Case study
A quarry loader eating its front tires on short cycles
Wheel loaders in a shot-rock stockpile
Example framework. Machine names, figures and outcomes on this page are placeholders and are not published as results.
What was failing
Front tires were wearing on the shoulder well before the tread centre, on a machine that never left the yard. The first assumption was a bad batch. The second was the operator.
Neither explained why the same pattern appeared on two machines working different shifts.
What we asked for and compared
The site walk recorded the route inside the stockpile, the turning points, the load carried per bucket and the inflation pressure at the start of a shift.
Short, repeated turns on sharp rock load the shoulder in a way that a straight haul cycle does not. That is a duty-cycle question before it is a tire question, and the specification has to be read against the route.
From site visit to purchase
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Site findings · Visit
Route, load and pressure recorded
Photographs of the wear pattern, the turning area and the bucket load, plus the pressure reading taken before the shift.
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Trial · Next delivery
Candidate patterns for a short-cycle duty
Sizes are confirmed against the machine manual first. Where the catalogue documents two patterns for the same size, both are offered with the difference stated.
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Review · Mid-life check
Wear measured, not estimated
Tread depth is measured at fixed points on the same positions and compared with the previous set. The review happens at mid-life, not after failure.
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Procurement · After review
Replacement plan per position
Front and rear are planned separately, because their wear rates are not the same and a single order quantity hides that.
Outcome
The measured outcome is being confirmed with the customer. Until that confirmation exists, this page states the condition and the specification rather than a number.
If you are running the same machine in a comparable condition, the useful next step is a comparison against your own site data — not against someone else's.
Common questions
Is irregular wear always a tire problem?
No. Pressure, load distribution, alignment and the turning geometry of the route all produce it. The inspection has to separate those before a pattern is blamed.
Can you recommend a pattern from a photograph?
A photograph shows the wear type, not the cause. It narrows the candidate list; the pressure and load readings decide it.
How often should the wear be checked?
At fixed intervals that match the site's service schedule. Checking only at failure measures nothing except the failure.