Published in the May 2005 American Longwall Magazine

Demand has come from both Appalachian coalfields and Western coal operators in the form of both longwall and room and pillar mines. Orders have been placed for ARO’s mobile bolters, longwall face bolters and drill retrofits on continuous miners.

While ARO has continued to enjoy the success of its machines introduced in the US market over the past four years, it is now bathing in the achievement of having sold several new products into the US.

One such product is the jumbo face drills fitted with dual booms to drill a 20ft x 10ft heading. A Western longwall mine has ordered two of these units with scheduled delivery dates in June and July of this year.

Once the mine has finished driving rock slopes, the jumbos will be converted to 4-head mobile bolters, achieved by removing the pinned-on front end and replacing it with a complete platform mobile front end. In addition to the two jumbos, the mine has also ordered one 4-head mobile bolter with two additional rib bolters mounted on the frame of the machine.

All three machines are fitted with unique material handling systems and full LCD monitoring and readout with complete remote access and machine diagnostics. The materials handling loading feature means one-step component and consumable loading. With no winches involved, safety around the machine is increased compared to standard materials handling systems currently available in the US.

In another first for the US market, ARO has sold five dual boom walk-through roof bolters. The orders were placed by room and pillar operations in Utah and Tennessee, while an Alabama longwall operation bought two. A Canadian underground operation also purchased one roof bolter with a commitment to ordering another machine in August.

A Utah longwall has also ordered two single boom longwall face bolters and a Colorado producer has placed an order for one standard longwall face bolter.

With the dual boom bolter, two people operate two drill rigs simultaneously, while with the single booms, one platform supports one operator who acts independently from the second unit. This allows operations to put one unit at the head and another at the tail to bolt up half the face each.

While the orders have flowed through ARO’s doors, its rental program has also proved popular. According to ARO vice president Paul Spedding, on average one longwall face bolter is rented each month. The bolters are rented on a weekly basis, with service and spare parts provided.

“A longwall face bolter is typically only used once or twice a year, so for the capital investment for some companies it is more beneficial to rent. A company should look at buying when they have multiple operations or carry out more than three longwall moves a year,” Spedding said.

Published in May 2005 American Longwall Magazine

ARO’s drill retrofits have also been booming with six orders placed this year. Spedding said ARO 1350 drill rigs were fitted onto existing continuous miners. He said mines were opting for ARO’s drills due to availability and durability.

All ARO machines feature semi-automatic drilling for hands-off drilling. In the case of mobile bolters, remote controls are standard for ease of tramming and positioning into the heading. All bolters come with 18in crawlers for better stability and ground pressures.

Spedding said ARO had shown its commitment to the US market by establishing a 20,000 square foot manufacturing facility in November 2004 and doubling employment over the past four months. ARO is in the final stages of opening a western sales and service facility that should be open by the end of May.