Underground Construction - October 2021 - 38

Advertorial
The new TracStar
900i at a mining site
in Morenci, Arizona
The original TracStar 500
makes its debut at the
Morenci mine in 1997.
TRACSTAR® iSERIES - A NEW LEVEL
OF PERFORMANCE & RELIABILITY
FOR THE FUSION INDUSTRY
The story of the TracStar® began, in the early 1990s, with
a wishful question. Chip McElroy was visiting the Morenci
mine job site watching the fusion process and was struck
by the ruggedness of the terrain and work environment. At
that time McElroy machines were self-contained but rolling
so they needed to be moved into position. A mining crew
member asked whether we had considered a self-propelled
machine. That question started the creative wheels turning!
After much research, the TracStar design was sketched on a
napkin during an Italian tradeshow visit, and the first TracStar
was unveiled in the fall of 1997.
The TracStar line has been a highly successful and integral
part of the McElroy offering. However, the McElroy DNA
has always been to improve its products and the user experience.
It's that perseverance that led McElroy to design the
TracStar iSeries. It offers a platform for a new family of fusion
machines that maintain TracStar's historically rugged,
self-contained tracked vehicle while adding industry-changing
technology for an improved user experience across the
entire product line.
" The iSeries is an evolution inspired by the feedback we
have received from those on the front lines of fusion and implements
the latest technology to create a superior user experience, "
said McElroy Vice President of Product Development
Geoff Koch. " We believe this will move the fusible pipe industry
forward in the water, mining, and natural gas distribution
sectors and all of the markets we serve that are seeking a longterm
and reliable infrastructure solution. "
Mechanical, hydraulic, electrical, and control systems on
the iSeries have all been improved and integrated to meet
job-site demands with intelligent communication capabilities
with the operator and within the machine.
The FusionGuide control system offers three levels of control
to guide operators through the fusion process. Whether
choosing manual control or completely automatic, the machine
automates those functions where the most common errors
are found and allows the operator to focus on the critical
functions. The DataLogger® 7 is integrated so fusion joints are
automatically recorded providing a complete record of every
fusion on the job.
The TracStar 630i, 900i and 1200i cover three size ranges
from 8 " IPS to 48 " OD (225mm-1200mm), and all are
equipped with a new, quieter Perkins engine to meet US Tier
4 and EU Stage V environmental regulations while providing
greater torque. The increased system pressure brings more
power to the ground drive, pipe lifts, and other functions that
use higher levels of pressure.
Numerous changes were made to the internal layout to improve
the ease of maintenance and the new cowling design
offers operators the ability to fuse a tee without removing the
carriage. Smart keypads and paddle levers are now used to
provide more precise control and feedback to the operator.
Overall, the improvements were made with both the operator
and maintenance personnel in mind.
After 24 years, McElroy returned to the Morenci Mine to
demonstrate the TracStar iSeries machines. It's both rewarding
and humbling to see how this idea, from the summer of
1993, evolved and has been adopted into what is now the
TracStar iSeries.
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MMI block, DataLogger and TracStar are registered trademarks of McElroy Manufacturing,
Inc. All Rights Reserved.
MCELROY-UC Advertorial-092421.indd 1
38 OCTOBER 2021 | UCONonline.com
9/24/21 1:10 PM
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Underground Construction - October 2021

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