Apron Feeder Pans

Apron Feeders has had little to no technology development since the design and manufacturing methods for apron feeder pans, or flights as they are sometimes called, were developed many decades ago to run on, off the shelf, standard dozer chains and drive tumblers.

What is an Apron Feeder?

Apron feeders are commonly used in industries such as mining and aggregate processing, where they are used to handle materials such as ores, coal, and rock. An apron feeder is a type of material handling equipment used to transport large, lumpy, or abrasive materials from a storage bin or hopper to a crusher, conveyor belt, or other processing equipment.

Makuri Apron Feeder Pan corrugated with grouser bar Assembly

Makuri Apron Feeder Pan corrugated with grouser bar Packed for Shipment

Makuri Apron Feeder Pan Transported by Truck

Typical Problems

Apron Feeder Pans are thought of as a commodity item, like the drive components, and that they are all the same
Apron Feeder Pans are typically bought on price and not on performance
Standard feeder pan life can be in excess of 2 years so often does not sit on a planned change out schedule or even held in stock
Apron Feeder Pans are typically only visually inspected but the wear rate and remaining working life is deceptive and as such are they are often run to failure
Excessive clearance between the static lower liners and the moving pans allowing material to excessively wear the pans and create a channel weakening and damaging the pans around the bolt head area
Feeder Pan retaining bolt heads can wear off and allow the pans to come away from the feeder in catastrophic circumstances
Each reclaim feeder pan set has its own wear life based on operating time and feeder speed and are constantly changing
Standard feeder pans design, which are exacerbated when worn, do not respond well to feeder speed changes causing slippage which results in hysteresis and hunting in the mill control loop
If pans are not replaced as a complete set, life forecasting and shutdown scheduling are negatively impacted

Makuri Solutions

We provide both standard and high-performance feeder pan designs in premium 14% manganese steel with added chrome for higher hardness

Makuri LLHT Apron Feeder Pans

Makuri has progressively developed a high-performance Long Life High Traction (LLHT) feeder pan design that delivers longer life and offers far better apron feeder performance and control due to their very high traction.

The LLHT design reduces hysteresis and hunting in the mill feed control loop due to less slippage and offers life increases of >50%.

Fully optimised apron feeder pan designs allow us to guarantee a lower TCO and provide greater sustainability to our industry.

We understand apron feeder pan operational and wear-related issues better than most. Contact us to see how we can optimise your process plant front end to improve overall plant throughput, maximise asset utilisation and lower carbon footprint.