The combination of the boom and stick gives the operator the ability to reach and feed the shredder constantly.
Detroit, MI – With scrap recycling facilities throughout the Great Lakes region and down to Florida, Ferrous Processing & Trading (FPT) is involved in every aspect of the industry. Tony Benacquisto is charged with keeping all of those facilities equipped to perform profitably.
“I’m the one that goes out to find new equipment,” he explains. “I have to find the most efficient way of doing something and see how we can improve our bottom line.” Among Benacquisto’s recent “finds” is a new electric drive SENNEBOGEN 840 scrap handler, commissioned in March of 2015 at FPT’s Strong Steel Products yard in Detroit, MI. He chose the 840 to feed flattened cars and #2 scrap to the largest shredder in the region. But this isn’t the first time his search for cost-effective equipment has led him to SENNEBOGEN.
A “clean slate” approach to buying
All tolled, FPT operates several SENNEBOGEN material handling machines. The Strong facility also has a rubber-tired version of the new machine, an 840 M model, and another electrically powered machine, a SENNEBOGEN 835 R-HD, is running at the nearby FPT Kronk facility. “We’ve had the 835 electric going for 4 years and had great success with it. So we had the measurable results from it to compare numbers when we were looking for a new electric drive machine.”
Although Benacquisto appreciates the SENNEBOGEN equipment that’s in his fleet, he takes a “clean slate” approach every time he searches for new scrap handlers. He collects input from his purchasing team, his maintenance staff, equipment operators and FPT’s engineering department, also located at FPT’s head office in Detroit. The goal is simply to identify the best overall solution for each specific process. And when SENNEBOGEN proves to have the right machine, Benacquisto still needs to choose the right SENNEBOGEN model and configuration for the job.
Jeff Beebe in front of Ferrous Processing & Trading’s new 840 E-Series Electric Machine.
The efficiency of electric drive
To match up with the mega-shredder, Benacquisto knew he wanted electric drive. “I’ve had electric equipment in the past, going back to our electric overhead cranes. I knew the efficiency of electric as compared to diesel; when you add the rising price of diesel to the maintenance cost of diesel, it far exceeds what electricity costs. With the way the price of diesel was jumping a year ago, it just made sense to go electric.”
“We did look at other electric machines, all the different colors” he continues. “We tried another one first but it did not meet our expectations. It was a big disappointment. Then we ordered the SENNEBOGEN 840.”
Focused on throughput
The 835 R-HD electric drive at FPT’s Kronk facility is mounted on crawler tracks and is powered through a tether cable that allows it to travel within a limited range. The new 840, however, is mounted on a 4-point floating structure with a pylon in a fixed location adjacent to the shredder.
Jeff Beebe is part of FPT’s purchasing group and works onsite with the 840 scrap handler every day. “We had our yard arrangement all laid out before we purchased the machine,” Beebe says. “The plan was to unload trucks and to feed the shredder, all within the same swing radius. The machine we chose, the 840, is mounted on a floating pedestal and has enough reach that no mobility is needed.”
The Strong Steel site is a 9-acre yard and processes in excess of 200,000 tons per year. The operation is purely focused on shredder throughput. Flattened automobiles arrive on trailers. They are fed through the shredder and ferrous material is separated by a magnet. The clean material is shipped to customers by rail and truck. The SENNEBOGEN machine was chosen to perform simply, quickly and reliably.
The high rise cab and the 3 meter pedestal gives the operator an 18 ½ foot perspective and can see right into the conveyor feeding the shear.
Benacquisto says he was very comfortable with choosing SENNEBOGEN from the beginning. “I had visited the factory in Germany and met Erich Sennebogen, so I knew their abilities. Constantino Lannes (President of SENNEBOGEN LLC) was here at our site for our negotiations on the machine. We expected similar performance to our 835, but we went up to the 840 model for added throughput.”
The electric 835 R-HD has now been in service for four years and has logged over 45,000 hours on the original electric motor. To Jeff Beebe, that shows him electric drive was the right way to go. “That could be up to four engines or more,” he agrees. “We have an excellent rebuild program with another supplier of diesel machines, but this system surpasses even that.”
Environmental benefits
Watching the 840 operate, Beebe comments, “It’s nice and quiet, too! Noise and pollution are definite factors – it’s noticed in the yard. The operator likes that, especially with SENNEBOGEN’s elevating cab, there’s more separation from the machine and vibration. No exhaust blowing on you.”
“A big issue with new machines today, especially big machines, is the emissions, the Tier 3 and Tier 4 stuff. The electric just takes that right out of the equation.”
Beebe recalls that the operator was “a little leery” of the 840 when he first began to run it. “The pedestal gives the machine a 9’10” (3 meter) rise and the elevated cab adds another 8’10” (2.7 m) of height. It took some getting used to, to work up that high, but now he rides it up and down like an elevator.”
The responsiveness of the hydraulics lets the operator sort feedstock from the pile easily.
Service support
The arrival of the 840 at Strong Steel coincided with the arrival of Alta Equipment as the regional distributor for SENNEBOGEN equipment. Benacquisto was pleased to see that Alta is opening a new branch in Detroit, becoming the only heavy equipment dealer within the city limits. “They are a young company, working hard and doing well,” Benacquisto reports.
Having factory-trained field support for the SENNEBOGEN machines completes the productivity package for FPT. “In terms of the electric machine, the perks to it greatly outweigh the downside. This unit exceeds our value proposition.”