Steep grades, very thick and very thin seams, unstable roofs and massive sandstone plates, soft ground and geological faults. These varying conditions require a high level of adaptation to specific requirements.Cat^® roof supports are world-renowned for their reliability under the most extreme conditions. With superior availability and unparalleled quality in design and production, our roof supports set the standard in longwall mining.

Key Features

• Adapted to geological conditions and customer requirements for seams from 0.8 m / 1.8 ft to 7.50 m / 24.6 ft.
• Various widths available — from 1.50 - 2.05 m / 59 - 81 in.
• Bearing force for support of up to 1 750 tonnes / 1,929 tons.
• Roof supports for special applications. Our Longwall Top Coal Caving (LTCC) roof supports allow mining of seams up to 10 m / 32.8 ft. Following a conventional cut with a shearer to about 3 m / 9.8 ft, the roof supports move forward and allow the caving coal to fall via controllable caving shields onto a second conveyor mounted gob-side.

Adapted to your requirements

Hard-coal mining conditions vary considerably. And as conditions vary, roof supports must adapt to prevailing conditions to ensure maximum performance and return on investment. We work closely with customers from the first inquiry to prototype inspection and commissioning — constantly striving to further improve our products and ensure optimum adaptation to conditions.

Tested for reliability

Before our products are delivered to customers, they are subjected to comprehensive testing in our in-house Test Center. Roof supports, for example, are subjected to vertical forces of up to 20,000 kN (passive) and horizontal forces of up to 6,000 kN. In long-term load testing, they must pass tests involving up to 90,000 advance steps with up to 20 percent overload. These long-term tests provide impressive proof of high availability and allow us to deliver the desired long service life under even the most difficult conditions.

Highly developed control and automation systems

Caterpillar manufactures the complete range of roof support controls from manual hydraulic controls to the advanced PMC^®-R roof support control system for state-of-the-art longwall automation, monitoring and remote diagnosis. Our optimally harmonized electro-hydraulic control systems achieve minimum cycle times for roof supports and ensure perfect support for the mining machine.

• Roof Support System Product Brochure

NOTE: Models subject to regional availability. Please check with your local dealer for more information.