Material Handling Supplement -- On the Move: Wheel Loaders

Manufacturers of wheel loaders recognize the recycling industry represents a growing market, and are designing and marketing their equipment with these users in mind. The variety of wheel loader sizes, available attachments, attention to operator comfort and durability help to ensure that recyclers will find a machine to suit their needs. 

Wheel loaders have found their way into automobile salvage yards, scrap yards, transfer stations, municipal facilities and paper stock dealers. They perform tasks as varied as loading cars into crushers to loading flatbeds and gondolas to stacking corrugated material. Dan Snedecor, wheel loader product manager for JCB Inc., White Marsh, Md., says wheel loaders are useful at any facility that can take advantage of their articulating ability and loading performance.

AT HOME IN THE YARD

“I don’t know how a yard can get along without one,” says Bill Booth, manager, Atlas Recycling, Warren, Ohio. “Every scrap yard should have a wheel loader.” Atlas Recycling operates an auto crusher, and a wheel loader equipped with a fork feeds the cars into it. Once the cars are crushed, the wheel loader loads the cars onto flatbeds that will transport them to a shredder at another facility, Booth says. A wheel loader is then used to feed the shredded metal into a fragmentizer.

Atlas uses nine wheel loaders in the 25,000 pound class, Booth says. “For our application, it’s the perfect size." They also take the wheel loader out to other salvage yards. “It’s the right size where it can handle the cars, but, also, it doesn’t need to be weight-permitted everytime we take it out. It’s a legal load,” he says.

According to Booth, when Atlas Recycling opened some 20 years ago, the company had a wheel loader before it had a crane. Booth cites mobility as the prime advantage of using a wheel loader rather than a crane. “You can’t load a car into the crusher and you can’t load it onto flatbeds with a magnet,” he adds. “I buy cars all day long, and I couldn’t do it without a wheel loader.”

Trish Maher of Daewoo Heavy Industries America Corp., Suwanee, Ga., says, “The types of recyclable materials that are most commonly moved with wheel loaders are paper, plastic, glass, metals and cardboard.” Paper is typically handled with a grapple attachment or a four-in-one multi-purpose attachment; whereas, plastics usually require a high-capacity bucket, and a general-purpose bucket is used to handle ferrous scrap, she says. 

United Paper Stock, Pawtucket, R.I., purchased a John Deere 444 wheel loader when the skid steer the company had been using broke down earlier this year. A wheel loader does not have to work as hard as a skid steer to accomplish the work required, Tim Dorgan, the plant manager, reasoned. He says the wheel loader can handle the plant’s large volume of material more quickly than a skid steer, with less wear-and-tear on the machine. 

However, he’s not certain that a wheel loader is the right choice for every paper plant. “I’m sure that a company that only generates a small amount wouldn’t want to invest in a large piece of equipment that they’re not going to get a return on,” he says. 

Although United Paper Stock uses the wheel loader primarily to push, lift and stack loose corrugated, Dorgan believes “anything that is delivered loose, dumped on the floor and needs to be stacked or accumulated” is a grade suited to a wheel loader. 

Mitch Davis of Midland Davis Corp., Moline, Ill., says that the company uses a wheel loader in its wood operation to pile the wood and feed it into the grinders. “We don’t really use it, per se, in the scrap yard, because everything we do is handled by magnets,” he says. “But you could handle turnings and borings with the loader. And people with shredders can use a loader to pick up buckets of shredded. You could probably load a car faster that way than with a magnet.”

Davis says that any facility thinking about purchasing a wheel loader should take its production volume into account, because of the capital investment involved. “So, obviously, you want to weigh how versatile it is, what you are going to do with it and how often. You’re not going to get it and use it for a few hours a day; you’re going to use it all day,” he says. 

However, Snedecor says that if a recycler needs to move material, regardless of volume, a wheel loader is a sensible choice. 

SUITABLE SIZE

Snedecor says recyclers do not typically select the smaller loader, but make their choice based on maximizing productivity. “This might be based on factors such as the size of the loads, the space in which to maneuver, the cycle times, etc.,” he says.

However, Steve Moore, product manager with Komatsu America International Co., Vernon Hills, Ill., says that the numbers indicate that recyclers tend to chose the smaller machines. “I’d say that the most popular are normally in the smaller range,” he says. “But you do see recyclers using machines up to 315 horsepower. But, I’d say the majority of them purchase down in the 130-140 horsepower class.”

Maher finds that recyclers typically select Daewoo’s 1.4 cubic yard machine, or at the other end of the spectrum, the 5 cubic yard machine.

REACHING FOR UPGRADES

Caterpillar, Peoria, Ill., recently introduced the 924G. “With the introduction of the 924G, which replaces both the IT24F Integrated Toolcarrier and the 924F wheel loader, Caterpillar establishes new standards for the next generation wheel loader – combining all the versatility of an Integrated Toolcarrier with the strong performance characteristics of a dedicated wheel loader,” a product release reads. The 924G is suited to waste handling and recycling applications and general material handling. 

The standard 924G with VersaLink Loader Linkage features a hydraulic Quick Coupler to facilitate tool changes and lower the cost of altering the wheel loader’s configuration. To increase dump height by 20 inches, a High Lift VersaLink option is also available.

“When equipped without a Quick Coupler, but with direct pin-on tools like a bucket, the 924G becomes a dedicated wheel loader with exceptional breakout force, tipping load and dump height,” the release reads.

A Caterpillar 3056T turbocharged, six-cylinder, diesel engine with 114 horsepower powers the 924G, which is an 8% increase in power compared to the 3114T engine used in the former model.

The cab of the G-Series features enhanced visibility with more than 30% in additional glass, more interior room and lower interior sound levels.

Case Corp., Racine, Wisc., has recently introduced the C Series wheel loaders, which include the 621C, 721C, 821C and 921C, offering horsepower of 130, 152, 185 and 248 respectively. The 621C and 721C are available in extended-reach models, the 621C XT and 721C XT. According to the product literature, the 621C XT has an additional 11 inches of lift height to aid dumping into high-sided trucks and hoppers. The 721C features lift arms with a reach of 3 feet 5 inches, which is an improvement of 5 inches over the previous model.

The C Series machines have a proportional-shift transmission, which means that shifting between gears is now dependent on torque rather than speed. This will result in increased productivity and longer transmission life by allowing a smoother transition between gears, according to a Case press release. 

“With the new transmission, improved steering system and other modifications, we’ve made it easier for the operator to concentrate on the task at hand rather than the mechanics of the machine.  This results in more productivity and, ultimately, increased reliability,” Joel Borgardt, marketing manager, says.

Visibility is increased by providing a cab with 42.5 square feet of glass. A pared-down steering column allows a better view of the bucket and more leg room in the cab of Case’s C Series. 

Komatsu’s WA420-3 and WA450-3 Avance Plus wheel loaders feature a dual hydraulic speed system. “This system provides optimum fuel efficiency and power while reducing cycle times for maximum operating efficiency,” according to a Komatsu press release. 

“A transmission kick-down switch on the boom lever facilitates loading operations by improving tractive effort during digging and loading,” the release reads. “When the switch is activated, the loader automatically down-shifts from second forward speed to first. When the loader is put into reverse, the switch automatically up-shifts from first to second speed, eliminating the need for gearshift lever operation and ensuring fast, powerful loading.”

Komatsu’s WA420-3 and WA450-3 feature sealed, wet disc type breaks. “The hydraulic brake system eliminates problems common to air-operating systems, such as freezing water and rusting, as well as the daily, time-consuming task of draining an air tank,” the release reads.

New Holland, Carol Stream, Ill., offers the LB75 loader backhoe as an entry-level model. A New Holland/Iveco engine, delivering 75 gross horsepower as compared to the 80 gross horsepower engine in New Holland’s 555E, operates the LB75. “Refinements in the hydraulic system keep performance at peak levels,” a product release reads. Flexible hose replaces steel tubing in the hydraulics system and the hydraulic boom lock has been replaced with a mechanical lock. The loader valve has also been modified to help improve hydraulic performance.

The LB75 includes a straight-arm loader with four-bar linkages and dual bucket cylinders, which combine to increase bucket rotation and breakout force.

New Holland’s David Lynes says that their machines range from a 50 horsepower wheel loader weighing 9,500 pounds, with a bucket of one cubic yard, up to a 270 horsepower wheel loader weighing 50,000 pounds, featuring a bucket of six cubic yards. The New Holland line consists of nine models.

“A special WasteMaster model is available with transmission guards and brake line guards, Super High Lift loader arms for increased load height, cab guards, epoxy coated radiators and electrical connections and stainless steel brake lines,” Snedecor says of the JCB line. “A third hydraulic control is standard for operating a trash clamp bucket,” he adds.

Snedecor says that the JCB 436 B WasteMaster climbs to 17 feet 2 inches.

Maher says Daewoo will offer a new tool carrier with in-line loader linkage for better visibility and parallel lift with a fork application.

AIDING VERSATILITY

Moore says most of Komatu’s wheel loaders are ordered with large buckets.  However, they have sold machines equipped with grapple buckets, forks and guarding packages for windshields and transmissions. 

Booth’s says that his wheel loaders are equipped with forks and motor-pullers, which serve to remove the motor from the cars.

Midland Davis Corp. owns a tractor backhoe loader with a two-yard bucket, Davis says.  “It’s got a backhoe boom on it that we use for maintaining our rail beds.”

Additional attachments include pallet forks, large capacity and material handling buckets and brooms, among others.

COMFORT CONCERNS 

Wheel loader manufacturers are also competing to provide greater operator comfort. Komatsu’s WA420-3 and WA460-3 feature a larger cab with more knee room. The door opening is wider, easing entry into the cab. “I think we have a very comfortable, state-of-the art cab,” Moore says.

Case’s C Series wheel loaders feature a slim control tower housing a centralized display of the operating controls, creating a roomier cab. 

VIEWING THE OPTIONS 

“Compact wheel loaders can replace skid steers in transfer stations where the improved visibility, lower fuel consumption and minimal tire wear make the machine a better solution,” Snedecor says. 

However, innovative uses for wheel loaders at recycling facilities are elusive. “Possible new, untapped markets for wheel loaders in the recycling arena are few, because most markets have been explored,” Maher says. “But, possibly a loader with a sweeper attachment.”

Dorgan says recyclers using wheel loaders “are using them to their fullest extent. I mean, they’ve been used for years. We’re just getting around to it now because we haven’t had to replace any equipment in quite a while, and a wheel loader was basically the next step up.”

Moore suggests that wheel loaders may be used by C&D recyclers to load mobile rock crushers, typically loaded by excavators. “Obviously, then, you’d need a loader to pick up that material and move it,” he says. Moore oprimistically says, “I always like to think that there’s a new way to use a wheel loader.” The author is staff member of  Recycling Today.