January 29, 2013. Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant (ChTZ) shipped its first portion of their upgraded caterpillar belts to Surgutneftegaz; this shipment is part of a one-year contract for the delivery of spare parts for the road-building vehicles, Uralvagonzavod Corporation’s press service reports.

The O&G company will have received 50 caterpillar belts for B-10 tractors and diesel-electric bulldozers (all of them produced by ChTZ) by the end of January. This order is worth about 8m RUR and will be followed by more shipments in the coming months.

These upgraded caterpillar belts ordered by Surgutneftegaz are fitted with lubricated hinges. The introduction of the lubricant increases the lifespan of the hinges by more than four times as well as reduces operating noise and the vibration felt by the driver. At the same time, the lifespan of the caterpillar goes up by 30% to 40%, which is particularly important when tractors are used on highly abrasive surfaces.

It was this feature of the upgraded belts that appealed to the oil company. They are now getting ready for the spring season, so when the weather is no longer cold, the road-building vehicles for which the caterpillars are being bought will be used in the sand pits.

‘The sand extracted with the help of these bulldozers is used as building material for laying roads and building infrastructure facilities for the oil and natural gas deposits. Yet the soil-jetting technology that is applied results in the emergence of a water-sand emulsion which is not good for the extracting machines: their lifecycle is getting much shorter. This is why our customer chose the wear-resistant caterpillars,’ says Uralvagonzavod Corporation’s press service.