Lindner Urraco 95 provides mobile, efficient shredding

Since its founding in 1916, Utica, New York-based Empire Recycling Corp. has grown into a full-service ferrous and nonferrous scrap processor, handling a variety of grades procured from individuals, scrap dealers, demolition contractors and more.

Today, the family-owned company boasts over 200 employees, with its scrap business situated at four New York locations in Utica, Syracuse, Waterloo and Albany. It also has expanded its operations to include confidential document destruction and nonconfidential paper recycling, steel fabrication and intermodal transportation. 

When it comes to preshredding ferrous and nonferrous metals, Empire has turned to the Lindner Urraco 95 mobile shredder, a twin-shaft model that can make short work out of nearly every material while moving around the scrap yard.

“While we’ve primarily [used the Urraco 95] to size aluminum, these machines can process other nonferrous and ferrous items efficiently,” longtime Empire Vice President of Operations David Levitt says. “We take material in and store it in large bunkers by grade. The material is run through the Lindner shredder prior to going through our large shredder and then through a downstream separation process to remove other ferrous and nonferrous scrap.”

Levitt says the Urraco 95 has been a key addition, making the shredding process more efficient as Empire prepares material to sell to aluminum mills, in particular. Empire has three Urraco 95 machines, with two housed at its main scrap yard in Utica.

“The preshredding helps reduce the volume of material for storage purposes and saves time and wear and tear on the remaining shredding process,” he says. 

The Urraco 95 was designed to reduce operator costs and energy consumption as well as being low maintenance. The machine uses a hopper that can tilt up to 80 degrees on both sides for optimized, even material feeding. It can be operated from a material handler using an optional remote control. Materials are fed into the machine’s slow-speed, twin-shaft cutting system that features fully welded crushers, rippers and scrapers that are 70 percent longer than Urraco 95’s sibling, the U75. 

The Urraco 95 uses a hydrostatic drive that features self-regulating hydraulics and a maximum torque of up to 480,000 Newton meters and is powered by a 770-horsepower diesel engine.

Prior to becoming a Lindner customer, Empire used shears attached to excavators to size material. Levitt says the mobile Urraco 95 has helped speed up the process.

“The Lindner Urraco 95 mobile shredders have made the process of sizing material faster by virtue of that mobility and having the power to process more material quicker,” he adds. “This has saved us time and money.” 

Both family-owned companies, Empire and Lindner have developed a strong relationship over time. Empire even helped Lindner in the research and development of the current Urraco 95 model.

“They take pride in the machines they manufacture,” Levitt says. “They have extremely knowledgeable people and terrific service.” 

Levitt adds that Empire intends to continue as a Lindner customer for years to come. 

“Lindner has continuous redevelopment and upgrades to their machines,” he says. “They listen to the customer’s comments and issues they may have and strive to fix any problems experienced with their machines. We feel we have a true partnership with Lindner.”

More information on the Urraco 95 mobile shredder and other Lindner products can be found at www.lindner.com.