Thinking Bigger

There is an old rule of thumb for designing facilities: Determine what you need, double it and then add 10 percent. That, the experts say, will put you close to where you need to be in five years. It works for buildings. It works for balers.

One recycler who wishes he’d heard that maxim a year ago is Bob Clark, general manager of Clark’s Scrap Metals, Hallowell, Maine.

“I bought for the size that we were then,” Clark says. “I wish I’d gone two or three steps above that to give us room for the growth we’ve had.” Clark’s Scrap Metals purchased a horizontal, single-ram model from American Baler, Bellevue, Ohio. While Clark says he loves the unit, if he were buying today, he would opt for an auto-tie system with a pit conveyor system.

He looks at his operation and sees yards of concrete that will have to be cut and removed to build a pit conveyor system for the twin-ram baler Clark’s Scrap Metals could use today.

“When we bought this unit a year ago, it was a huge upgrade from the little down-stroke baler we were using,” Clark says. “I did a lot of research and set all the companies’ numbers side by side.”

However, he did not anticipate the growth in his company’s volume.

Therein lies a secret to purchasing a baler.

“Buy a baler with more capacity than you need,” advises Howard Glick, president of Tri-State Iron & Metal Co., Texarkana, Texas. He admits that he had difficulty cost justifying a big baler at the time he purchased the two-ram, auto-tie machine from Harris, Tyrone, Ga.

However, “We quickly filled in our capacity and grew into it,” Glick says.

“It all depends on how big your operation is,” says Bruce Blue, president and CEO of Freedom Metals Inc., Louisville, Ky. He notes that recyclers can spend up ward of $400,000 for a baler today.

Blue started out in the recycling business with a used, 50-year-old vertical baler. Later, he migrated to a single-ram and then to a two-ram baler with an automatic wire tyer.

The baler currently in operation at Freedom Metals can handle material up to 20 feet in length, he says. However, Blue has not gotten rid of the other two units; Freedom Metals still uses them regularly when the yard gets busy.

“Of course, price matters,” Blue says of baling equipment. “But if you are baling in production mode—four to six hours, day in and day out—you need to assure you get a quality baler.”
 

BUYING ADVICE
Glick says recyclers first should be sure they have the electrical power required for their new balers. Units offer from 100 to 300 horsepower and operate on 240 and 480 volts. Before buying, he advises ensuring access to 480-volt service or telling the manufacturer about the operation’s limitations.
 

“Price is important, but you need to know that your manufacturer will be there with parts and service in the future. Longevity of product and technical help are important.”

– Howard Glick, Tri-State Iron &
Metal Co., Texarkana, Texas


Glick also suggests looking for a unit with a bale separation door. “We did not get one, and it’s something I would get if I were buying again,” he says.

A bale separation door is designed to allow an operator to switch materials—say from No. 2 copper to aluminum cans—without fear of contamination. Without the door, the first bale made after a material change may have cross-contamination, and yard personnel will have to remove the foreign material from the bale by hand, he says.

“If you only do aluminum cans, a door is not a big deal. But most nonferrous operations do a little of everything. In the long run, it’s a nice feature to have,” Glick says of the separation door.

All sources contacted for this article agree that it is best to buy from a known, reputable firm. But even that might not be enough, according to one source.

“Write a tough contract,” Blue advises. Freedom Metals bought a new, top-end baler from an established company. However, “The welds were not right,” Blue says of the unit, which created the need for relining earlier than expected. He says a good baler should not have to be relined for four to six years.


“I bought for the size we were then. I wish I’d gone two or three steps above that to give us room for the growth we’ve had.”

– Bob Clark, Clark’s Scrap Metals, Hallowell, Maine

“Price is important, but you need to know that your manufacturer will be there with parts and service in the future,” Glick says. “Longevity of product and technical help are important.”

Freedom Metals has a 30-foot in-ground conveyor that it uses to feed one of its balers. “Today, I’d make it even longer,” Blue says. Roll-off containers dump directly into the pit conveyor.

Glick also recommends a long in-feed conveyor. “You can’t have too much deck conveyor,” Glick says. His yard has a 20-foot deck, and he says that is a minimum requirement. If he were building today, he says he’d go to 30 feet. “It gives more sorting area,” Glick says. “The more belt you have on the ground, the better.”

Freedom Metals also has a crane with a grapple and skid steers to load its baling equipment. Loading methods vary depending on the situation. That is because Freedom Metals buy a lot of big, bulky material, Blue says. For nonferrous materials longer than 20 feet, the company will pre-cut these items using alligator shears, a torch or a plasma torch.

Freedom Metals sizes in-feed material to 20-foot lengths to assure that material does not get stuck at the top of the baler’s in-feed. The maximum width for in-feed material is 5 feet, Blue notes.

A shear knife on the baler itself also can be a valuable feature, helping to further size material.
 

SIZING BALES
Bale size varies based on baler style and in-feed material. Clark says his bales of insulated copper wires weigh from 3,700 to 4,000 pounds, while bales of aluminum extrusions weigh in at 900 to 1,000 pounds. Bales of aluminum radiators typically weight 1,400 to 1,500 pounds, while bales of copper radiators can run from 2,800 to 3,300 pounds. Bales of siding can weigh 1,700 to 2,000 pounds.

Blue says he typically likes to see nonferrous bales go out weighing between 3,000 and 3,500 pounds. He adds that Freedom Metals’ most common bale dimensions are 2 feet by 4 feet by 5 feet. “We can load that on anything,” Blue says.

Clark says the secret to getting a good nonferrous metals bale is to bale slowly. “If I make a bale with a lot of material at once, it will not compact as nicely. It is better to let the baler cycle, and the material will be denser. Put in 200 pounds at a time…not 800 pounds,” he advises.

Clark loads his baler using a material handler. “It might seem strange to load a $140,000 baler with a $350,000 material handler,” he admits, “especially when you can get a Bobcat for $40,000 and add a $5,000 [attachment].” However, he notes that the material handler can access six bins with different categories of materials without much movement.

“I can sit in one spot, pull from six or seven categories and turn-and-feed, turn-and-feed,” he explains.

When the company is not baling nonferrous metals, the material handler can unload trucks or do other tasks around the yard, meaning it stays busy.
 

BEWARE OF WEAR
Blue warns against trying to bale stainless steel in an automatic baler. “You will wear out your liner plates,” he says. “It is just too hard…you can do it; but, you will wear out the machine early.”

When it comes to the baler’s wear parts, Clark says he expects them to give four or five years of use, at 40-hours per week, before the company will need to replace them.

Glick measures wear in pounds baled. He says he has had one major rebuild on a 20-year-old unit and two relinings.

“You definitely want a machine with replaceable liner plates,” he advises. A machine that has a history of good preventive maintenance on the hydraulics will be like-new when its liner plates are replaced, he adds.
 

FINAL WORDS
When shopping for a new baler, Blue suggests, “Go to several locations. Look at what they have. Ask what they like and don’t like. Make sure they certify that their welds are OK.”

Clark says he wishes he had gotten the auto-tie feature on his company’s new baler. He also suggests thinking ahead to what your operation might look like a few years in the future. “I’d definitely recommend you don’t buy for the size of the yard you are now. Anticipate where you will be down the road.”

Glick says to pay attention to the baler’s wire-tie system. “Expect more downtime with the wire-tie system than [with] any other part of the baler,” he warns. The tying mechanism is susceptible to dirt, which can cause malfunctions. “It’s another place to be sure you have good manufacturer support,” he says.