Company News

The Power To Crush

Caterpillar engines power Metso Minerals crushers worldwide.

Customers all around the globe are relying on Metso Minerals for solutions, equipment and services to their rock and minerals processing needs. Tampere, Finland-based Metso Minerals is a key subsidiary of parent company Metso Corporation. You’ll find Metso Minerals’ customers crushing, feeding, screening and washing aggregate in more than 150 countries.

“Our contractor and quarry customers count on our crushers, every day,” explains Jussi Sjoblom, global source manager for Metso Minerals. “Our machines have to be reliable. They have to work.”

Sjoblom is currently located in Columbia,S.C., where the company has just completed a manufacturing facility for the LT200HP mobile crushing plant, powered by a Cat® C13 ACERT engine.

The Lokotrack LT200HP crusher operates on an intermittent rating of 310 bkW(415 bhp) at 1,800 to 2,100 rpm. The LT200HP mobile crushing plant is a rather new addition to the Lokotrack line and is designed for secondary and tertiary crushing.

The company plans to move part of production of the LT200HP from its Tampere, Finland, location to the new plant in Columbia, S.C.Columbia will manufacture the LT200HP mainly for the North and South American markets.Plans to move production of two additional track-mounted crushing plant models is also being discussed.

Rely on the Proven

The move to a United States production facility is a major undertaking and was carried out to bring the assembly closer to the growing U.S. market. It is also one that Metso Minerals carefully planned. Metso Minerals operates additional business lines in Sweden, Germany and the United States.

The company also took careful consideration to rely on proven suppliers to assist in making a smooth transition for the LT200HP.Caterpillar, and its network of Cat dealers both in the United States and Europe, was one of those key suppliers.

“We have an excellent partnership with Metso Minerals, which includes trust and a strong working relationship,” notes Markus Leppanen, segment manager power systems for Finland Cat dealer Wihuri Oy Witraktor.

Leppanen explains that instead of sending its own service staff all over the world to service Metso customers’ Cat engines, Wihuri Oy Witraktor relies on dealers within the worldwide Cat dealer network for such service. This leaves Wihuri Oy Witraktor free to focus on the necessary logistics to supply Metso Minerals with the engines they need when they need them.

“We also focus on design, application and service support for our customers,” says Leppanen.

Metso Minerals and its worldwide customers have a large Cat dealer network to access — and one very close to the company’s new South Carolina home. Blanchard Power Systems in Columbia, S.C., has stepped in to help the OEM with its needs in the United States.

“We rely heavily on our Cat dealers, first in Finland and now in the United States,” stresses Sjoblom. “The communication between Cat dealers and us as a customer has been a part of allowing us to successfully transfer our production of the LT200HP to South Carolina.”

The Whole Picture

Metso Minerals’ expertise covers the production of aggregates; the processing of ores and industrial minerals; construction; and metal and waste recycling.

The company’s mobile crushing line, comprising of about 30 different models, is powered almost exclusively by Caterpillar industrial engines. Utilized in a variety of quarrying and in-pit crushing applications, these track- and wheel-mounted crushing plants are available in jaw, cone or impact crushing configurations.

Metso Minerals manufactures a wide range of crushing equipment and therefore requires a wide range of diesel power. To date, the company is utilizing Cat 3056E, C6.6 ACERT, C9 ACERT, C13 ACERT, C15 ACERT and C18 ACERT engine platforms. They have also built a few crushers with Cat 3412 gensets.

Metso Minerals’ mobile crushing plant crushers are mostly hydraulically driven, and the Cat engines power everything from the hydraulic pump drives to the tracks to the conveyor to the crusher. The combination of Metso’s advanced intelligent control (IC) crusher automation systems, Cat engines with ACERT Technology and Metso crushing technology are designed to maximize production with optimized fuel consumption.

The engines are currently shipped from the Finnish Cat dealer Witraktor to the Finland plant, where Metso Minerals packages them into a power pack. The dealer equips the engine with necessary auxiliary equipment and modifications, programs the engine’s Electronic Control Unit (ECU) according to Metso’s specific machine requirements and stores the engine to wait for just-in-time delivery to Metso. Metso’s own packing includes the engine, gearbox, two to three hydraulic pumps, piping, hydraulic oil tank, control box, side-by-side air coolers, engine bed and engine cover.

“The power pack we supply is a plug-and-play package for our manufacturing facility,” says Sjoblom. “And our machines are a one-touch operation for our operators,” he adds.

Automation for Efficiency

Unique to a Metso Minerals’ mobile crushing plant is the intelligent control system that ensures the feeding of the crusher is a steady and constant process at all times.

The IC system interfaces with the Cat ECU (which stores engine diagnostic data, eliminates speed variation and adjusts for cold starts, rapid acceleration and smoke reduction) to keep the engine running at a constant rpm (around2,100 rpm). This continuous rating allows the machine to crush all types of aggregate efficiently and evenly.

Online information from the engine’s ECU and the crusher’s IC system is available to the operator for control and monitoring of the crushing process, which can be started and stopped with a single button.

“The crusher incorporates an easy-to-operate crusher automation system that optimizes the crushing process control while allowing maximum workload and reduced crusher maintenance costs,” concludes Sjoblom.

Pavex Targets Challenging Job With LocoTrack 100

When Pavex, Inc., a Camp Hill, PA based excavating and paving contractor, needed crushing equipment for work on the Target Distribution Warehouse in Chambersburg, they knew where to go: Cleveland Brothers-ConAgg Division.

"We had never crushed before. This was our first job-we got our feet wet, if you will," said Robert Kalbach Jr., Pavex president. "Cleveland Brothers really helped us out. They gave some tips, pointers and good advice and got us moving in the right direction." At the recommendation of Cleveland Brothers' Con-Agg division, Pavex used a LocoTrak 100 Nordberg crusher that was delivered to the site.

"The nice thing about it is, we took the crusher to the rock instead of taking the rock to the crusher," said Ranny Dougherty, Pavex's equipment superintendent. "I am really impressed with the mobility of the unit. Most crushers take a good two to three days to set up, but this was ready to go right away. No wasting time and manpower. Plus, we didn't have to truck material to the crusher. It was here working all the time."

The Target warehouse is a 1.3-million-sq.-ft. facility. The site is primarily clay and limestone-50 to 60 percent of it rock. So far, Pavex has moved more than 1 million cu. yds. of material.

Kalbach said their longstanding relationship with Cleveland Brothers- all of Pavex's trucks, loaders and excavators came through Cleveland Brothers- as well as the mobility of the unit were what convinced them to rent the LocoTrack 100. Cleveland Brothers' Con-Agg division said they recommended the unit because of mobility and the product size required.

"This was a good operation to use the crusher on- to test and see if we want to get into some crushing and maybe into some recycling. It went pretty well," said Kalbach. "I am very pleased with it. It did a very good job. I certainly would not hesitate to use it again."

He said Pavex used the crusher primarily to make one-inch minus material and also crushed down the bigger rock to small 3A material for capping off the building pave. The crushing operation supplied riprap, as well as fill.

Cleveland Brothers said the LocoTrack is very versatile. When it comes to crushing it can handle up to 24-in. topsize with a 5-to-1 reduction and the jaw can close down to 2.5 in.

As far as recycling goes, it can handle stone, brick, asphalt, and concrete. It also has a magnet above the discharge belt to remove steel and rebar.

The first time out with the crusher, Pavex encountered some bumpy spots, but Cleveland Brothers round-the-clock service department easily corrected them. "We made a couple of boo-boos along the way and they had some mechanics here right away to straighten things out," said Kalbach, laughing. "They have stood behind us and really helped us out. The machine has done well. It did what we wanted to."

"This was one of the larger jobs we have done, but thanks to Cleveland Brothers, we're right on target, no pun intended," said Kalbach. "It was a difficult job with the rock we encountered, but Cleveland Brothers helped see us through- well ahead of schedule."

Rich Hill Quarry Getting Rich Quick!

Rich Hill Quarry, which was formally owned by Joe and Scott Shearer from 1972 to 1999, is now owned by BMAC (Better Minerals & Aggregates Co.). They were recently featured in Pit & Quarry magazine.

To make Rich Hill Quarry more productive, Joe and Scott Shearer were interested in increasing the aggregates throughput. In 1997, this quarry's crushing/screening plant had a throughput of 500 tph. With the growing demand for the company's products, 40 in all, the quarry could not produce enough, that is when the Shearers and Hall decided to start upgrading the crushing/screening plant. The first upgrade was to install two new Nordberg HP 400 cone crushers. Rich Hall, quarry superintendent, says, "We decided on the Nordberg cone crushers instead of the other make because of their superior performances." This replacement-move increased the crushed rock throughput at the plant from 500 tph to 725-750 tph. To better match the conveying system's transport capacity with the two new crushers' production capacity, some of the conveyors' belt-travel rates were increased. This action increased the secondary's througput to 800-825 tph. "We knew the secondary plant capacity was greater than the 800-plus tons per hour. It was the primary crusher with its limited 825 tph throughput that was the bottleneck," explains Hall.

The Shearer team contacted CB Con-Agg, a division of Cleveland Brothers Equipment Co, Inc. CB Con-Agg is the Nordberg full-service distributor for Pennsylvania. After reviewing their needs, they decided to replace an existing jaw crusher of another make with a Nordberg C160.

In 2001 it was estimated that the throughput production would increase more than 600,000 tons without increasing plant operation time. The plant was operated 16 hours a day for 91/2 to 10 months a year as it was in the past. The total production for 2001 was projected at 2.8 million tons of material.