Sennebogen pedestal model feeds shredder

A Sennebogen electric-drive 870 Hybrid material handler installed this summer is feeding a sizable Metso shredder operated by Cimco Resources in Sterling, Illinois.

Ron Brenny, operations manager for the Sterling yard—the largest of seven facilities owned by Cimco in Illinois and Wisconsin—says the 26-acre facility in Sterling can receive as much as 800 tons of material per day.

While the company handles plastics and electronic scrap, the bulk of what arrives in Sterling is destined for the site’s Metso auto shredder. Cars and farm equipment, demolition scrap and industrial metals are meticulously sorted to match orders for shred from nearby mills, Sennebogen says.

“We’re pretty full most of the time," Brenny says. "We’re using our whole 26 acres. I have a lot of [scrap] piles.” With the arrival of the new Sennebogen 870 Hybrid material handler this summer, the entire landscape of Brenny’s yard is changing, according to Sennebogen.

Cimco’s current fleet of 17 Sennebogen scrap handlers is comprised mostly of mid-range units typical for scrap yard applications: 830 and 835 models weighing in at 85,000 to 120,000 pounds. In comparison, the new 870 Hybrid is a monster, at over 220,000 pounds.                                                                        

“Our main objective was to get the reach,” Brenny says. 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 working radius that has changed Sterling’s material handling and stockpiling processes.

Until now, trucks were offloaded at the far side of the yard. To feed the shredder, required material was loaded into trailers and moved up to the shredder’s infeed area, where it was offloaded into piles again. 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 flow of material through the yard.

“That was our goal; instead of transloading everything up to the infeed, we can simply unload right there at the infeed and just grab what we need when we want to run it,” Brenny says. The new setup is efficient for equipment and for manpower, he says, and it greatly simplifies scheduling the movement of material and simplifies his life.

With the 870 in service, not only can they position more stockpiles close to the infeed, but it can also pile more material. “We’re actually able to increase our yard space because we can pile higher,” Brenny says. “That means we’re using less ground, so we’re opening up more yard now.”

Brenny says he looks forward to bringing in a second 870 to service the north end of the yard, which would add further to Sterling’s total capacity.

When Cimco first decided to look into upsizing its shredder loading equipment, the Sterling team was open to all options. Initially, Brenny and his yard superintendent, Mike Kapple, and Cimco CEO John Gralewski were attracted to a tower crane from a competing company.

However, they say a video demonstration of the 870 changed their minds. “They were just showing the machines at work side by side, loading a barge,” Brenny says. “And I started counting. And I could see how many cycles the 870 made compared to the other crane. And I’m like, well, that’s a no brainer, guys. That tower crane won’t be able to keep up with my shredder.”

According to Brenny, his operators felt the same way when the 870 was delivered. “They’ve been feeding the shredder with an 835 for 15 years; they know the cycle times,” he says. “We were all impressed with how fast it is for a big machine, with so much stick out there. They got up in there and were amazed how fast it goes. It’s been in operation since July and they’re still ecstatic with it.”

Brenny says he also is seeing direct savings in operational costs with his newest Sennebogen. The 870 Hybrid features save up to 30 percent of the machine’s operating cost for energy.

The yard manager admits that the company made a significant investment in infrastructure to deliver the necessary power to the 870’s location at the infeed, but says he has no regrets. “That money up front, we’re getting that back every day just by not pulling up to the diesel barrel every day,” Brenny says. “And, we have no downtime for refueling either. The operator just gets in it, hits the button and he’s ready to go all day.”

Brenny continues, “With the electric, I can say it’s just a big super bonus for the maintenance side. It’s quiet. There are so many more issues involved with a diesel engine; you’ve got DEF [diesel exhaust fluid] and oil changes and everything else, you know. And that’s all gone.”

Brenny also credits the Sennebogen distributor in his area, Alta Equipment, for its role in keeping his scrap handlers on the job. “The whole organization is good to work with: the salesman and the mechanics, they’re good," he says. "And they have the parts that you need when you need them. That’s pretty impressive. If we say overnight, we get it the next day.”