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To Haul and Back Marathon performance in Canadian coal mine Canada's largest surface coal mine extends more than 120 km2 in an area 70 km west of Edmonton in the Canadian province of Alberta. There are six Liebherr Type T 282 B haul trucks in operation, each powered by a 20-cylinder MTU Series 4000 engine producing 3,650 hp. It's a dirty job, but somebody's truck has to do it. At Canada's largest surface coal mine, a fleet of trucks is put to the test daily, each hauling 400-ton loads for Highvale mine. Equipped with meticu- lously maintained MTU Series 4000 engines, the vehicles have accumulated impressive hours in extreme conditions. And they keep coming back for more. Covering almost 30,000 acres (120 km2), the mine yields roughly 12 million tons of coal each year. That's an impres- sive haul. But before that happens, a small army of electric shovels, excava- tors, conveyors, trucks and explosives must all work together to move the over- burden and expose the coal. Power shovels load tons of overburden into huge haul trucks which travel, back 22 www.coalage.com and forth on rough, unstable terrain tire- lessly. At Highvale, the hauling fleet con- sists of 10 trucks, including six Liebherr T 282 B diesel electric trucks capable of carry- ing 400-ton loads. Besides hauling heavy loads, the trucks often operate in Canada's notoriously cold winters when tempera- tures can drop to 40˚ below. Extreme workloads and conditions are just part of the daily routine at Highvale. Equipped with MTU Series 4000 diesel engines, Highvale's trucks are up to the challenge. The engines, used in several different mine trucks in 12-, 16- or 20-cylinder configurations, have logged approximately 3 million hours in mining operations. Today, more than 300 Series 4000 engines are installed in Liebherr trucks, working at about a dozen mine sites around the world, according to Adam Matlock, senior service engineer for MTU engines at Tognum America. Working Overtime The engines in Highvale's Liebherr trucks are 20-cylinder Series 4000 mod- els that provide 3,650 hp for hauling heavy overburden loads. In late 2011, one of these engines was replaced after a notable four-year run during which it logged over 23,000 service hours, exceed- ing the engine's maximum expected life by more than 3,000 hours. This overachieving engine is planning a comeback. Recently, it was sent to Wajax Power Systems in Edmonton, the local MTU servicing distributor, where it November 2012