SSAB’s Hardox 500 Tuf perfect fit for excavators, loaders

Sometimes, there is a breakthrough strong enough to shake up an industry. This is the case with Hardox 500 Tuf wear-resistant steel from the Swedish steel manufacturer SSAB.

Traditionally, bucket design has required different steel grades for different parts of the bucket. Some parts needed to be harder, others tougher. Hardox 500 Tuf turns that idea on its head. It is able to fulfill both the hardness and the toughness requirements in one steel.

With a Brinell hardness of 500 HBW, Hardox 500 Tuf gives a bucket high wear resistance and durability with none, or far less, additional wear protection. This gives opportunities to reduce weight and increase the bucket's loading capacity. The strength and toughness of Hardox 500 Tuf allow it to perform as structural steel, not only in buckets but also in heavy-duty tipper and truck bodies and other steel structures that are exposed to both abrasion and impact.

The benefits of Hardox 500 Tuf wear plate have been utilized in OEM products all over Europe. Sjørring in Denmark and Fronteq in Sweden are two companies that recently launched new bucket lines making the most of the properties of Hardox 500 Tuf.

Sjørring Maskinfabrik A/S in Denmark has launched HYPER – a new series of streamlined buckets in Hardox 500 Tuf for general earthmoving work. By upgrading to Hardox 500 Tuf, Sjørring has been able to reduce the weight of the HYPER bucket by 13%. This allows the bucket to take around 200 kg more load, depending on the bucket size. Weight and fuel consumption are major topics within this industry. The reduced weight has a big impact for end users.

Excavator buckets from the Swedish OEM Fronteq (formerly Götene Ufo) break new ground for contractors looking for maximum capacity, volume, and durability in the harshest of environments. Fronteq was able to reduce the plate thickness by 1 mm by upgrading from Hardox 450 to Hardox 500 Tuf. The extra hardness of 50 HBW for Hardox 500 Tuf provides a wear margin that ensures long life. A thinner plate makes the bucket lighter – in the case of Fronteq's new Granit bucket, 8% lighter for higher load capacity. The thinner plate also provides better welding economy.

One unique characteristic of Hardox 500 Tuf is that it is so easy to bend even though it's so hard.  Extra hardness does not have to be difficult to weld or cut.

Hardox In My Body is SSAB’s brand program for qualified OEMs who want to level up their equipment. They make certified products with Hardox wear plate according to strict specifications on design and manufacturing. Both Sjørring and Fronteq are members of the Hardox In My Body program, which numbers more than 500 qualified members in 60 countries.

Learn more about Hardox 500 Tuf at the SSAB Canada website.