Evidence-first editorial standard
This guide separates observed facts, engineering assumptions and data that still require confirmation. It does not promise a universal service life or replace the exact product data and project specification.
The skirtboard is where the chute ends and the belt takes over
Material leaving a transfer chute lands on the belt, spreads and accelerates to belt speed; until it settles, it slides against the skirtboards on each side. Without protection, the skirt steel wears through, and the material reaches the rubber seal strip, which then wears fast and lets fines spill. A wear liner inside the skirt carries that sliding load. The chute above it is covered in chute liner selection and sizing.
The liner must stop short of the belt, with a gap that opens downstream
A wear liner mounted too low touches the belt or traps lumps between itself and the belt, which cuts the cover; one mounted too high lets material reach the seal. The usual practice is a small gap above the belt that widens in the direction of travel, so that a trapped lump is released rather than dragged. The belt sag between idlers must be controlled under the loading zone, or the gap varies and the liner either touches or leaks.
Choose the liner from the material and the impact at the landing point
Where the material lands with little impact and mainly slides, alumina tiles in IC TILE on a steel backing last long. Where lumps strike the skirts, as at a crusher discharge, toughened ceramic in IC IMPACT or rubber-ceramic panels in IC FLEX cope better; the comparison of families is in rubber, polyurethane or ceramic. The loading geometry above, described in crusher discharge chute liners, decides how hard the skirts are hit.
Fix the liners so they can be changed from outside
Skirt liners wear and are replaced more often than the structure; bolting them through the skirt plate, or mounting them on carriers that slide out, makes replacement possible without entering the chute or removing the belt. Weld-on fixing is cheaper to install but harder to replace. Whatever the fixing, the face that touches the material must stay flush, with no bolt heads or steps facing the flow.
Length and height follow the settling zone, not a standard
The liner should extend until the material is travelling at belt speed and settled, which depends on drop height, belt speed and how well the chute centres the load. Off-centre loading wears one side much faster, as described in one-sided chute wear; correcting the loading often doubles the value of the liner. Measure where the wear stops on the current skirts before setting the new length.
What to send for a skirt liner quote
Send the belt width, speed and troughing angle, the skirt length and height, the material with lump size and moisture, the drop height into the loading zone, photos of the worn skirts and seal, and how the skirts can be accessed. Induscoat then proposes the liner material, length and fixing; the approach for the transfer as a whole is on our page on impact and transfer point linings, and feed boxes on screens are covered in vibrating screen feed box liners.