Scissor Bolter Represents Paradigm Shift

Every once in a while, a manufacturer introduces a product that creates, not simply responds to, market demand. The MacLean Scissor Bolter is such an innovation. It was initially met with skepticism when first developed in the mid-1980s, but now, 30 years and 400 units later, it has gone on to become a mining industry mainstay. Not only has it improved operator protection and ergonomics, it has also been able to deliver productivity and quality control. The Scissor Bolter responded to the growing need for safety and productivity performance needed by underground mining engineers. Its inventor, Don MacLean, saw an impending paradigm shift in the mining industry, driven by regulatory and corporate policy changes, cost containment necessities, and the growing need to mine deeper, low-grade deposits. MacLean sensed that this combination would create market demand for a piece of machinery that did not yet exist. The underlying design philosophy that made the MacLean Scissor Bolter transformational in the hard rock mining industry was and remains quite simple. It allows for the installation of roof bolts through a less physically grueling and dangerous manner, without sacrificing proximity to the rock face.

The product finds its origins in MacLean’s founding vision for MacLean Engineering. He was a professional mining engineer whose experience in underground Canadian mines in the 1960s propelled his launch of a company that could design solutions to overcome the safety and productivity challenges of the hard rock environment. In this era of tandem vigilance on underground safety and production cost controls, the MacLean bolter’s back story tells us a lot about where hard rock mining has come from and, more importantly, where it is going. The innovation represented by the MacLean Bolter was not based on a single feature, but rather a series of design elements that work together to deliver accuracy, speed, versatility, and, most importantly, a safer application environment for operators. The current generation of Series-900 bolters – the 928 model with a 2.4m work platform and the 946 with a 2.1m work platform – achieve their safety and quality control functionality through the combination of a scissor platform with a forward shifting hydraulic deck that offers up 50% more coverage.

The bolter is a self-propelled, high-speed, four-wheel drive articulated carrier with an electric hydraulic control system with remote drive capability on deck. The bolter features a transverse feed that enables drilling and bolting of a complete ring from a single set up by a single operator, as well as single pass drilling that allows for rapid installation of a variety of bolts. The rock drilling and bolting systems function through hydraulic positioning, thus preventing exposure to loose rock hazards. It has a long hole drilling capability with a 900kg deck payload capacity and storage deck, which allows for storage and transportation of all required bolting supplies. By providing a mobile platform for single-operator bolt and wire mesh installation, always under protected ground, the MacLean Bolter is seen as a game-changer. It removes all physical strain and interactions with unsupported rock faces that occur with traditional ground support installation methods, such as handheld pneumatic rock drills.

The net result is a piece of equipment that meets the mining industry’s safety and production requirements, reducing risks to operators while increasing the speed of development cycles. To this day, it remains the only mechanized bolter on the market that incorporates a scissor lift. Now, with continuous product improvement based on decades of application experience in Canadian mines, the MacLean Scissor Bolter is being exported to underground mining regions around the globe.