Optimized tyre solutions working in an efficient and safe way are high in demand for individual areas of use. Reinhard Klant, Product Line Manager Earth Moving at Continental Commercial Specialty Tires, explains the features of the ContiEarth product family.
Construction vehicles like excavators, dump loaders or wheel loaders in the earth-moving industry have to meet enormous requirements on the construction site, in open cast or underground mining or in stone quarrying. Thus, vehicles, their drivers and vehicle tyres have to present top performance. Durability, excellent traction and protection against cuts on sharp-edged grounds or minimal heat generation are of crucial importance for use under extreme conditions. Thus, quality is reflected in a long service life. Continental developed the ContiEarth product family to meet exactly these requirements.
Tyre use in the construction segment
Regardless of extracting or transporting raw materials on gravel, rock or sand grounds or working in building construction or civil engineering: EM tyres have to shine with high wear resistance and good traction. Above all articulated dump trucks (ATD) for rough terrains are used to transport huge quantities of bulk goods and aggregates under extreme conditions. Continental meets these requirements with the EM-Master, which is optimized for these specific demands with two different treads, and with the RDT-Master CR, especially developed for rigid dump trucks.
The open tread design of the EM-Master E3/L3 provides better cooling and thus, less heat generation, which is especially important for continuously long distances and high exterior temperatures. The normal tread depth and the wider spacing of blocks offer outstanding self-cleaning abilities, traction and manoeuvrability. As a consequence, the tyre is extremely useful for unsurfaced, soft and muddy grounds.
Compared to this, the EM-Master E4/L4 has bigger blocks with lesser spacing between the blocks. The tyre has a higher carcass protection against cuts on offer, so that the risk of object penetration and thus downtimes is much lower. It is very suitable for use on rock and gravel grounds.
Der RDT-Master CR was specially developed for the use on rigid dump trucks. These vehicles often work in harsh environments for raw material extractions, where wear resistance and cut protection are required. Thanks to a newly developed polymer-mesh compound system based on a highly synthetical rubber, the RDT-Master CR provides good protection and excellent wear resistance at the same time. This compound complements the standard compound for the RDT-Master.
Intelligent tyres support longevity
Apart from high tyre requirements, a higher risk of premature tyre failure is also caused by varying or not regularly monitored loss of tyre pressure. Continental developed the digital monitoring systems ContiPressureCheck and ContiConnect to take care of optimum tyre press and tyre temperature.
Via digital monitoring systems like ContiConnect Live, a supplement of ContiConnect Light and ContiConnect Yard, fleet managers are able to monitor construction or mining sites regardless of their own location in a centralized way. In contrast to its predecessor ContiConnect Yard, the cloud-based solution is independent from stationary measuring stations on the construction site, but it collects important information on tyre pressure and tyre temperature directly in the cloud to enable flexible fleet management. Should tyres in use need immediate action, the system directly draws the fleet manager’s attention to them.
Monitoring optimum tyre pressure and adequate tyre temperature enormously maximizes service life, as the risks of breakdown as well as tyre wear decrease.
Continental continuously invests in research and development of innovative products. The tyre manufacturer is an internationally leading supplier of solutions with a broad range of products, services and digital tyre solutions.
