Customer case
New Hardox® 500 Tuf wear steel helps heavy-duty bucket manufacturer Winkelbauer get tough on wear
August 23, 2023 6 min read
![A wheel loader made in Hardox® steel in a quarry carrying a gigantic rock](/-/media/images/hardox/customer-cases/cc-winkelbauer/1920x570-7966rgb-topimage.jpg?m=20210625141018)
Case details
Winkelbauer GmbH in Austria is a leading supplier of heavy-duty buckets and other construction equipment for the European market. The company is an early adopter of SSAB’s new wear-resistant steel grade Hardox® 500 Tuf. Upgrading to this material allows Winkelbauer’s customers to load more and extend the service life of their equipment.
Hardox® 500 Tuf is an abrasion-resistant (AR) steel that makes the perfect fit for the high-performance buckets manufactured by Winkelbauer. Hardox® 500 Tuf is the first 500 Brinell (HB) wear plate with properties on a par with structural steel. It delivers high strength, extreme hardness and guaranteed toughness in a single wear plate. The material offers a 70-100% longer service life compared to conventional 400 HB AR steel, and it features improved dent protection.
“We’re now telling our customers, you have two favorable options: Use Hardox 500 Tuf to make the bucket lighter, while the service life remains as long as you’re used to from a Winkelbauer bucket. Or use Hardox 500 Tuf in the same dimensions as before to get a considerably longer service life and reduced costs thanks to longer service intervals,” says Winkelbauer’s CEO Michael Winkelbauer.
![A wheel loader made in Hardox® wear plate in a quarry dumping out rocks](/-/media/images/hardox/customer-cases/cc-winkelbauer/720x405-hardox-cc-winkelbauer-i01.jpg?m=20210628131541)
![Michael Winkelbauer from the family-owned company Winkelbauer GmbH touching a Hardox® wear plate.](/-/media/images/hardox/customer-cases/cc-winkelbauer/400x240-m-winkelbauer.jpg?m=20240626134558)
Michael Winkelbauer is the third generation to run the family-owned company Winkelbauer GmbH.