Rochester Iron & Metal Starts Up Auto Shredder

The scrap metal recycling firm Rochester Iron & Metal has started up a 60-inch auto shredder at its newly opened scrap metal facility in Rochester, Ind. The shredder, supplied by Wendt Corp., Tonawanda, N.Y., features a QuadPlus 2,5000-horsepower DC motor and a Bowe disc rotor. The shredder is equipped with an infeed conveyor, Wendt’s AutoDriver controls and a ferrous downstream system that includes a Steinert Electro Drum Magnet and Z-box closed-loop air system.

Rochester Iron handles both ferrous and nonferrous scrap from demolition sites, industrial accounts, scrap dealers and small peddlers.

Wendt says it supplied Rochester with a nonferrous recovery plant that includes a Wendt Tumble Back feeder and trommel, a Steinert DMS (dual magnetic separator) and a Steinert MOR (single-stage preseparator for ferrous), two Steinert eddy current separators and a Wendt/TiTech Finder. The downstream plant will be used to produce zorba and zurik/stainless steel.

Jason Grube, president and co-partner of Rochester Iron, says the company moved one of its two existing locations to the new larger site in Rochester to accommodate a pickup in business. However, Grube says before the company could start operating at the new location it needed to rennovate the brownfield site, including tearing down 70,000-square feet of old buildings.

Grube says he and Mooch Lewis, vice president and Rochester Iron’s other partner, started the installation of the Wendt shredder in October 2012, with operations expected to begin Aug. 20, 2012.

Grube says the facility plans to run eight hours per day, three days per week. He estimates the company will be process between 2,500 and 3,000 tons of scrap per month through its new auto shredder.

Rochester Iron will use its other location, Hunt Salvage facility in Kokomo, Ind., as a feeder yard.

The two partners say the shredder gives the company the capability to produce a shredded ferrous product and market it directly to steel mills. Additionally, operating a shredder will give the company access to nonferrous metals from the automobile shredder residue (ASR).

In a Wendt news release, Grube notes, “The main reason we selected the Model 60 was because the overall project cost was significantly lower than the other shredders. And after seeing Wendt’s first Model 60 in operation, we were confident it would be able to handle our material.”

Wendt says the Model 60 is built with a modular design that decreases the overall project costs compared with traditionally designed shredders. This includes a pre-fabricated steel base that connects the shredder mill, motor and pin-puller. The support structure allows the Model 60 to be installed on a flat concrete pad, which eliminates the need for permanent custom-designed concrete piers, according to Wendt. All of the hydraulics for the shredder come preplumbed on the mill, and the electronic components arrive fully installed in a portable e-house.

Wendt adds that the design features eliminate the need for a shredder building that would typically support the pulpit and contain the motor, hydraulic and electrical rooms. In addition to the reduction in physical infrastructure, the Model 60’s design reduces the overall installation time and the costs associated with concrete, hydraulic and electrical contractors, the company says.

Design features of the auto shredder include increased plate thickness, reversible deflector box, mill-lock system, reinforced gusseting, a hydraulic reject door and a water-injection system.

“Our decision to partner with Wendt on this project was a good choice for us. Wendt has an experienced team that specializes in all aspects of the shredder and nonferrous separation systems,” Grube says. “Since we are a small company and first time shredder operator, we have taken advantage of the resources Wendt offers. They have been helpful throughout this project, and we will continue to count on them for support as we move forward.”