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Looking for a good starter crusher.

illinoisboy

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 16, 2009
Messages
146
Location
Greenup
Occupation
contractor
I am looking for advice on a mobile crusher. I mainly want to crush our concrete demo debris. I am not looking for a full time outfit. Any advice on a good mobile starter unit, as well as what type. Want to keep it simple. just turning big rocks into smaller ones:) not planning on hitting the road and crushing for others. Please give idea on what to expect for prices and what size concrete it will take... Thanks!
 

CM1995

Administrator
Joined
Jan 21, 2007
Messages
13,473
Location
Alabama
Occupation
Running what I brung and taking what I win
I'm interested in what others in the business have to say as well. Getting a lot of concrete that's being buried in dumps and aggregate costs are going up.
 

clintm

Senior Member
Joined
Jul 7, 2013
Messages
974
Location
charlotte nc
Occupation
trucking,concrete recycling,grading, demolition
it's not a part time gig unless you consider part time 60+hr's a week . it's a volume /production ton's per hr business .less tons per minute=more cost per ton. It's like laying 36" pipe with a #6,000mini excavator and getting paid buy the foot you can do it but you will be their a while and not get paid any more than if you where using a #75,000 machine
 

Brad SEIN

Active Member
Joined
Feb 14, 2015
Messages
34
Location
SE Indiana
I am interested to hear responses as well. I have wondered if the numbers would work out like ClintM gave. I guess it's based on your location. If your disposal costs are low enough it's tough to justify recycling. i have looked at the small crushers like the Rebel, and even the excavator attachments but haven't found anybody with any experience.
 

CM1995

Administrator
Joined
Jan 21, 2007
Messages
13,473
Location
Alabama
Occupation
Running what I brung and taking what I win
I've seen the excavator attachment demo at Conex and it was slow but produced material.

Disposal costs for concrete in my area is dirt cheap to free. The aggregate costs however are rising - $18 to 25 a ton delivered for #2's and #57's. Add the trucking costs to remove the concrete from the site plus any dump fees to the cost of virgin aggregates being trucked in and at least it makes one start running numbers.

I wouldn't be interested in crushing on a "retail" level at this time, just looking to reduce costs on site. Most of our projects include demolition of some sort - structures, paving, etc. Storm sewer is also in the scope. If the concrete debris could be recycled for use as pipe bedding then there might be something there to look at. Of course it all depends on the individual job and how much concrete is there.

Just thinking, good discussion.
 

Brad SEIN

Active Member
Joined
Feb 14, 2015
Messages
34
Location
SE Indiana
I am in the same boat as CM don't want any thing to do with retail just yet. Our aggregate cost are cheaper as well. In the $8 to 12$ per ton range delivered. So it's not going to make me rich any way I approach it. Really more of a time and logistics thing I guess, and those are hard to put exact numbers on. I have recycled a lot of concrete for rip rap. Started it on our county highway department jobs. Just size everything up with jackhammer.

I have a deal with a local concrete plant to remove all there "return" material. It can amount to 10 to 15 tri axles a month. I have been using a skeleton bucket to sort and sift when I don't haul directely out as rip rap. It works to sift and makes a great road base product, just would like to be able to process more of the larger stuff when I don't need the rip rap. It is also a great job for a crew on a rainy day. Once again nothing to get rich on, just another way to justify all the help!
 

clintm

Senior Member
Joined
Jul 7, 2013
Messages
974
Location
charlotte nc
Occupation
trucking,concrete recycling,grading, demolition
from what i have seen lot of time it's a time/space thing if you have the time and the space onsite it may work (how many job's have enough of either ). but it still goes back to volume and tph. I have had jobs where the demo contractor crushed onsite (about 3,500 tons)the material got moved onsite a couple of times and then when the job started they said it did not meet spec's they had to haul it all to my crushing yard then the next week we hauled more material back to the same job for the foundations. not trying to be negative just saying that it's not as simple of a process as it looks. you cannot get buy with just a crusher you have to figure in a machine to feed it a machine to process the oversize down to get it into the crusher the smaller the crusher the more processing and then machine to stock pile finished material.If you start figuring all these machines and time into ton's $20.00 per ton is not to bad. on the demo at con expo I like to ask this question how many ton's was in that pile and how long did they play with 5 days I know that it wasn't 8hr's a day but still. and it was all small pieces already prepped for crushing not footing's and floor slab's with rebar and wire mesh
 

Landclearer

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 3, 2012
Messages
1,227
Location
Southeast
Clintm is right. Not really as simple as throwing concrete in a crusher. A few years back we did a bunch of demo and there was 10,000 tons of concrete. We had a Cat universal processor to pulverize it down to a feedable size and get rid of as much rebar as possible than rented a magnet to get more out so as to not tear the belly belt on the crusher. We had an excavator feeding the crusher, a small trackloader under the magnet to get all the little bits and our 963 for stockpiling. The job went great but there is a good bit involved. We used a new Terex PEgson Metrotrack.
 

illinoisboy

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 16, 2009
Messages
146
Location
Greenup
Occupation
contractor
Seem to get more opinions on whether or not it's profitable. I can run my own numbers once I get some feedback on prices and brands, and how big of material it will take. :eek:
I assume everyones idea of cost effective is different. I have machines to load it, stock pile it and deliver it, as well as good supply and plenty of room. I also am not sure of which kind, impact or jaw. I have ruled
out a cone. Thanks all!
 
Last edited:

Landclearer

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 3, 2012
Messages
1,227
Location
Southeast
Jaws are cheaper and easier to maintain but an impact makes a better product if you are looking to make base. Jaws are also more tolerant of steel that might find its way in(other than rebar). Clintm is the guy you need to talk to.
 

ben46a

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 11, 2007
Messages
773
Location
Waverley NS/Fort Mac AB
With rebar in it your pretty much stuck with a jaw. Impactors don't like rebar. Impactors also need a small feed size. Jaw will take an 18 inch plus piece depending on feed opening and reduce it to 4-6 inches( or smaller with a hit on production, but under 3 inches isn't easily possible under most circumstances). Once it gets that small, I'd put it through a cone for further processing.
 

theironoracle

Senior Member
Joined
May 5, 2012
Messages
940
Location
PACWEST
Occupation
OWNER/OPERATOR MOBILE HEAVY EQUIPMENT REPAIR
Illinoisboy, to answer your question directly. The correct and cheapest per hour unit to reduce your concrete demo onsite to about 4" minus is a wheeled jaw crusher with on trailer Diesel engine! I would recommend cedarapids or kpi/jci for manufacturers. I think these are the only two all USA manufactures and I'm not even sure of that. They use the most generic components for their plants that are supported by aftermarket and dealers alike. TIO
 

ChrisJette

New Member
Joined
Mar 29, 2015
Messages
3
Location
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Occupation
Operations Manager
If you get a chance to look there is a small compact crusher called the Portafill 7000 which could suit what you need.www.youtube.com/watch?v=chtWXtM9FBE hope that helps

I purchased a Portafil 7000IC and a 5000CT. The impact crusher is amazing by itself. Paired with a Scalp Screener we are achieving 200 Metric tons per hour. The finished product is some of the nicest I've seen. Definitely the only pick for a compact crusher. They also send an irishman to teach you the ins and outs of impact crushing.
 

Alex Wang

New Member
Joined
Mar 26, 2015
Messages
3
Location
China
Occupation
Mining Machinery
According to your words, I think maybe diesel engine crushers is suitable for you,you can search diesel crusher suppliers in google, The small diesel jaw crusher and mini diesel hammer crusher may be helpful for you. You can consult with the stone crusher engineers for suggestions, Wish you early find your needed machinery
 

MassiveImpact

New Member
Joined
Nov 19, 2015
Messages
1
Location
Mississauga
The questions is do you want to downsize or do you need a useable final material. A jaw has been designed as a primary crusher to downsize material. If you need a useable material I would go for an impactor. Better material with good compaction. What final material would you like to produce?

I would check out following small impactor plant: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57PfZtdYL_0

I've seen it before and it is really easy to use.
 
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