A Tale of Two Baler Types

Equipment choices have a major impact on a recycling company’s operations and, ultimately, the company’s profitability. For companies shopping for balers, the choices are many and making the right decision can be challenging.

While make and model decisions are part of the process, choosing between design features is often the place to start. Of the two companies profiled below, one is satisfied with the single-ram balers they have purchased, while the other has witnessed improved productivity with a two-ram design.

Waste Not, Want More

The problem with Ohio Waste Material Inc. (OWM), Cleveland, was that the scrap paper kept coming in. Their sales team had done their job, landing new accounts and securing high-grade paper streams throughout northern Ohio. Now it was time to upgrade the baling capabilities.

The company had an old single-ram extrusion baler and an outdated two-ram model. The balers simply could not keep pace with the increased material flow. In 1995, OWM installed its first of two new single-ram, high-capacity extrusion balers. The second baler was added in 1996.

"These new balers are ideal for us because we can now push through 20 to 28 tons an hour with both humming along at a pretty good pace," says Ron Fletcher, general manager of OWM. Fletcher says that the balers can reach more than 40 tons per hour if needed.

Fletcher loves the new balers for several reasons. First, they are low maintenance balers, he says. Second, the balers allow him to change over paper grades fairly easily. OWM currently processes 12 grades of paper. And third, the balers allow his operation to readily customize bale sizes for optimum loading of trailers and railcars.

"We are on a rail siding, plus we have truck trailers pulling right up to our loading dock," says Fletcher. "Loading is done very fast – we are moving the trailers in and out of here, so we need quick flexibility to adjust bale sizes to make everything fit."

Because of the balers’ extrusion chambers, when one grade is finished, that bale can be tied off and a new one started with a different grade. "There is virtually no waiting," says Fletcher.

Low maintenance is also a key to the operation. "I would say that probably the maintenance on the auto tie system causes the most concern," he says, "So we pay extra attention to that area in addition to our normal maintenance procedures."

Fletcher admits that if the proper maintenance is performed "these balers can go on forever." He also says that he expects the balers to pay for themselves in as little as three to four years from the time when they were installed.

As with most baling operations, the cost of wire is a big concern because this area represents the biggest annual cost. "Wire has gone up about two to three cents a pound during the last year or so, which is not too bad," he says. "If wire starts to increase dramatically, then that would hurt most people in the recycling industry. I remember when the paper market was going gangbusters in 1995, and operational costs were not as big of a concern – anyone could make money. Now the markets are steady. I wouldn’t say lackluster, but it helps to be in the high-grade end of the commodity – it gives you an edge."

OWM has a manual picking line prior to material heading up a conveyor to a fluffer then into the baler. However, the picking line is not that extensive.

"We are bringing in paper that’s already well sorted at the site," says Paul Osad, vice president of OWM. "We do a lot of education up front, so the offices and businesses we collect from know to keep the recycled paper free of contaminants."

Osad also believes that his company is now the largest processor of high-grade paper in Ohio, processing more than 3,000 tons of paper a month – 2,000 tons that is high-grade paper and 1,000 tons of cardboard. "We now have some of the most significant accounts in northeastern Ohio," he says, naming off several major Cleveland area companies and institutions that he prefers not to see in print for competitive reasons. "So, it’s important that our balers are up to speed. They really allow us to keep our accounts because we can guarantee our customers payments due to our more efficient baling process."

Last year, Allied Metal Corp., Miami, Fla., installed a new two-ram baler, and, well, business has just not been the same. In fact, it’s been great, mainly due to the capabilities of the new baler.

Allied, which processes mainly aluminum, copper and brass, was accustomed to operating with a low-capacity vertical baler for all of its nonferrous processing needs. But as the company began to grow, its baler was holding it back.

"We would have several people loading and operating the downstroke baler, depending on what material was being baled," says Russell Applebaum, foreman at Allied. "Now, with the new two-ram, we need less people, and productivity has more than quadrupled.

According to Applebaum, the two-ram baler is a virtually hands-free operation, and to date has required hardly any maintenance. "We just turn it on, start feeding it via a conveyor and watch the nice square bales come out," he says. The bales are eventually loaded to trailers. Allied is not on a rail siding, therefore it does all its shipping by truck.

Since the baler was installed more than a year ago, Applebaum says that it has had only one problem – and it wasn’t really a baler problem at all. Instead, the breakdown had to deal with the baler’s automatic wire tying system. "As soon as we had the problem, I called our service representative, and then we hooked the baler up via its integrated modem so that the technical rep could analyze the situation," he says. "It was during the online phase when the reason for the breakdown was discovered. The next day, the baler was fixed and operating again."

On the maintenance side, Allied personnel make sure to keep the area in and around the baler clean at the end of every day, and oil checks are done periodically. "We did our first oil analysis a couple of months ago, and the lab said the oil looked beautiful," says Applebaum. "We feel we can operate it for another year without having to worry about the oil."

Applebaum says he can’t think of any drawbacks to the two-ram. While some in the industry say that changing out materials in a two-ram is inefficient, because short bales are difficult to make, Applebaum has another way of looking at it.

"Sure, if you are done with one type of material you have to push the partial bale out, then add it to the next batch. I know some balers out there have special features to get around this limitation, but we are running about 150,000 pounds of copper at a time. It’s not like we are constantly changing back and forth between commodities. So, changeover of material is not a problem or a concern with us," he notes.

Allied is doing so well with its new baler that owners Peter, Paul and Robert Mosheim say that it has already paid for itself.