Steel containers in Hardox® 500 Tuf are in business for the long haul

The Hardox^® 500 Tuf wear plate used in the steel hooklift containers built by Finnish manufacturer Ferreus Oy is a recent addition to the Hardox^® product range. This high-strength Hardox^® grade works hard and is hard to beat in their hooklift containers. 

Although Hardox^® 500 Tuf is a fairly new product, it has already proven its worth in applications ranging from earthmoving equipment and mining trucks and trailers, farm machinery and steel containers, to buckets and other attachments exposed to heavy abrasion and wear.

According to Ferreus’ owner and CEO, Mika Rauta, Hardox^® 500 Tuf has no real rivals on the market so far. “Hardox^® 500 Tuf will be hard to beat. Its properties are in a class of their own,” Rauta says.

Hardox^® 500 Tuf combines the best properties of Hardox^® 450 and Hardox^® 500. Thanks to its high wear resistance, manufacturers can extend the service life of their buckets, containers, steel tipper bodies and various other attachments and reduce the need for additional wear parts. For example, buckets made in Hardox^® 500 Tuf can get a nearly 50% longer service life compared with those made in Hardox^® 450. 

“The difference compared with products made from conventional steel is even greater,” Rauta notes.

Hooklift containers that are lighter, more aerodynamic and help cut fuel consumption

With properties on par with structural steel, Hardox^® 500 Tuf not only delivers high wear resistance, but is tough enough to perform as a structural wear plate in steel containers, truck and tipper bodies, and other heavy equipment. It therefore opens up new opportunities for decreasing and removing heavier supporting structures. 

A hooklift container without structural support members is lighter in weight and consists of fewer parts. This helps manufacturers like Ferreus significantly cut production costs. A lower tare weight increases payload and decreases fuel consumption per ton transported. And when less fuel is consumed, carbon dioxide emissions can also be reduced. The end product is both sustainable and economical.

In Rauta’s view, hooklift containers with smooth sides have considerably better aerodynamic properties. The contribution of aerodynamics to fuel consumption at road speed is more than 30% in a full trailer combination even with a full load, according to 2019 research from the VTT Technical Research Center of Finland.

Ferreus notes that with a hooklift container that has smooth sides, you can build different types of automated roof solutions – something much more difficult for containers that require reinforcement with uprights to add strength to the sides. 

Thus, Hardox^® steel also brings new benefits that might not always be noticed in pound-for-pound comparisons.

How much can the payload increase? According to Rauta, it depends on the product and its application. 

“The difference is significant if you compare Hardox^® 500 Tuf with, for example, conventional steel,” Rauta says. “By using Hardox^® 500 Tuf, you can increase your payload by more than 2,000 kilos (4,400 lbs.) in a combi-vehicle.”

Hardox^® 500 Tuf is a clean steel with extremely uniform, guaranteed properties for flatness, thickness and bending performance. It helps fabricators be consistently productive in the workshop. 

The steel can be welded using all standard techniques. Just as for other hard steels, Hardox^® 500 Tuf requires a high degree of precision in production so that all its properties can be utilized to the best advantage.

According to Rauta, SSAB’s materials have always been of uniform quality and followed strict quality assurance practices. Rauta has not faced any particular challenges in fabricating the wear plate. “This is also one of the reasons why we have used SSAB's products for a long time,” he says. 

Rauta also sees a sustainability advantage by using Hardox^® 500 Tuf. ”Less steel is needed to produce wear plates that are lighter in weight, and as a result emissions will also be reduced,” he says. “As the payload increases in transportation, both carbon dioxide emissions and fuel consumption will be reduced.”

Ferreus’ steel hooklift containers made in Hardox^® 500 Tuf are certified under the Hardox^® In My Body membership program. This means that Ferreus has manufactured its steel containers according to high quality standards and has earned the right to use the Hardox^® In My Body decal on its products. Rauta is proud that Ferreus has been part of the Hardox^® In My Body program for years. 

Why?

“The logo on a product guarantees that the product has been made with Hardox^® wear plate instead of a low-quality imitation,” he says, adding, “It’s not just a logo. It is a sign of trust and expertise.”