Construction and materials matter 

The floor of the haul truck body typically experiences the most abrasion and takes the brunt of the impact during material loading. When a shovel dumps material in the bed, the body experiences mass impact from the large amount of heavy material and, frequently, a projectile impact from sharper materials. Hardox 500 Tuf steel provides the necessary strength and hardness to withstand that force, resisting punctures or structural deformities. Hardox 500 Tuf particularly shines when operations are hauling highly abrasive material such as scrap steel, oil sands, iron ore, and gold ore, or highly acidic material like refuse. These materials will damage steels with less abrasion resistance and require more frequent maintenance, leading to a shorter product lifecycle. 

Hardox 500 Tuf is made up of the lowest amount of carbon possible, providing strength without becoming brittle in cold-weather climates. By default, Philippi-Hagenbuch designs its equipment to perform in the worst possible environments, whether in the blistering heat of equatorial regions or the extreme cold of the Arctic.

“PHIL has always strived to be at the forefront of technology and provide our clients with the best product available,” said Josh Swank, Philippi-Hagenbuch chief growth officer. “To make the best product, you have to build it with the best ingredients. We dedicated eight years to researching 500 Tuf by visiting steel mills, working with metallurgists, and completing our own internal analysis to make sure we give our customers the best and longest-lasting solutions to help them haul.”

“When you have consistent steel coming from a consistent mill, it’s a great catalyst to putting out a good product,” Swank said. “We know exactly where our steel is coming from, and we know it will last. That’s a great benefit of engineering everything 100% in-house, which we’ve done since 1969.”