960-60-03 Carbide Blades Under Body 2002 Rev2025January.docx

Specification No. 960-60-03

Specification No. 960-60-03 Specifications and Questionnaire for Carbide Insert Type Blades for Graders & Under-Body-Snowplows

State of Illinois Department of Transportation Bureau of Operations

Specifications and Questionnaire for Dual Carbide Insert Type Blades for Graders & Under-Body-Snowplows

January 2025

This specification and questionnaire covers requirements for dual-insert tungsten carbide blades for mounting on motor graders or under-body plows or scrapers. These blades will be used by the Department of Transportation Division of Highways Operations during winter snow removal operations and in the maintenance of earth and rock shoulders. The snowplow blade sections shall be high-quality steel blades fitted with two (2) tungsten carbide inserts on the facing of the blade, complying with the following detailed specifications.

Bidders quoting on the specified products must submit with their bid proof of the following:

· The carbide insert blades proposed are equal to, or exceeds that specified in all respects including size, operating features, and expected life-cycle.

· The manufacturer of the equipment proposed has been actively involved in the manufacture of the carbide style blades called for in the Proposal for a period of not less than 4 years.

· Service for the products proposed is readily available to the State of Illinois.

It is the responsibility of each bidder to complete and return this questionnaire with the bid.

Unless otherwise specified, the proposed equipment shall be complete in all parts and ready for immediate use upon delivery.

Bidders are advised to carefully read these specifications as changes have been made since the last solicitation issue.

Proposed With This Bid:

Serviceability will be a factor in award. Successful bidder shall either be able to provide service after purchase or shall indicate other qualified service facilities able to service equipment, within a reasonable period of time at agency locations. Bidder shall provide documentation and enumerating service locations. A Review of the bidder's ability to provide prompt parts and service to the State of Illinois and in particular to the delivery location, will be considered in determining award.

Bids will only be accepted from established manufacturers or their authorized dealers. Any dealer submitting a bid hereby guarantees that it is an authorized dealer of the manufacturer and that the manufacturer has agreed to supply the dealer with all quantities of products required by the dealer in fulfillment of its obligations under any resultant contract with the State. Bidder must submit authorized dealer letter upon request.

Warranty:

Unless otherwise specified, Manufacturers’ standard warranty shall be provided. Bidder shall attach copies of warranty with their bid. Warranty shall commence at the Illinois Department of Transportation in-service date. If any equipment fails to conform to the warranties during the applicable warranty period, the Vendor or Manufacturer will adjust, repair or replace the equipment at no charge to the Department as soon as possible upon notice from the Department. Equipment shall be repaired on-site and will be performed at no additional cost to the Department.

The Vendor may provide or perform warranty service at a dealer location within the Districts geographic region if on-site repair is not possible. Vendor shall facilitate pickup and delivery of equipment at Vendor's cost if warranty repair(s) are made off-site during the warranty period. The contract Vendor is responsible for any failure of their allied or sub-contractors’ fulfillment of said warranties. Failure to provide this service shall result in a “Complaint to Vendor” that could affect future bid awards.

Delivery:

It will be the responsibility of the successful vendor to guarantee delivery within the quoted time and to require allied manufacturers or suppliers to complete the installation of auxiliary equipment in accordance with the quoted delivery time.

Failure to comply with the quoted delivery time because of delays resulting from the inability of suppliers of allied equipment such as bodies, snowplows, spreaders, etc., may be reason to refuse to consider similar items from those suppliers on future bids.

All equipment provided by the Vendor and the sub-contractor(s) shall be fully operational when delivery is made. Any noted defects at the time of delivery shall be addressed by Vendor in the first 30 days of in-service.

Bidder/Vendor acknowledges the requirements above. Yes |_| No |_|

Note: If the equipment proposed exceeds the minimums called for in the specification, please do not mark NO. Mark Yes and explain with a short comment on how it exceeds.

Blade Section:

The blade sections shall conform to the dimensions as shown on the attached drawing for the length as called for in the solicitation.

The hole punching of the cutting edges shall be 6” on center as shown in the attached drawing. The holes shall punched to an 11/16” square (.687” 17mm) and countersunk to receive 5/8” diameter (.625” 16mm) grade 8 blade bolts. The center of the holes shall be within 1/16” of the established centerline of the blade.

Each blade section shall be manufactured from flat, hot rolled, finished steel meeting or exceeding specifications for A36 or SAE 1020 rated steel, with a finished thickness of 7/8”.

The groove for the tungsten carbide inserts shall be milled to accommodate a .38 and a .32 thick carbide segments placed one in front of the other and securely bonded to each other. The thickness from the rear of the insert to the back of the blade shall be a minimum of 0.250”.

Complies: |_| Yes |_| No The tungsten carbide inserts shall be secured using a silver solder type braze or equal with sufficient strength to securely hold the dowel type inserts while being impacted during snow removal operations.

The completed blade sections with inserts installed shall be free of warpage and longitudinal deviation. Blade sections exceeding .125” in a 4-foot section will be rejected.

Complies: |_| Yes |_| No Tungsten Carbide Inserts:

Only virgin materials shall be used to create the inserts used in these blades.

Complies: |_| Yes |_| No Reclaimed or scrap carbide will not be used in any portion of the manufacturing process.

Complies: |_| Yes |_| No These blades shall be formed with dual carbide inserts, one in front of the other, bonded to each other and to the softer steel blade they are mounted in.

Complies: |_| Yes |_| No

The front (face) carbide insert shall be composed of high shock, WC Grade tungsten carbide. The insert shall equal grade SP341 formulated using Macrocrystalline type WC using the menstrum manufacturing process, yielding a stochiometric composition of the facing segments.

The physical properties of the front (face) inserts shall include:

· 13.25 to 13.65 grams/cubic centimeter.

· 83.5 to 85.0 Rockwell “A” scale hard.

· 330,000 psi min. Transverse rupture.

The front (face) inserts shall be rectangular in shape with the following dimensions:

Note; This is not a carbide granule overlay type blade.

The center (rear) carbide insert shall be composed of high shock, WC Grade tungsten carbide. The insert shall be formulated using 11% to 12.5% cobalt.

The physical properties of the center inserts shall include:

· 14.1 to 14.6 grams/cubic centimeter.

· 87.5 to 89.0 Rockwell “A” scale hard.

· 350,000 psi min. Transverse rupture.

The center (rear) inserts shall be right trapezoidal in shape with the following dimensions:

Note: The bidder shall furnish samples of both front and center carbide inserts if requested by the Department of Transportation.

Finish and Markings:

Each blade section, except for the cutting edge, shall have a minimum of one coat of a rust resistant paint or coating. The cutting-edge portion of the blade section shall be unpainted to facilitate inspection of the cutting edge.

Complies: |_| Yes |_| No All blade sections shall be plainly marked to indicate the front edge of the blade to avoid improper mounting.

Each and every blade section shall be stamped with the manufacturers name, or recognizable monogram. The stamping shall be located on the front and in an area not subject to wear from use.

Complies: |_| Yes |_| No Note: Failure to comply with this portion of the specification will result in immediate rejection of product at any delivery location.

Bidders shall submit copies of each of the following with the bid response.

· Bid Document

· Specification Questionnaire

· Detailed and Dimensioned Shop Drawings

· Descriptive Literature and Specifications Clearly Marked to Indicate the Composition of the Blade Sections image1.png image2.png image3.jpeg