In the forestry industry, the right equipment can make or break the effectiveness of a logging operation. That’s why the Canadian forestry industry looks to Mesabi® radiators to fight the harsh environment, which includes overheating due to external clogging to ensure the long-lasting performance of machines.
British Columbia, Canada – For more than 60 years, Mesabi has dominated cooling reliability for the worldwide mining, oil and gas industries – but the Mesabi Difference doesn’t stop there.
With an ever-growing presence in the Canadian forestry industry, Mesabi coolers and radiators have once again – no surprise – proven themselves in delivering maximum uptime.
The truth is plain and simple: in all aspects of forestry, Mesabi® stands out. Through every step of the process – thinning, harvesting, processing, and extraction – Mesabi radiators prove themselves as the top recruit for maintaining equipment performance and eliminating expensive downtime.
According to Invest in Canada, Canada is one of the top global manufacturers of forest products and among the world’s largest producers and exporters of softwood lumber. In addition to the increasing demand for wood products, the expanding desire for more alternative energy solutions is creating new opportunities as well as global interest, in the Canadian forestry industry.
More demand for product means more demand on machines and more downtime as a result – that is, if you only have non-Mesabi radiators dressing your fleet of dozers, loaders, harvesters and trucks. When radiators experience clogging and overheating issues, the flow of production is heavily disrupted. That’s why many Canadian forestry plantations and port sites along Canada’s West Coast have turned to L&M Radiator’s Mesabi radiators for their dependable, clog-resistant design, ability to successfully combat overheating issues, and overall long-lasting lifespan.
“One of the most incredible things about Mesabi is how – if maintained properly – our radiators often outlast the machine they are in,” said Jerry Jensen, L&M Radiator’s Account Manager serving Western Canada. “I’ve seen a machine in the field that was put into service in 1981, and it’s still working. I’m blown away by it. Once you get a Mesabi in a machine, it’s just a matter of how you take care of it. It’s remarkable.”
The Resilient Anti-Clog Mesabi Model
Off the coast of Vancouver, one must travel by ferry to reach the Howe Sound, a cluster of islands between the Lower Mainland and the Sunshine Coast. Here, at the port sites, barges arrive to the shore with wood chips. CAT 980H loaders move back and forth within a 30-foot distance all day long, making the machines’ radiators susceptible to clogging from dust shavings or damage from the wood chips on site. Desperate for a solution, the port contacted the L&M Radiator team to modify a radiator for this specific machine.
“We had never built a radiator for a 980H before, but I went out to the Howe Sound, met with the team, looked at their situation, took the measurements, and went from there to work with my engineers,” said Jensen. “We developed the right radiator for the product. After we installed the first one, they probably ran it for about half a season before they started ordering more. Awhile later, so did the mill up the road. Then, so did the parent company on the island. We have a really solid reputation within the industry.”
The 980H loader OEM radiators were replaced with Mesabi V-Tube™ radiators, a model best recommended for resisting severe clogging. The exclusive V-shaped finning and offset tube pattern maximizes debris flow and reduces matter getting hung-up, allowing the heaviest of matter – up to one-eighth inch or more – to better flow through the core. You can explore more of Mesabi’s products here.
“Mesabi radiators don’t clog like the rest of them. They’re easy to clean. You can repair them in the field, so there’s no downtime in the shop. If a machine takes a hit, for example, if a log slips and bends some tubes in the radiators, you can pull those tubes out, plug them in with a bolt, and just keep on working,” said Jensen. “This is why our customers love Mesabi – they are so easy to maintain and keep repaired.”
Mesabi Making a Difference in Forestry
In forestry, the harvesting process starts by picking the right logging equipment for felling and then transporting the trees. When felling trees, the feller heads move heavy material quickly, grabbing and dropping logs from one spot to another. Excavators, commonly supplied by CAT, Komatsu, and Liebherr, move back and forth as the heads propel above, placing an incredible amount of stress on the machines, making them vulnerable to overheating, especially during the summertime.
“Beating the overheating issues is where we shine. I get the most requests in the summer because that’s when a lot of overheating occurs. If there is an issue with a new machine, it’s probably because they’re not using one of our radiators which are designed to withstand the external debris and heat of the summer,” said Jensen.
Generally, when overheating happens, more problems are sure to follow. Overheated machines are forced into cycles of frequent repair and downtime, costing companies precious time for completing production deadlines and needs.
“In terms of long-term cost savings, Mesabi is the way to go. Downtime costs money, so we want you to keep on operating. If you keep good care of the radiator, those tubes and seals will last a long time. You’re not replacing your radiator every three to five years with us,” said Jensen. “When you consider the total cost of ownership of a Mesabi heat exchanger, while Mesabi may cost more initially, in the long run, you can’t beat the cost savings over the total life of your equipment.”
Switching to Mesabi: All Pros, No Cons
The proof is undeniable. Mesabi radiators are just that good. When weighing your options in choosing the right equipment for your fleet, Mesabi radiators offer an endless list of benefits: they decrease downtime, are easier to clean, are repairable in the field, are less likely to overheat, and are long-term cost saving investments. However, all of these qualities are merely an extension of the values deeply rooted within L&M Radiator and its employees.
“Once a new customer gets a Mesabi into their fleet, the next question is: what’s your schedule like, and how many more Mesabi’s can I get this year?” said Jensen. “I think it says a lot about our customer service, and it says a lot about our product. We take great pride in what we do.”
See and experience the Mesabi Difference for yourself. Contact one of our customer service representatives today.
L&M Radiator: Meeting Customer Needs in the Forestry Industry
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