On the Go

Throughput—producing the most secondary aggregate possible in a one-hour span—is always a consideration for concrete crushing companies when they shop for crushers.

But rising petroleum prices will only accentuate the trend among crushers to seek out plants that can be transported and set up at a demolition or highway site with the least amount of trouble.

A number of crusher manufacturers are responding to the portability requests with machines that are configured to be “Interstate-legal” when towed from one site to another.

THE RACE FOR PORTABILITY

Crushers by their very job description have to be powerful machines, capable of grinding up chunks of concrete or asphalt into much smaller pieces. The task calls for chewing through materials designed to hold together for years, including concrete and steel.

But in many applications, these powerful machines also have to be nimble enough to be towed efficiently from site to site, often moving from one state to another in a single day to finish one task and begin another.

Most makers of crushers for secondary aggregate applications have addressed this need for contradictory qualities, and have introduced machines that offer more portability than previous models while not sacrificing production rates.

Machines such as the Lippmann Milwaukee 4248 Urban Crushing Plant are marketed for their compactness and ease of set up at urban infill locations, while the name chosen for the Eagle Stealth series of crushers implies that these are machines that can slip in and out of job sites with minimal difficulty.

The compact state to which machines can be reduced for towing purposes has become an important selling point for manufacturers who can promise a neatly folded-up package. Eagle Crusher Co., Galion, Ohio, notes of its two-stage crushing Stealth 2 machine, that “at a travel height of 13 feet, six inches, it can legally be towed over most roadways without prior Department of Transportation notification or approval, eliminating [the need for] any special road permits, restrictions, or costly delays.”

Lippmann Milwaukee Inc., Delavan, Wis., calls its 4248 Urban Crushing Plant “a self-contained portable impact crushing plant,” and notes that with the machine’s “13 feet, six inches travel height, the plant is easily transported from site to site, set up and ready to operate in less than an hour.”

Grasan, Mansfield, Ohio, is another crusher manufacturing company that has kept its eye on the portability trend. The company’s line of “road-portable” crushing plants “feature six totally independent hydraulic legs (two front, two middle, two rear) to speed plant set-up and tear-down. Foot pads raise 12 inches above road level for travel.”

A different type of portability—on the job site—has been addressed by Extec USA Inc., Essington, Pa. The company’s crushing units, with names such as the Pit Bull and the Mega-Bite, are mounted on treads that allow them to move from one pile of material to another. The Pit Bull mobile jaw crusher, which is targeted to concrete recyclers, can move along a highway reconstruction site, keeping up with work crews as concrete is torn up and new road bed material is needed. “With its ability to traverse a site and go directly to the material, an enormous advantage is provided,” Extec claims.

Another manufacturer offering crawler or tread-mounted crushers is Komatsu America International Co., Vernon Hills, Ill. Portability is a consideration for makers of crawler models as well, says Komatsu product manager for mobile crushers Mike Vigil. He notes that the BR350JB “weighs about 66,000 pounds, so in most states, the majority of haulers have a permit to haul a machine that size. It’s designed to stay within legal width and height requirements.”

SET UP AND GET TO WORK

Getting from one job site to the next more easily is only part of the portability trend. Much to the delight of operators, manufacturers have been outdoing each other to create mobile crushing units that can be set up quickly and easily once they reach the job site.

Eagle credits a hydraulic lift/leveling system found on is Stealth line of crushers for providing “quick, efficient set-up with no cribbing required.”

Grasan advertises its KRH1013 concrete and asphalt crushing plant as one that can be set up and ready for use in 15 minutes. The six hydraulic legs are again noted for their ability to help the machine set up without the need for braces, blocks or other support devices.

Another Ohio company, Irock, Cleveland, uses fast set up as a selling point for many of its crusher models. The company’s AutoMag feature allows a plant to be set up and ready to operate in less than five minutes with the pull of one hydraulic lever. Even for larger volume plant configurations that will be set up for longer-term jobs, Irock uses what it calls its exclusive “Rapid Deployment System” that allows a task that used to take several days to be performed in a few hours.

Makers of tracked crushers also tout the ability of their machines to work quickly at new sites. Of machines like the Komatsu BR350JG, Mike Vigil says, “you just drive it off the trailer, and you can start crushing in 10 or 15 minutes.”

Lippmann Milwaukee says its urban crushing plant can be set up and ready to operate in less than an hour.

VOLUME, VOLUME, VOLUME

Although portability has secured its place as a marketable trait for concrete crushing plants, tonnage figures and other considerations are still scrutinized by equipment buyers.

One operator of fixed crushing sites says that he keeps a careful eye out for who has the largest machine on the market, and that he tends to quite simply favor the machine that can crush the largest volume of concrete in a one-hour span.

Operators of portable crushers, as well, know that the bottom line is measured by how much product can be created by the hour and workday. Thus, even the makers of the portable jaw and impactor crushers on the market design their machines to maintain a steady output.

Grasan claims its KRH1013 has “20% increased production over same-size impactors with standard controls,” and the machine can “crush concrete and asphalt rubble at up to 200 tons per hour,” according to the company.

The Komatsu BR350JG has an output ranging from 50 to 175 tons per hour depending on the material it is processing. The machine can accept pieces up to 36 inches by 17 inches by 50 inches in size while turning out a product that can range in size from two inches to 4.7 inches in diameter, and Komatsu claims the product size can be changed easily.

OPTIONS AND EXTRAS

Portability and volume may be foremost considerations for crusher operators, but they are not the only ones.

Komatsu is emphasizing the safety measures its designers have taken with its line of tread-mounted crushers. “We have designed this crusher with a safety first attitude,” Komatsu product marketing manager Yuki Tamura says of the BR350JG machine. “The crushing power of this machine and the nature of its use merits the stringent safety measures taken.”

Among the safety measures Tamura is referring to are emergency shut-off buttons placed at several parts of the machine, a lamp and buzzer that activate when a ‘plug’ or other shut-down occurs, a pathway between the control panel and the intake area, strategically placed handrails and safety guards, and a remote control unit that lets an operator control the feeder on/off switch and the emergency shut-off buttons.

The jaw of the Komatsu BR350JG is hydraulically driven, rather than being powered directly by the diesel engine, which Vigil says offers several advantages. “You can reverse direction of the crusher,” he notes, which may offer a quicker and less labor-intensive way of fixing “plugs” and other stoppages. The machine also requires a smaller horsepower engine, which can be a money-saving feature during a time of rising fuel costs.

One of Komatsu’s next steps as it introduces Japanese-made equipment into the North American market is to introduce an impactor crusher model. According to Vigil, that could occur as soon as this year. The company also has a demonstration model of a larger jaw crusher—the 126,000-pound BR500JG—set up in Tennessee and will be marketing it here soon.

Extec’s Pit Bull, like the current Komatsu model, also features a remote control unit. The company also touts the unit’s weight of less than 56,000 pounds as ideal for energy-efficient towing.

The Impactmaster RCPR from Svedala Industries Inc., Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is designed specifically for recycling applications. The shape of the hammers makes them reversible, extending the life of the hammers in the difficult application. A high-chrome alloy is also used for the hammers and curtain surfaces, extending their life spans.

Crusher manufacturers have introduced a number of innovations and improvements to a relatively young industry. According to Vigil, the one giant step that secondary aggregates makers are waiting for may still be a long way off.

“The ultimate for crushers would be to have a single pass machine,” he remarks. “When and if that machine ever becomes a reality, that company will really have something. For now, the maximum reduction ratio is always what is sought, to minimize the total number of passes.” C&D

The author is editor of C&D Recycler.