The Challenge:
Andy Spinks, Foreman to Todd Hoffman from Hoffman Family Gold, uses TrackGrip attachments on his machines to provide additional traction and support to his excavator operators. They work in intense and often dangerous terrains in the rugged Alaskan climates and across harsh landscapes through thick ice, snow, mud.
Previously they have used ice lugs which result in a long machine down-time to install and are difficult to remove. His team often work on difficult slopes and angles, so operator safety and traction on tough terrain are a major challenge for them.
Andy Spinks on the Solution:
”When I first heard about the TrackGrips I had my doubts…I wondered if these track attachments were going to hold up to the twisting and turning needed on-site. But they work beautifully – we’ve tightened them up, and we only need to re-torque them after about four or five days of running them.
They have never come off and they haven’t broken – and that’s through thick ice and soft mud.
“When we started working on-site in these remote locations in Alaska, we were planning on putting ice lugs on everything. To install ice lugs, it takes about two days per machine. With the TrackGrip IceGrip attachments, it took four guys and we did three machines in an hour and a half! There’s nothing out there that I’ve ever seen like it. We previously had to ice lug everything and the problem is, it tears the roads up. If you have to haul anything it can damage your loader and you can’t put them on a trailer because it tears the trailers up too. Literally two guys can install TrackGrip attachments to a machine in 30 minutes – it’s a game-changer.
“Safety-wise you can’t beat it. We work on slippery and angled slopes every day. The really cool thing about the TrackGrips is the side cleat that digs straight into the icy hill – so you don’t slide sideways. It’s a great design if you’re in the mud, snow or ice, you just can’t get better traction.
“I can put an employee up on a side hill or something that’s slick and know that the TrackGrips will help the tracks stick to the slope. Areas that used to be too dangerous to access for inexperienced operators, can now be worked on by more members of my team.
“Lastly, you can’t beat the simplicity and the cost – I would have thought they would cost more money because of the safety and traction they provide on excavators and skid steers. They’re worth it,” says Andy Spinks, Foreman, Hoffman Family Gold
The Outcome:
TrackGrip provides Andy, Todd and the team at Hoffman Family Gold with the traction needed to work in the remote but gold-rich mines of Alaska. The fast installation and removal process along with the side-ways protection on angled slopes and hills offer an unmatched level of safety and stability for machine operators.
