Scrap Handler Guide -- Getting A Charge

It may seem to be an old way to go down a modern path, but don’t tear out those rails just yet. The new style rail-mounted material handlers are the latest machines being used in scrap yards and steels mills today. In a single operation, these machines can load charge buckets and move them directly into the mill.

The lattice boom cranes are still around, but not in the same numbers they were just a couple of decades ago. They are slowly being replaced by crawler and mobile units, and now by rail-mounted hydraulic material handlers.

ERS Industries Inc., West Seneca, N.Y., makes the Powerstick, a locomotive material handler made just for rail. This machine is not just on excavator upper mounted on a car body, but was designed just for rail. In fact, one of the same engineers who designed the original American Model 840/50 DE Locomotive Crane is the same engineer who helped ERS with the Powerstick design.

Those who favored the durability and longevity of their hard-working rail cranes may find rail-mounted scrap handlers to be worthy replacements for moving scrap material in recycling yards and at steel plants today.

In addition to the Powerstick, other companies have mounted Caterpillar uppers, Komatsu uppers and Liebherr uppers on rail.

When shopping for a rail-mounted crane, James Westlake, vice president of ERS Industries Inc., urges buyers to look for machines that do not need outriggers to offer stability with a 70-foot boom. Comparing swing bearing sizes can be another way to determine whether a rail crane will offer years of operating durability.

As with all equipment, ease of maintenance is another factor to consider when comparison shopping. If maintenance people can climb up inside the machine and get in front of any component necessary, downtime can be minimized and routine maintenance can be performed more safely and smoothly.

The new breed of locomotive material handlers can move railroad cars around just as the old lattice boom cranes did, they can also move scrap material faster with less effort.

Regarding the operation of a hydraulic handler versus a lattice boom model, Debbie Leschak at U. S. Pipe & Foundry in Burlington, N.J., says, “It’s just like playing Nintendo.” At the end of the day, operators are not as tired because they are not constantly moving both their feet and arms all day as they were operating the lattice boom machines. Operating the old style lattice boom cranes in a duty cycle operation can wear an operator out after a few years.

The hydraulic material handlers are very simple to learn and operate. In most cases, training an operator takes just a few weeks, whereas for the lattice boom cranes, some operators can take several months to get comfortable. The controls are straightforward and effortless, machine movements are faster and smoother, and the operator’s cab controls are easy to master.

The ERS Powerstick model can load and unload a railcar gondola from one end to the other without being uncoupled. If an operator needs to stack material high, it is less challenging when equipped with a 70-foot boom moving at a faster rate.

What are the advantages of these hydraulic machines? More material can be moved faster with lower maintenance costs and less down time. On the lattice boom machines, the wear parts are the drive gears, wire rope, sheaves, clutch bands, brake bands, pins and bushing and, one could argue, the operator. On the hydraulic locomotive material handlers the wear parts are primarily the cylinders and the pins and bushings.

Many scrap facilities with rail access, especially those operating adjacent to a steel mill and acting as a staging area, have accepted the efficiencies of rail-mounted hydraulic material handlers. Given the lifting capacity and ground speed of rail-mounted hydraulic handlers, even facilities not directly serving adjoining mills can put these machines to good use.

The author is sales manager for Eastern Railway Supplies, West Seneca, N.Y.