ESCO’s new design of shearer drums allows mines to operate without cowls. This design of drum is used throughout the UK coal mines and increasingly in Australia and other countries.

There are many mines that can benefit from moving to cowlless shearer drums and achieve better cutting performances and quicker cycle times.

Experience has shown that the new range of longwall installations on modern faces have the power to push over further and clean up better without the use of cowls because working without cowls allows you to increase the diameter of the shearer drums, enabling the lead drum to cut more and the trailing drum to clean up better.

Removing the cowl also enables the shearer drum to be closer to the conveyor to assist loading.

Product size is greater with less fines and there is no build up of localised gas pockets between the shearer drum and cowl.

In addition the cowlless shearer drum is cheaper because the mine doesn’t have to buy and maintain a cowl.