A Sennebogen 870 electric-drive hybrid material handler installed this summer powers a large Metso crusher operated by Cimco Resources in Sterling, Illinois.
Ron Brenny, operations manager for the Sterling Yard – the largest of seven Cimco-owned facilities in Illinois and Wisconsin – says the 26-acre facility at Sterling can handle up to 800 tons of material per day.
While the company handles plastics and e-waste, most of what arrives at Sterling is destined for the site’s Metso automatic shredder. Cars and farm equipment, demolition waste and industrial metals are meticulously sorted to match shredding orders from nearby factories, Sennebogen says.
“We’re pretty full most of the time,” Brenny said. “We use all of our 26 acres. I have a lot of [scrap] pile. With the arrival of the new Sennebogen 870 hybrid material handler this summer, the whole landscape of Brenny’s yard is changing, according to Sennebogen.
Cimco’s current fleet of 17 Sennebogen scrap handlers is comprised primarily of mid-range units typical for scrap yard applications: Model 830s and 835s weighing between 85,000 and 120,000 pounds. By comparison, the new 870 Hybrid is a monster, at over 220,000 pounds.
“Our main goal was to achieve reach,” says Brenny. Mounted on a 9-foot pedestal with a tracked undercarriage, the 870’s 90-foot boom can reach multiple piles of sorted material without maneuvering. The company says the extended work radius has changed Sterling’s materials handling and storage processes.
Until now, the trucks were unloaded on the other side of the yard. To feed the chipper, the necessary material was loaded into trailers and moved to the chipper’s feed area, where it was again dumped in piles. One of the 830 or 835 machines could then move it onto the infeed belt. Now, with the 870, several steps are removed from the material flow in the yard.
“That was our goal; instead of transshipping everything to the feed, we can just offload straight to the feed and just grab what we need when we want to run it,” Brenny explains. The new setup is equipment and labor efficient, he says, and it greatly simplifies the planning of material movement and simplifies its life.
With the 870 in use, not only can they position more stock near the infeed, but they can also stack more material. “We’re actually able to increase our yard space because we can stack higher,” says Brenny. “That means we’re using less ground, so we’re opening up more ground now.”
Brenny says he’s looking forward to bringing in a second 870 to service the north end of the yard, which would further add to Sterling’s total capacity.
When Cimco first decided to increase the size of their crusher loading equipment, the Sterling team was open to all options. Initially, Brenny and his site superintendent, Mike Kapple, and Cimco CEO, John Gralewski, were drawn to a tower crane from a competing company.
However, they say a video demonstration of the 870 changed my mind. “They were just showing the machines at work side by side, loading a barge,” Brenny explains. “And I started counting. And I could see how many cycles the 870 was doing compared to the other crane. And I’m like, well, that’s a no-brainer, guys. This tower crane won’t be able to keep up with my chipper.
According to Brenny, his operators felt the same way when the 870 was delivered. “They have been feeding the crusher with an 835 for 15 years; they know the cycle times,” he says. “We were all impressed with how quickly a big machine is given such potential. They got in there and were amazed at how fast it goes. It’s been in service since July and they’re still thrilled with it.
Brenny says he is also seeing direct operational cost savings with his new Sennebogen. The features of the 870 Hybrid save up to 30% of machine operating costs in energy.
The site manager admits the company has made a significant investment in infrastructure to provide the electricity needed at the 870 power location, but says he has no regrets. “That upfront money, we get it back every day just by not stopping at the barrel of diesel every day,” Brenny says. “And we don’t have any downtime to refuel either. The operator climbs in, presses the button and he is ready to go all day.
Brenny continues, “With the electric, I can say it’s just a big super bonus for maintenance. It’s quiet. There are so many other problems with a diesel engine; you have DEF [diesel exhaust fluid] and oil changes and everything else, you know. And all of that is gone.
Brenny also thanks his local Sennebogen distributor, Alta Equipment, for their role in keeping their scrap handlers on the job. “It’s nice to work with the whole organization: the salesman and the mechanics, they’re good,” he says. “And they have the parts you need when you need them. It’s quite impressive. If we say overnight, we get it the next day.
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