Scrap Handler Supplement -- Bulking Up

When the volume of material becomes large enough, processors and shippers can begin shopping for high-tonnage material handlers.

 Feeding larger pieces of processing equipment—such as an auto shredder or high-tonnage shredders or shears—can call for heavy-duty material handling equipment. Likewise, filling up a river barge or ocean-going freight ship is also an exercise in large-scale material handling.

Scrap processors who engage in either one of these two activities have created a place for increasingly larger scrap handling machines, both stationary and mobile.

THE POPULARITY OF PEDESTALS

The stationary or pedestal-mounted crane stands apart from its mobile co-workers for several different reasons. While there are operational trends that may favor mobile scrap handlers in many applications, there are still market niches for the stationary crane. Manufacturers and vendors of stationary handlers cite several advantages of the platform, and also list several applications for which stationary scrap handlers are well-suited

Energy cost savings is often the first advantage mentioned. By using an electric motor, energy cost savings of as much as 75% may be possible compared to operating a diesel-fueled machine, according to one manufacturer. The use of electricity also offers an exhaust-free method of operation, and cuts down on engine noise.

Some manufacturers also claim a cycle time advantage for stationary cranes, noting that the equipment can be designed to operate specifically for a given application and operators can be trained to maximize efficiency performing that one function.

Efficiency is also enhanced by the elevated height of the crane operator’s cab, some fans of pedestal-mounted cranes contend. “The operator is physically high enough to oversee the entire area,” says one processor who owns a pedestal-mounted scrap handler.

Pedestal-mounted cranes can also be configured to offer a reach advantage (though some would argue the advantage is negated by the machine’s inability to move itself closer to other sites). Since the handler is securely fastened to the ground, the reach can be significantly extended without fears of tipping.

Models configured as equilibrium cranes use a moveable counterweight that is mechanically attached to the stick. As the counterweight moves up and down, the stick moves down and up. “This design keeps the crane in perfect balance at all times, reducing stress on the entire system,” says a manufacturer.

Several applications are most commonly associated with pedestal-mounted cranes, including the feeding of large shredders and the loading of scrap barges. “If there is a heavy-duty shredder or shear that needs to be constantly fed, it makes sense to have a dedicated scrap handler associated with that system,” says one processor.     

While stationary cranes are popular in larger yards and at yards with access to port facilities, other types of yards also are considering them. The reach of one such crane can equal that of as many as four shorter-reach scrap handers, according to one manufacturer. “As more yards consolidate and add super-sized shredders, the stationary crane is a natural choice,” says the manufacturer.

Ferrous Processing & Trading Co., Detroit, chose two Hawco stationary equilibrium cranes to feed a large Harris ferrous baler that it installed in 1998.

The equilibrium cranes (sometimes known as “E-cranes”) are typically electric-driven and hydraulically operated. The term E-crane is also used to refer to electric-powered pedestal scrap handlers. With any type of electrically-powered crane, the elimination of the diesel engine offers several potential advantages for the yard.

First, it reduces air and noise pollution at the site. Second, it provides a constant power source. And third, it significantly reduces engine maintenance.

As noted earlier, another advantage is the better view of operations afforded because the scrap handler is usually set on a pedestal that is 20 or more feet off the ground.

Also, large equilibrium cranes include a much longer reach than mobile handlers due to their inherent design, which incorporates the moveable counterweight. These two advantages, in particular, make the stationary crane ideal for loading heavy-duty shears and shredders, as well as loading and unloading barges, railcars and trucks.

“With more scrap operations consolidating,” says one marketer of scrap handlers, “we are seeing a growing need for super-sized shredders and larger processing equipment. This, in turn, is creating a demand for large, electric-driven stationary cranes that can adequately feed these machines.” Another manufacturer says that electrically-powered cranes are also easier to operate and are less fatiguing to operators.

CABLE STILL ABLE

The majority of scrap yards still have among their equipment fleet at least one cable crane working a magnet or a grapple. “They just won’t die,” says one processor who still has four cable cranes in addition to five hydraulically operated.

Indeed, a survey conducted earlier this decade by the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries Inc. (ISRI), Washington, found some 7,000 cable cranes in use at scrap processing facilities throughout North America.

One manager of a major yard had this to say. “Cable cranes lift in a linear plane, while a hydraulic crane lifts in an arc. That means the cable crane operator can position his load more accurately - where you put the boom that’s where the lift will be. Cable cranes are also much easier to repair and last longer than hydraulic ones. Although the cycle times are higher, they lift more. So, why should we get rid of them when they are there and still capable machines?”

However, finding and teaching someone to operate a hydraulic scrap handler is much easier than it is for a cable crane, agrees one manufacturer who makes conversions for the industry. “It takes months to train a cable operator, and even then cable cranes are hard to run and practically beat the operator to death with vibrations,” he says.

Another processor summed it up by saying, “It is easier to maintain the cable crane than it is to maintain a qualified operator.”

Although hydraulic handlers have many selling points versus cable cranes—and they are certainly winning the market share battle—that does not necessarily mean that cable cranes are heading for extinction in scrap yards.

OmniSource Corp., Fort Wayne, Inc., for instance, operates about 100 cranes or material handlers throughout the more than 20 facilities that make up its North American operations. OmniSource Corp. operational manager Dave Kaminski estimates that 60% of the company’s current fleet is made up of hydraulic handlers, while the other 40% is made up of cable cranes. He says that some applications still require a cable crane because of its greater reach.

But he notes that he has seen the trend moving toward hydraulic scrap handlers, and says that OmniSource is currently working with Komatsu America toward a goal of making 75% of its fleet consist of hydraulic handlers. The reasons involve both labor and operational considerations.

“With a hydraulic machine, you are able to teach someone almost instantly,” says Kaminski. “It is much more difficult to train cable crane operators. Hydraulic machines are also much faster and more efficient. Our operations are beginning to require the faster, more efficient machine.”

New cable cranes can also be more costly than hydraulic handlers. “There are very few manufacturers today making new cable cranes,” he remarks. “They are very expensive.”

A HYBRID CASE STUDY

Why buy a mobile material handler and then immobilize it?

At least one major shipping company has found reason to do so.

Among the commodities unloaded in large amounts at the Cincinnati Bulk Terminals docks is hot briquetted iron (HBI), which is delivered for the nearby AK Steel furnaces.

Cincinnati Bulk Terminals (CBT), located along the Ohio River, has relied on cable cranes for most of its 117-year history.

Recently, though, CBT installed a track-mounted Caterpillar 350 Material Handler that it then placed upon on a stationary barge with the express purpose of unloading the HBI deliveries. The 67-ton hydraulic handler is powered by a 286-horsepower engine.

“It’s easier to operate the material handler efficiently, especially when handling iron briquettes,” says Jack Weiss, president of CBT. “Cable cranes take a long time for someone to learn to operate well. It’s much easier for us to find people with appropriate skills for the material handler rather than competing with all of the terminals in the area that need cable crane operators,” he adds.

The hydraulic handler has proven so popular that it is now being used to move materials in addition to HBI, such as coal and aggregates. The Cat 350 MH now moves approximately 40% of the bulk tonnage loaded and unloaded at the terminal.

“The CAT machine gives us more versatility—the ability to handle a variety of materials more easily,” says Weiss.

Bill Huser, terminal operations manager, echoes many of Weiss’ sentiments regarding the training issues. “If you can run a backhoe, you can run a material handler,” he says. “And the material handler is faster unloading briquettes than a cable crane. Reducing unloading time keeps demurrage charges down and keeps our customers supplied,” he adds.

CBT opted to have the crawler-mounted machine placed on a floating barge because the level of the Ohio River fluctuates so much. The river pool is 26 feet, and flood level is 52 feet. CBT’s barge-placed material handler can operate to 56 feet, while cranes on the dock can’t operate about one-third of the time, according to Huser.

A series of large turnbuckles and lengths of anchor chain strap the material handler to the barge. But when floodwaters rise to dangerous levels, workers can unbuckle the machine and drive it off of the barge and onto higher ground.

The CBT’s 350 MH is equipped with a 3.66-cubic yard clamshell bucket and can unload HBI at the rate of about 600 tons per hour.

While many steel mills move HBI with electromagnets, CBT has found it impractical to do so when unloading barges. The hydraulic system of the material handler enables the operator to load the bucket with the dense briquettes, swing and dump into the hopper as fast as the conveyor can carry the HBI away.

The CBT material handler also features an eight-foot cab riser which can move six feet farther forward than the standard Caterpillar mounting position.

CBT has been pleased with the performance of their “stationary mobile” handler. Huser estimates that the hydraulic handler is 60% faster than a cable crane when unloading briquettes, and he also says it spills less, thus requiring less clean-up.

“We expected the material handler to do well,” he says. “And we feel like we got a lot of advantages with the hydraulic machine.”

 

Sidebar

 

Certification for Cable Crane Operators

Finding a competent cable crane operator, most processors say, can prove much more challenging than finding or even training a hydraulic material handler operator.

When looking for skilled cable crane operators, processors may wish to note that the National Commission for the Certification for Crane Operators (CCO), [city], has a certification program that was implemented in 1996. The CCO program does not specifically cover scrap applications of cable cranes, but certainly operators who have attained certification have demonstrated cable crane knowledge and skills.

It should be noted that certification can mean different things to different people. While certification generally involves some form of testing, not all testing qualifies as certification. This confusion can lead an employer into a false sense of security – one that could have devastating consequences – and leave a company or an individual exposed to full liability in the event of an accident.

The National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA) is an independent non-profit organization set up by the National Organization for Competency Assurance (NOCA) to establish industry guidelines for professional certifying corporations.

The NCCA requirements, though strict, are designed to give assurance to those who use a program that the tests are a fair, sound and valid measurement of the knowledge and skills they are intended to measure. There are too many to list here, but they include the following:

             The certification organization shall be separate from the education function (i.e. it shall do not training).

            The certification program must be operated by a not-for-profit

            organization.

            The certifying organization shall have a governing body which includes individuals from the discipline being certified.

So, while the National Commission for the Certification of Crane Operators (CCO) does not offer training (NCCA requirements prohibit that), it does provide an independent means to verify that training has been effective, and that learning has, in fact, taken place. According to the NCCA, only third-party, independent certification can do this, and then only if it has been validated by the industry it is intended for, and recognized as psychometrically sound by certification specialists. CCO meets these criteria.

June 1999
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