A SERIES OF developments over four years has facilitated delivering the Mk V version of
the 10 tonne cane wagon to the Herbert River District. The initiating event for this
development was the deteriorating condition of the bin fleet and the introduction of
green cane harvesting to the Herbert district. Green cane harvesting reduced the mass of cane in a cane bin and increased cane transport costs by requiring more cane bins to
transport the same cane mass to the sugar mill. As a result, replacing the deteriorating
bin fleet with a like design was an ineffective investment of funds. Initiatives to contain
cane transport costs in the Herbert district in recent history have included (a) the
development of a low cost 15’ wheel set, (b) ‘joining’ two four tonne cane bins and (c)
the development of the 10t wagon. These initiatives have provided an effective business solution for the replacement of an aging bin fleet that was no longer performing to design, because of a shift in the design parameter of cane bulk density. The 10 tonne cane wagon has now passed through five stages of development from the Mk I to the Mk V and has survived the rigours of four years of field testing. Design improvements have been made over this time to decrease manufacturing and maintenance costs and improve acceptability. Finite element analysis has been used in the design process to ensure satisfactory strength and optimise the use of material. Strain gauges have been used to gather data on in-service peak stress and dynamic stress cycles. The strain gauge data were used to verify the predictions of the finite element analysis and to carry out a fatigue life assessment of the wagon. Results of the fatigue life assessment predict that the 10 tonne wagon has been well designed to resist dynamic loading. From both theoretical and practical perspectives, this cane wagon has a robust design and has the lowest cost and tare mass per tonne of cane in the Australian sugar industry.