Born to Run Like a Deere
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AN IRISH BLESSING Mining gold with 460Es in old Newfoundland Céad míle fáilte means 100,000 welcomes in the Irish-Gaelic language. And sureín we received at least that many a warm greeting when we called on the Bailey brothers and their extended family of operators, foremen, and managers. Join us way up north in Newfoundland, “the other Ireland,” as contractor Guy J. Bailey, Ltd., Deere equipment, and the bíys toil to mine a pot of gold — and then some. hile growing up in Newfoundland, A golden opportunity WCanada, Guy Joseph Bailey was It was touch-and-go for Scott Bailey at adept at finding ways to earn money. first, until word of his problem-solving While still in grade school, he launched skills reached a large gold-mining con- a life of entrepreneurial pursuits with a cern in Greenland. They had a tanker full bicycle-restoration business. He went on of ore docked off the Baie Verte Penin- to run a much-needed bus service from sula with contents that had settled into Grand Falls to the small mining town of a stubborn unmovable mass during pas- Baie Verte (pronounced bay vurt). Which sage. Bailey lowered a light 8-metric-ton led to his taxi and school bus service. John Deere excavator into the ship’s hold And his service station and auto-parts and loosened the packed ore so a crane businesses. And Guy J. Bailey, Ltd., a could lift the precious cargo. Problem contractor providing equipment, oper- solved, reputation made. ators, and trucking services to the Baie Verte mining industry. Word of his skills must have made an impression on Anaconda Mining, Inc. All this and a growing in Toronto, because when they needed family. Good thing, too… trucks, excavators, dozers, graders, men, Thankfully, Bailey had a secret weapon and logistics for the gold ore digging — a brood that included three boys: Ivan, and hauling operations at their new Baie Scott, and Kent. Beyond his business Verte Pine Cove Mine, Bailey was called smarts, the senior Bailey relied on his in to pitch and win the business. boys to learn the many tools of many trades to help run the family businesses. Big. Bigger. Biggest In return, they were rewarded with the “When you compare the Deere lighter- gifts of a strong work ethic and keen bodied ADT with your typical stake- problem-solving skills. bodied mining truck, well, there’s just no comparison — right, b’ys?,” our new bud By the time the elder Bailey signed his and Bailey Field Super Peter Goudie tells company over to his sons, the asbestos and asks us. “We’ve dropped our cost- mine had been abandoned — a victim of per-ton because we’re hauling more ore, a ban on the sale of products made from and not so much truck — that’s one of asbestos fibers. The Bailey boys made the benefits the 460’s payload-to-weight the best of hard times by buying some ratio delivers.” old trucks from the defunct mine, fixing them up, and turning Guy J. Bailey into According to Scott Bailey, the an over-the-road trucking outfit. Kent journey from traditional trucks, and Ivan headed out to seek their own to Deere articulated dump trucks, fortunes in Alberta’s oil-and-gas boom to one of the largest ADTs on the while Scott stayed put. continent has been a gradual and fruitful one. “We started out a couple years back with Deere 300Ds, and saw the drop in fuel expenses and 4 The Construction Review All that glitters. When it comes to loading gold ore, the 470G LC makes the perfect match for the Bailey’s fleet of big 460E ADTs. Less work for Kirk. Head mechanic Kirk Martin says the 46-ton 460E takes less time for 500- hour service than their Brothers. Scott Bailey 40-ton 400D ADTs. helms the all-Deere mining division of Guy J. Bailey — Ivan Bailey runs the construction side of the company. 5 rise in cost-per-ton savings immedi- with the 460E hauling six tons more, ately. We then upgraded our fleet to it does so at a fuel savings of 10 to 15 350Ds, then 400Ds. And as soon as percent over the 40-ton. Deere offered the 460E, we purchased five of them and they have been out- “Also, Anaconda Mines is a very envi- standing. Five 460Es can haul as much ronmentally conscious company, so we as eight of our 400s could — together, like the fact that these trucks have very they move some 225 tons of ore per clean-running Interim Tier 4 engines cycle — that’s big productivity.” that are able to regenerate without any loss in power or performance.” Bailey attributes some of the Pine Cove Mine project’s ongoing success Scheduled maintenance in to his partnering with Nortrax. “Our half the time Deere dealer is very important to the “Where ya at, skipper?” asks Head operations here. Their representative, Mechanic Kirk Martin. “This is it, b’y,” Chris Elliott, is quite good at listening we reply, trying lamely to speak the to our needs and responding with the local lingo (see sidebar below). “We just best equipment to boost our produc- wanted to know what you think of the tivity while reducing our cost-per-ton. 460Es.” ”I like ’em fine, skip, because they’re very easy to work In other words, our dealer does for us what we’re dedicated to on. Our last trucks, the Deere 400Ds, took five to six hours for do for our customer, Anaconda Mining.” us to perform 500-hour maintenance — not bad, but these 460Es take three, three-and-a-half hours, tops.” Bigger loads + faster cycles – 3 additional trucks, operators, and maintenance = Let’s see…that’s a savings of three-hours’ time at current lower cost per ton shop rates… add in the profits of three additional hours the According to Deere, and confirmed by the crew at Bailey, the truck is literally hauling in the gold instead of sitting in the 460E’s massive productivity gains and cost savings go well shop, multiply times the number of trucks in the fleet… and beyond how much material can be hauled in a single cycle. that adds up to… well, no wonder they bought five of ’em. “It’s one smart truck,” says Goudie. “It’s light in weight so you’re using fuel to move your payload, not your truck. It has an The fine art of listening eight-forward, four-reverse gear, six-wheel-drive transmission We’ll leave the last word for Mr. Goudie. “This is a customer- — including a high-speed reverse gear that lets you back up at designed truck. Deere had a Customer Advocate Group made 17 km/h (11 mph). up of mining and construction company owners, mechanics, managers, and operators who had input into every feature of “And with its auto diff-lock, it moves quicker and with better this ADT: the payload-weighing system, programmable dump- traction than any truck we’ve ever experienced.” Apparently, body settings, the eight-forward/four-reverse transmission built when you’re working on twisty mining roads in an area with an specifically for this machine — the list of unique and beneficial average annual snowfall of almost 400 cm (157 in.), you value a standard features goes on and on. By listening closely to those truck with such stick-to-itiveness. who do, I believe Deere has built the ultimate ADT on the market today.” >> Goudie then puts numbers to the comparative lightness of the Deere 46-ton ADT high-alloy-steel dump-body truck versus a Guy J. Bailey, Ltd. is competing 40-ton articulated-frame truck. “The 460E weighs serviced by Nortrax, CHECK OUT THE VIDEO AT: Grand Falls-Windsor, JohnDeere.com/newfoundland three tons less. And even when both trucks are filled to capacity, Newfoundland, Canada. How to speak Newfoundlander Newfoundland has been called “the other Ireland.” That’s because Emerald Isle immigrants from Counties Cork, Tipperary, Waterford, and others came here en masse to work for the island’s Grand Banks Cod Fishery beginning around 1679. Some 335 years later, Newfoundlanders still speak a dialect with a cheery lilt, complete with slang straight from the shores of the Irish Sea. Here are but a few Newfoundlandisms: What ya at? TRANSLATION: What are you doing? What’s after happening now? TRANSLATION: What just happened? Stay where you’re at ’til I come where ya’re to. TRANSLATION: Wait there for me. Aye, b’y. TRANSLATION: I agree, dude. Though short for “boy,” b’y is used to address all friends of any age. Newfoundlander pronunciation of Newfoundland: New-found-land. 6 The Construction Review BORN TO RUN LIKE A DEERE Michael Intelli performs some bridge repair with a 270D LC Excavator outside of Freehold, New Jersey. We ride shotgun with the Monmouth You set your garbage and recycling on the curb, and some- County Public Works director in one takes it away. A road in your neighborhood is washed out by a storm, and a week later you notice someone has Springsteen’s backyard and made it good as new. A natural disaster wipes out a nearby find there’s more to tourist destination, and someone rebuilds the impacted working for the area. And that someone who makes all this happen likely county than works directly or indirectly for county government. working on Case in point? Monmouth County, New Jersey, where we the highway spend a few days watching public servants, and John Deere iron, perform actions both extraordinary and mundane.