A hydraulic billet tong built to outlast its predecessor
15-tonne hydraulic billet tong for a leading European specialist-steel mill — direct replacement for a Somers tong that ran reliably for 20+ years, Factory-Acceptance-Tested at Wednesbury under customer witness.
Client: Specialist steel producer, Sweden
Challenge
The customer operates one of Europe's leading mills for specialist and high-performance steels, where hot billets are lifted, transferred and processed at temperatures that push conventional lifting equipment to its limits. The project replaced an earlier billet tong originally supplied by Somers Handling more than two decades ago — a unit that had served the mill reliably for its entire working life, and set a high benchmark for the equipment that would succeed it. The replacement had to lift billets up to 15 tonnes, operate reliably at billet surface temperatures up to 950 °C, slot into the existing crane and production cell layout without modification, provide predictable, controllable clamping, and match or exceed the service life of the tong it was replacing — all with minimal downtime during the swap-over.
Engineering response
The tong was developed at our Wednesbury works, drawing on decades of Somers Handling experience with tongs, grabs and other hot-metal lifting equipment. Key engineering decisions centred on a heavy-duty hydraulic actuation system for smooth, repeatable clamping, heat-resistant materials at the jaws, and a rugged structural arrangement sized with generous margins for the cyclic high-temperature duty the tong would see in service. Serviceability was a design driver from day one, with key wear components positioned for straightforward inspection and replacement during routine maintenance windows.
Outcome
Before shipment, the completed tong was put through a full Factory Acceptance Test at our Wednesbury facility, attended by the customer's representatives. Operational checks, proof-load testing and functional sign-off were all carried out under customer witness — giving the mill complete confidence in the tong's performance before it ever left our shop floor, and providing a documented baseline against which future in-service behaviour can be measured. The new tong is now in service in Sweden, having taken up the duty previously carried out by its Somers-built predecessor. That the outgoing unit gave more than 20 years of reliable service is a compelling statement about the robustness of the original design — and about the long-term value of a relationship Somers Handling is proud to extend into its next chapter.
Lifting hot steel billets subjects equipment to a combination of mechanical and thermal stress that few pieces of machinery ever face. The brief for the new tong was demanding, but the real benchmark was set by the tong it was replacing — a Somers unit that had served this customer reliably for more than two decades and had only come out of service because it had finished its working life, not because it had failed.
The design drivers
- 15-tonne SWL tailored specifically to the customer’s billet range.
- Continuous operation at billet surface temperatures up to 950 °C.
- Hydraulic jaw actuation for smooth, repeatable clamping of hot billets.
- Heat-resistant jaw and contact surfaces selected for long wear life.
- Wear parts arranged for quick, safe replacement during routine maintenance windows.
- Drop-in replacement — no modification to the existing crane or production-cell layout.
Downtime was the dominant commercial constraint. In a high-throughput specialist-steel mill, an unexpected failure of a single piece of lifting equipment can idle an entire production line — so the tong had to be not just capable, but predictable.
Factory Acceptance Test
Before shipment, the completed tong was put through a full Factory Acceptance Test at our Wednesbury facility, attended by the customer’s representatives. Operational checks, proof-load testing and functional sign-off were carried out under direct customer witness, giving the mill complete confidence in the tong’s performance before it ever left our shop floor — and providing a documented baseline against which future in-service behaviour can be measured.
In service
The new hydraulic billet tong is now in service in Sweden, taking up the duty previously carried out by its Somers-built predecessor. The outgoing unit’s 20+ years of reliable service speaks to the robustness of the original engineering — and to the long-term value of a relationship Somers Handling is pleased to extend into its next chapter.
Similar challenge on your site?
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