End of the relay race: the long reach of the Fuchs MHL 380 serves A. Tenenbaum Co. Inc

Recycling Today, Nov, 2004

Metals shredders are best supplied with a steady feed, which puts constant pressure on yard managers to keep material close at hand. At the A. Tenenbaum Co. Inc. facility in North Little Rock, Ark., this formerly involved two scrap handlers working as a "relay team." One handler fed the shredder conveyor while the other brought material to stockpiles near enough for that handler to reach.

The acquisition of a Fuchs MHL 380, a wheeled handler with nearly 69 feet of reach, has helped "end the relay race," according to company president Harold Tenenbaum.

When asked what made the Fuchs MHL 380 stand out when the company went shopping for a new scrap handler, Harold does not hesitate to answer, "The big factor was reach."

The nearly 69 feet of reach that the Fuchs machine offers adds about 15 feet of roach compared to the machine A. Tenenhaum Co. was using previously. The efficiency and time savings offered by that additional 15 feet are considerable, says Harold.

"The foremost advantage is now we don't need an additional scrap handler to feed this one," he remarks. "It just reaches out there and gets things itself instead of needing a machine to relay material to it. It's a tremendous advantage."

The MHL 380 provides its extra reach while still offering tremendous lifting capacity and stable footing on its wheeled platform with four-point stabilizers. "You can't wiggle this thing," Harold says of the steadiness of the machine while it performs its heavy lifting work. "It's on wheels, so we had some questions about stability initially. But it's very strong and our operators feel safe and steady inside the cab."

The machine's operators also feel in control inside the machine because of the view they get from the elevated cab feature. "That hydraulically elevated cab is the best invention ever," says Harold. "Our guys, at first, didn't think they would like it, but they love it," he notes. "They can adjust it to the right height to see exactly what they need to see, and they don't have to climb up a bunch of steps and risk killing themselves to do it," he states.

"The Fuchs MHL 380 has brought the extra reach that A. Tenenbaum Co. was seeking and has also quickly proven to be a strong addition to the workforce at the scrap company, drawing rave reviews from the operators who run it and the managers who gauge efficiency in the yard. Says Harold, "It's a big, heavy machine. My guys love it."