| Our goal at Shumaker Industries is to
manufacture all new replacement drums that will last a long time. The single most important factor in making a long lasting replacement drum is using
high quality steel. The steel that goes into every Shumaker drum is a quality, high strength, abrasion resistant
material. Read on to find out how we do it.
1) Develop an ongoing relationship with
a domestic supplier.
 Shumaker
Industries consistently purchases steel from domestic mills. During
a time when prices have soared to over twice their recent
value and fierce competition has forced other manufacturers to buy
foreign material, Shumaker Industries has remained loyal to domestic
mills because of their commitment to using the best steel in their
drums and other products. Shumaker Industries does not purchase
foreign market steel at a lower price because this material may have
different physical properties from order to order. Instead, we control the quality of our plate
material by purchasing from the same domestic mill in heat lots so that we receive quality
plates that are consistent drum after drum, year after year.
2) Develop a special
formula for plate steel that meets the demanding wear requirements of
the concrete industry.
Together with Shumaker Industries’ understanding of concrete mixers
and domestic mills' experience in producing high quality specialty
products, we have developed a formula that best serves the needs of the
ready mix concrete industry.
In fact, the formula is proprietary in nature, meaning Shumaker Industries has sole rights to its use and no other manufacturer in the industry is permitted to use it.
3) The result is a
formula for Abrasion Resistant (AR) plate that achieves the
following:
- Average Brinell hardness of 200.
- Thru-plate hardness.
**IMPORTANT**
Brinell hardness refers to the surface hardness of the
material. While this is significant, it is more important to achieve
thru-plate hardness which allows the drum shell and blades to resist wear
throughout the thickness of the plate, not just on the surface.
- True thickness (3/16” = .187”
and 1/4” = .250”).
Domestic plate and sheet metal is measured using the English system, while foreign
mills use the metric system (millimeters). The result is that foreign market
metals can often be several thousandths of an inch thinner than domestic
metals. This can mean a built in savings of around $800 over the life of the drum when domestic steel is used.
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