Sideboards can haul more material with each load while minimising material loss.
The primary advantage of a sideboard is its ability to provide ample storage space. And while this is more commonly seen in the furniture industry, haul trucks used across the mining, aggregates and construction sectors also offer this solution.
Indeed, US-based construction equipment supplier Philippi-Hagenbuch, a specialist in off-highway truck customisation, has developed sideboards capable of hauling more material with each load while minimising material loss.
According to the company, its sideboards are easy to install and precisely fitted to vertically extend the sides of off-highway haul truck bodies. The company works with each operation to custom engineer sideboards to achieve the optimal height based on the truck’s rated weight, the material being hauled and the loading equipment.
Sideboards increase the haul truck’s capacity while reducing or even preventing spillage, keeping haul roads clean, thereby reducing downtime (to clear the road) and protecting haul truck tyres.
“We have decades of experience in providing customised and durable solutions for hauling operations,” says Josh Swank at Philippi-Hagenbuch. “Our sideboards aim to help producers enable their trucks to haul their full rated capacity. Sideboards offer a simple low-cost way of adding volume to a truck body.”
The solution
The company’s sideboards are available in one inch increments from six inches to 40 inches. In some cases, they may be available in larger sizes, depending on the haul truck, the environment and the material being hauled. The company also considers the operation’s loading equipment to ensure the final height will not exceed the loader’s capabilities.
Calculation based on density
Philippi-Hagenbuch works out the proper size for sideboards using a calculation based on material density, 2:1 heap capacity and haul truck body volume. For example, if a haul truck’s capacity is 71 tonnes and the volumetric capacity is 52.3 yd3 at a 2:1 heap, sideboards add 0.92yd3 of volumetric capacity for every inch of height added to the truck body.
Designed in an upside down ‘U’ shape, its sideboards fit over the existing body sides and are securely welded to the body. It also engineers sideboards to fit the specific make and model of off-highway haul truck, and the front is ‘trimmed to fit’ to ensure it lines up with the front slope of the body. Operations can also use sideboards alone or pair them with Philippi-Hagenbuch Autogate Tailgates to further increase capacity and prevent material from spilling from the back of the body.
Philippi-Hagenbuch’s sideboards are built of Grade 80 steel for trucks ranging from 20 to 150 tonnes and 450 Brinell on trucks 150-plus tonnes for durability. They are also engineered with internal structural gussets to help provide a long service life.
