Caterpillar has added several design enhancements to its 7495 HF Electric Rope Shovel models to increase machine reliability.

The upgrades are applied to track or crawler frames, swing rack and rollers, as well as propel gearboxes and rotating undercarriage.

The upgrades result in an improvement to the total cost of ownership of up to 6% per operating hour, Caterpillar said.

For the track roller frame, Caterpillar reengineered the bolt-on design to eliminate the need for casting weld, increasing wear life and requiring no maintenance.

Caterpillar also increased the frame thickness to improve reliability, and added a new super bolt arrangement for shorter middle bolts.

The company has also added new lower side frame stiffeners to improve track clearance to the tracks, while the updated tapered shear ledge reduces end loading.

For the swing rack, Caterpillar created a single-piece swing rack casting that improves ERS durability by eliminating previous vertical welds.

Caterpillar has also reduced the number of core holes from 20 to four, and positioned these four holes in low-stress areas of the swing frame.

Roller life has also been improved by introducing a single piece roller path. Caterpillar has also introduced upgraded thrust rail design to improve access for inspection and retightening.

The company also redesigned the propel system so that users will no longer need to remove the propel transmission when servicing the drive tumbler and propel shaft. This decreases maintenance downtime by as much as 75%, Caterpillar said.

For the rotating undercarriage, Caterpillar introduced a new track pad design to improve structural support and steel chemistry. It also added a heat treatment process to improve toughness.