Lift off: hydraulic handlers have skyrocketed as the material handling machine of choice at high-output recycling facilities

Recycling Today, Nov, 2001 by Brian Taylor

Within the recycling industry, the heavy iron has always been most at home where iron-bearing scrap is lifted high and in large amounts.

While lattice-boom cranes can still be seen in many locations doing the heavy lifting, hydraulic material handlers have been put at the top of the shopping list for most ferrous scrap processors updating their material handling fleets.

When shopping for scrap handlers, recyclers have a number of choices not only of different equipment manufacturers, but also of different configurations, platforms and lifting capabilities.

HIGH AND WIDE

Hydraulic material handling machines are not the only type of equipment that can move large amounts of material. But an advantage they offer is to be able to reach high and wide to both pick up and drop off material. Also, the machines can be configured to work with a variety of attachments that can perform specific tasks required by scrap recyclers.

As an example, Caterpillar Inc., Peoria, Ill., offers 17 material handling models that are marketed to the scrap market (nine on treads, five on wheels, two on rails and one pedestal unit).

Those machines vary in horizontal reach from less than 35 feet for the smallest model to 55 feet for the largest mobile model. The maximum heights that can be reached vary from less than 40 feet to 70 feet for the largest crawler-mounted model.

Additionally, high-reach Caterpillar models that are marketed to the demolition industry can reach maximum heights of more than 83 feet.

For stationary applications, pedestal cranes can offer an even wider reach. The E-Crane, a large equilibrium crane that is most often pedestal or gantry-mounted, has been installed in U.S. and Canadian applications to reach 81 feet, and can be configured to offer 150 feet of reach.

Lifting capacity desired is another determining factor in making a scrap handler purchase. Using the Caterpillar line again as an example, machines heavy duty enough to be marketed as scrap handlers are offered with lifting capacities ranging from less than 16,000 pounds to more than 48,500 pounds.

Determining the optimum lifting capacity (and operating weight) of a machine is a key efficiency factor for recyclers. On the one hand, a machine that is too small will not be able to keep up if output at a facility grows. On the other hand, a machine too large for its application means a recycler has overpaid and is probably burning through more fuel than is necessary.

Choosing which attachments to use from among lifting magnets, mobile shears and several types of grapples, involves carefully evaluating material handling operations. Most recyclers keep more than one type of attachment on hand and will change the work tool needed to suit the task.

One additional consideration is whether to choose a material handler on wheels or treads, or, in some cases, to consider a rail-mounted or pedestal-mounted machine. The mobile platforms are more common, with wheeled units getting the nod at paved scrap yards. At unpaved yards with mud that can create tricky conditions, tracked machines are still preferred.

A CASE IN POINT

A scrap recycling company that has done its research can estimate how much power and reach it will need when it goes into the market to buy a new machine.

With those parameters in mind, a shopper can then compare the features of the machines in the appropriate weight class, and take a closer look at the intangibles.

When Tube City Inc., King of Prussia, Pa., was recently in the market for new scrap handling machines, company officials knew that durability was going to be a key requirement.

"You won't find any tougher application for a scrap handling fleet anywhere in the country," says David Coslov, vice president of Tube City's maintenance and equipment operations. Coslov, who is based at Tube City's U.S. Steel Gary Works operations in northern Indiana, was among those from the company who looked over equipment available from several manufacturers.

At the company's Gary facility, material handlers are operated around the clock for 365 days a year to keep the U.S. Steel furnaces fed with the scrap portion of their charge. "We measure the performance of our machines very closely," says Coslov, who notes that Tube City tracks the use of all its machines through a computer program that collects information on maintenance records, downtime, failure costs and other records.

Over time, Tube City has been able to build a detailed performance chart of the nine handlers that function at the Gary complex. The company can gauge lifting capacity, hourly performance, uptime, downtime, cost of service, strong points and weak points, as well as manufacturer and dealer responsiveness.

"When we go to the market, we want to be able to match the right machine for the job," says Coslov. "We also want to be assured that we are going to be able to get quick response from the dealer who supplied the machine. We want to know that our needs are going to be serviced and that machinery downtime is going to be kept to a minimum."