Scrap Handler Focus -- Purchasing Power

Chuck Berg has been selling scrap handling equipment for more than three decades, having worked for manufacturers and dealerships.

In his current role with Coastline Equipment, Long Beach, Calif., Chuck helps match scrap recyclers with the ideal model from the range of Liebherr scrap handlers, as well as outfits them with the best magnets, shears and grapples to stay productive.

In addition to fielding thousands of questions from scrap recyclers over the years and having visited countless scrap yards to help match machine to task, Chuck has become a contributor to Recycling Today on equipment topics. (See "Shopping List" in the June 2006 edition of Recycling Today.)

In the following interview, Chuck offers scrap recyclers additional insights on which aspects of a machine’s performance they should consider prior to finalizing a new machine purchase.

Chuck Berg: The rated lifting capacity and reach are based on measurements from the center line of the machine—that’s where the operator is sitting. From there forward is where the reach measurement starts.

Lift capacities stated in pounds are based on what is being lifted from the gear stick tip. So, that includes a pin and the attachment. All the lifting capacities shown on these charts do not include the weight of a grapple, magnet or other lifting device.

For lift, the worst case scenario is ground level at maximum reach. You’ve got no leverage of all. To record a capacity they typically drag it in and then go up about half-way. Say on a 60-foot-reach model, the lift must go about 35 to 40 feet.

But when you look at those measurements, stated in pounds, the capacities are also shown in brackets to denote when the machine is pointing forward. When the wheels or tracks point forward you have additional support out front.

You also have to make an assumption that this is on a firm, level surface with the machine pointed straight down the centerline.

Crawlers offer more weight and obviously better characteristics over the front and side.

To protect the operator, an international standard (ISO 10567) is used. That requires that the weight shown does not exceed 75 percent of the tipping load and 85 percent of the hydraulic capacity.

Manufacturers now offer a wide range of models with different capacities. The Liebherr line that we carry ranges from an A904 C wheeled model at 48,500 pounds with a 37-foot reach to the A984, which weighs in at 271,000 pounds. It’s a pretty extensive range of machines.

CB: The cycle time is definitely related to the size of the machine. The bigger machine the slower the cycle time is, because you have that inertia to both get it up to speed and to slow it down before you smack into something.

The importance of cycle time depends on the use. If you have 75-foot-high stockpiles, you’ve got to have a bigger machine. You have to consider that lift and range.

If you’re loading out a lot of trucks or rail cars and you have limited access to your yard, you want to do that in an effective way. You want to optimize it to the size of the trucks you have coming and going. You don’t want to do it in 10 cycles if you can do it in five. Then you can calculate how many trucks you can get into and out of your facility in one block of time.

But I’m assuming a good size stockpile and you constantly need to load and unload or feed a shredder.

Cycle time is also a consideration. If that scrap is not moving, you are not making money.

A smaller yard with less flow should look at the size of the grapple or magnet that can best reach into the trucks that are coming in. A lot of feeder yards use a 57-inch magnet because they can reach into the back of a pickup truck.

What we were able to do was use triangulation of lines of sight to allow one operator to conduct many tasks. With 75 feet of reach, the operator can use a grapple to offload trucks, also feed a 1,000-ton shear and also stockpile material on another side. In the old scenario there were three machines and four operators (three running cranes, one running the shear). That has been replaced with one pedestal machine and one operator who can do everything, including operating the shear using a remote control unit.

The disadvantage is that you lose the flexibility to move the machine around. But the advantages are electric power and, in this case, an extremely efficient operation.

For a handler that is going to most often have a shear mounted to it, a crawler machine is the better option. It’s a larger, heavier machine so you can mount a heavier shear.

Wheels are fast-moving and don’t tear up your concrete. You’re saving on surface maintenance costs and machine maintenance costs that come with the metal-on-metal contact (rollers, bushings) inherent in crawler models.

CB: First of all, an equipment vendor should walk the job site and see what the customer’s plans are. If they have an acre of land yet to be developed, that should be a consideration. One recent customer went to see a 924 model and thought it felt "too lightweight" for what he needed it to do. He also looked at the 954 but thought it was a "monster" and more than he needed. But the 934 was a great fit for this operation.

It’s a good thing to see different models in action. Communication is important. For instance, if you go too big on a shear, you’re looking at wasted money and cycle times that are longer then necessary. Match the shear to the material you expect to come in.

CB: It doesn’t happen a lot because you’re talking about a lot of money to buy a larger machine. Generally, this also involves buying larger attachments, and those costs really add up, as well.

CB: Right now, manufacturers and dealers are having trouble just filling customer orders for sales, so availability may be the first problem with that scenario. And typically, rental agencies want a machine to come back in "like condition" as it went out. So most scrap recyclers shy away from renting.

They may be better off hiring contractors who specialize in servicing in these situations, and who bring in their own equipment to the site.

One exception might be if a dealer has a machine that has just come in off lease. Then it might be rented to a scrap company, perhaps so they can try out that size model.

A rent-to-purchase option is also a little more common. We can arrange those, but machines are custom-made and have long delivery lead times, so even that is not very common.

CB: You’ll hear from the operator if not. The operators have to have input. They know by the feel of the machine whether it is too light—it’ll feel that way. They can tell whether they should have had a 934 heavy-duty instead of a 924, for instance.

CB: I think both the operators themselves and the scrap company managers like to have a common size machine that they can move to other locations. A lot of them tend to do that. The 954-sized machines can be good for many locations, especially if they all need to stockpile to around 50 feet.

You have to be able to accommodate the volume you have coming in and going out. It’s a fine balancing act, but I think having like models is a plus. You can train your people on one size of machine and it gives you commonality of parts for inventory. You can then also have the same magnets and same grapples, creating the same benefits of standardized maintenance and standardized parts.