Rippers and Ripping
1. Rippers can range from single shank to 3 shank, even up to a dozen shanks.
2. Ripper depth can be adjusted and on some the ripping angle can be adjusted
3. Traction tends to increase while pushing because of added ripper weight
4. Added weight can be a disadvantage because of stress on final drives.
5. During stripping only rip what you can handle in a day
Three shank ripper: Wide swath Easy-to-rip material
When To Rip?
When blasting is not feasible !
1. Environmental problems
a. A quarry close to built up area?
2. Economics
a. Small area / volume to fragment
* Not worth to go through the hassle with blasting
b. Thin layer of hard material
* Blasting requires small dia., densely spaced holes
c. Relatively soft material
Which rock can be ripped?
Favorable conditions:
1. Stratification
2. Weathering
3. Brittle, crystalline
4. Laminations & thin layers
5. Fractures
6. Faults or planes of weakness
Unfavorable :
1. Fine grained with strong binder
2. Massive and homogenous
3. No weakness planes
4. Moist (solidifies the rock surface)
5. Non-crystalline and non-brittle
Assessing Rippability : Seismics
Note: this plot is ripper-specific
Adjustable Parallelogram Ripper
Ripper Options (455):
1. Variable Giant Ripper
a. Single shank, parallelogram, hydraulic pin puller
b. Max penetration depth: 4’ 8” (1435 mm)
2. Multi-shank Ripper
a. Three shank, parallelogram
b. Max penetration depth: 3’ 6”
Single Shank: “Wish List”
Multi-shank Ripper
Multi-Shank: Features
Tips
Modern Ripper Advantages
1. High penetration force to get the shank tip into the ground
2. Undercarriage design keeps track in contact with the ground to transfer all available power and prevent track shoe slip
c. Very high and efficient transfer of engine power to the tracks through double reduction final drives
Dozing vs. Ripping
Ripping Requirements
Productivity
1. Consider width of a singe pass
a. Consider ripping “cone”
2. Consider ripper speed
a. Second gear (at most)
3. Is cross-ripping required?
a. More time needed for cross-ripping!
4. Put it all together and take the best shot