing. The client wanted the failures moved from unplanned to planned.

Approach

How we did it

We audited the fleet and put every unit onto scheduled oil sampling, trending wear metals per component rather than reading each result in isolation. A rising trend triggers an inspection, and an inspection that confirms the trend books the unit into the workshop.

Rebuilds run to the standard workshop process — full strip, measurement against service limits, a written strip report approved before parts are ordered, and assembly with backlash, end-float and pre-load set and recorded on the build sheet. Units go back sealed, tagged and palletised with the fitting hardware included.

Outcome

What changed

Powertrain work has moved almost entirely onto the planned schedule. Units come off on evidence from the oil trend rather than after a failure, and the parts for each rebuild are ordered at normal lead time rather than at emergency rates.

Project record

Sector
Mining & Open-Cast
Location
July Street workshop, Middelburg
Province
Mpumalanga
Started
5 August 2024
Completed
In progress
Services
3

Services used

Before & after

The condition on arrival, and on handover

After: A rebuilt Bell transmission assembly with a new filter fitted, standing on a pallet
Before: A large yellow transmission housing on a pallet with the input hub exposed
BeforeAfter
Housing stripped and measured on arrival, and the completed assembly sealed and ready for fitment.
Programme

How the work ran

Each milestone carried a deliverable the client signed before the next stage started.

  1. Fleet audit

    Every hauler inspected and recorded — hours, condition, outstanding defects and service position.

  2. Sampling programme established

    Scheduled oil sampling introduced across the fleet with per-component trending and escalation thresholds.

  3. First planned removals

    Units booked into the workshop on trend evidence rather than after failure, with parts ordered at normal lead time.

  4. Programme extended

    Scope extended to final drives and differentials on the same trend-triggered basis.

On site

Photographed during the work

A large yellow transmission housing on a pallet with the input hub exposed
A rebuilt final drive assembly painted yellow, lifted on slings outside the workshop
A Bell B40D articulated dump truck being delivered by lowbed into a rock quarry
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