High-powered results

An equipment upgrade has produced encouraging results for Mississauga, Ontario-based BGS Metal Resources Inc. 

Less than two years ago, BGS owner Brian Scott was able to increase the horsepower of his Bano Premac Hydro preshredder with a newer model and has seen strong returns since. 

“I had a smaller version of the one I have now for about six years,” Scott says. “Bano gave me an opportunity to upgrade to a bigger machine, and it’s made all the difference in the world. It has lots of power.” 

Scott’s previous Premac Hydro was an electric machine that could run up to 480 horsepower. The upgraded model, complete with a pair of diesel motors, runs up to 1,200 hp, allowing him to process a wide variety of materials. 

“I can put anything through it,” he says, adding that he primarily uses the machine, developed by Italy-based Bano Recycling, to process van trailers for steel and aluminum. “The [preshredder] cleans it up perfectly. There’s no steel left on it. Depending on the screening size, I can even take the paint off so it’s like clean aluminum. It will also do light steel.” 

BGS also runs cast aluminum, such as car and truck rims, and engine blocks through the machine and uses an eddy current and two magnets to separate steel. The preshredder runs eight hours per day, five days per week. Scott estimates he processes around 100,000 pounds of aluminum every week-and-a-half. 

“It was just a good opportunity for me to step it up,” Scott says of the upgrade. “I’m really happy with that move.” 

Scott has owned and operated BGS since its founding in 1992, and his Mississauga yard mainly processes aluminum. The company is an offshoot of his family’s business, Ontario-based Inland Iron & Metal, which was started by Brian’s father, William, and his four brothers in 1960 under the name North Shore Auto Wreckers. The company was rebranded to Inland Iron & Metal in 1962.

Owned by Brian and his brother, William, Jr., Inland is a full-service yard that recycles a wide array of ferrous and nonferrous materials, from automobiles, lawn mowers and household appliances to window frames, kitchen sinks and patio furniture. It offers bin or trailer services for large quantity cleanups; services commercial and industrial contracts; offers heavy equipment floating; provides consultation on demolition; and provides tow truck services for pickup and removal of scrap vehicles. 

While the Scott family business has enjoyed longevity, so has BGS’ Premac Hydro. Brian notes the machine’s parts get a lot of use before needing to be replaced. 

“We get quite a bit of runtime out of the blades,” he says. “The blades I’m using, and the drum, you get about four turns out of them, so you get quite a bit of life. I go probably a month-and-a-half, two months before I have to change a set of blades. 

“Regular hammermills are going through harder stuff,” he adds, “so there’s more changes there. For light duty material, I can do a lot of light steel, structural stuff. My main thing is aluminum, and when I run out of aluminum, I can go straight to steel to clean that up. It chews it up and turns it into a nice busheling material.” 

Features of the Premac Hydro include a hydraulic or mechanical drive system; a sliding hopper bottom for safer and quicker maintenance; interchangeable and reversible blades and counter-blades for a quick and cheaper replacement; a pusher for increased production; an active protection system for bearings; an interchangeable screen with different-sized holes; a patented rotor design, studied to increase performance; and an antivibration support system. 

Brian says the machine’s design was an important selling point, along with the power boost. “You can rotate the teeth and get more life out of it,” he says. “I mainly got it for the aluminum product I was making, and it seemed to be a perfect fit for that. There’s a lot of other benefits. I can munch up aluminum engine blocks and do a nice, finished product with the Bano machine.” 

He says even when the teeth start to blunt, it still produces a desirable throughput.  

Bano has proven to be a good partner for BGS, providing attentive customer service despite a seven-hour time difference between Ontario and Italy. 

“I can’t say enough good things about them,” Brian says of Bano. “They’re always in contact with me. My machine’s online, so if I have a problem, even with the seven-hour time difference, they get someone on it and help resolve the problem. I’m never down for that long. … I’ve been going steady with this machine for a year-and-a-half and I’m pretty happy with it. 

“It was a good opportunity when [Bano] put me onto this newer piece of equipment. It’s a beast compared to my smaller one.”