When the new Komatsu GD955-7 grader landed in Australia in October, it set off on a roadshow so local mining customers across the country could get their first look.
Komatsu machines have become synonymous with efficiency, strength and durability, and these values were front and centre when the company released its GD955-7 grader in October.
After making its debut in Mackay, Queensland, the grader took the rest of Australia by storm as it set off on a cross-country road trip to local miners.
Built specifically for mining operations, the GD955-7 has a big focus on productivity thanks to its blade design, which allows for more efficient ground penetration.
According to Komatsu national mining product manager Michael Hall, the grader has been a hot topic of conversation for some time.
“The GD955-7 is a ground-up designed mining grader,” Hall said. “It can grade 33 per cent more area per hour than the previous model, with a standard 5.5m blade, or an optional 6.1m blade width for even more productivity.
“It also has the highest blade downforce in class and the highest engine power in class. It’s a durable machine designed for high-power grading.”
As mine sites employ larger and more powerful haul trucks, there is a renewed need for graders to be larger and more productive to support them.
“The GD955-7 is well matched to larger haul trucks anywhere from 90 to over 240 tonnes, making it a great addition to mining fleets,” Hall said.
With Komatsu’s 360° camera system, KomVision, included in the grader, the GD955-7 is one of safest graders to hit the market.
“KomVision increases visibility for operators so they can get a full view of activity around the grader,” Hall said.
“The monitor informs them if another machine is approaching or is in their line of movement, a great safety feature for busy mine sites.”
KomVision was introduced as a standard safety feature for Komatsu excavators in January 2018 and has since been implemented in various pieces of the company’s equipment.
In the GD955-7, the five-camera system is positioned to provide a view around the entire vehicle, with an additional rear-view monitor for reversing and ripping operations.
KomVision means the GD955-7 can better avoid contacts or collisions in blind spots, giving the operator a real-time bird’s eye view of the machine’s surroundings.
And KomVision is not the only safety feature at home in the GD955-7. The grader features fingertip fine control functionality, along with a palm steer option, to enable precise and safe grading.
At nearly 47 tonnes and with 426 horsepower, the grader is designed to be a highly productive unit, which has been a key selling feature of the machine.
“The GD955-7 is also 50 per cent heavier than the previous model, meaning it can more easily grade hard-packed road surfaces and take on more demanding jobs,” Hall said.
As part of the launch of the GD955-7, a number of customers visited Komatsu’s Ibaraki Plant in Japan to see first-hand where the grader was manufactured and get a sneak peek before it made its debut in Mackay.
Hall said Komatsu was pleased with the reaction it received.
“We had really good feedback from the customers who joined us, and we plan to start delivering this new model to customers come December,” he said.
And if a new grader wasn’t enough, Komatsu has also released its WE1850-3 wheel loader for Australian customers.
“Interest (in the WE1850-3) is incredible,” Komatsu national product manager for mining Mark Petersen said.
“Customer conversations are very much around carbon reduction as the main driver in the decision-making process, but the WE1850-3 also offers great versatility, with some customers planning to use it as a frontline production machine in place of a hydraulic excavator, for example.”
According to Komatsu, demand for the WE1850-3 was so high that two-thirds of the wheel loader’s factory 2024 production slots have been allocated to Australia.
The first Australian machine will go to work in Queensland’s Bowen Basin; however, customers were queuing to buy one before it had even entered the site.
And it’s not hard to see why. In addition to being a frontline production machine, the loader is suited to tasks across the entire mining value chain.
From frequent equipment relocations to keeping the pit floor clean and level without support equipment, the WE1850-3 can just about do it all.
The machine also utilises SR hybrid drive in place of mechanical drive, which results in significantly lower fuel consumption compared to equivalent mechanical drive systems.
Komatsu has ensured the SR hybrid drive system is fully regenerative so power can be fed back into the electrical system during braking.
The model also features a kinetic energy storage system that works in concert with the SR hybrid drive to store significant power captured from braking so it can supplement peak power demand, resulting in substantial CO2 reduction per tonne of material moved.
The result? Fast cycle times without a commensurate increase in fuel usage.
Lower cycle times and increased payload equates to higher productivity and more tonnes moved, with new features designed to minimise fuel and maintenance costs.
“The WE1850-3 can reduce fuel consumption and CO2 emissions by up to 35 per cent,” Petersen said. “There’s a lot of excitement around this new model and we expect demand to remain strong.”
With two new machines already seeing peak excitement from the Australian mining industry, it’s only a matter of time before many more in the sector adopt the GD955-7 grader and WE1850-3 wheel loader as must-haves for each mine site.
This feature appeared in the November 2023 issue of Australian Mining.