Panzers: I break rocks thread

[ThePanzerFuhrer]

Fascinating for sure.

A buddy of mines Dad had a stationary crushing plant years ago, mainly supplying local concrete companies.

LeFarge would bring in most of their rock by ship from their own quarry, but the rock was too soft for higher strength concrete, so they bought that from him.

His pits close to the stationary plant ran out, and I don't think he planned out very well the costs of additional trucking. He mortgaged his soul and bought a new portable set up, and started taking other crushing jobs out of town as well.

He was a mostly hands off, guy in the office sort of owner, and his crew became very unreliable. Many times they would crush a ton of rock that would later not meet spec, and after a few of these fiascos he lost everything, including personal properties he had leveraged.

Was tough on my buddy and his brothers as they had always worked for the old man and was a big adjustment.

That’s sad but that’s how most of the mom and pop shops go in this business. The commander needs to have boots on the ground and a foot on the throttle.

Custom crushing is incredibly tough to do. Each pit is different, the tricks you do to make insoec material changes every time you set the plant up. By the time you figure it out the job is done and you on to the next. A few bad jobs and your done.

My theory is to deal with having old equipment and use my money to buy and develop aggregate pits. I feel my businesses wealth is the material in the ground not the machines. If I ever can’t make a go of it I’ll have the option to call 4 of the big guys and say here’s my price first one with the check gets it. Which would cause a absolute panic because that would allow a out of town guy to move in today and produce asphalt or concrete by the weeks end.

I hope it never comes to that but that’s my out.

 

[Wades_76_cj7]

Panz, how many pits do you operate at once? just one? move onto a property and quarry it 'til it plays out then move onto another one waiting to be worked? meanwhile buying properties as they come up for sale to develop later?

 

[ThePanzerFuhrer]

Panz, how many pits do you operate at once? just one? move onto a property and quarry it 'til it plays out then move onto another one waiting to be worked? meanwhile buying properties as they come up for sale to develop later?

Me and my dad have 7 pits. 2 Quarry 5 sand and gravel pits. One yard in town that we can have a recycle pile and crush it into gravel once every 2 years or so.

I bought a 180 acre farm a few years back that will make the most excellent quarry. The next year of two I’ll try to get a permit on it. It’s right on a state hwy no weight limits rock is within a few feet of the surface, different color than my other quarries. Should be exciting.

The fuel prices this year is gonna kill all my fun money so this will have to wait a few years

 

[Pukemaggots]

So how is the pickle bucket hoarding progressing?

 

[ThePanzerFuhrer]

So how is the pickle bucket hoarding progressing?

Still have a ample supply. Had to get some down the other day. Still smell like good pickles!!! I get pickle cravings when I get a fresh bucket

My BIl was doing the lords work by cleaning up the pollution along a few rail road tracks and needed some buckets. All because the pellet guys turned me down when I asked to buy some.

 

[vetteboy79]

Me I want to make as much money as I can with everything I sell because I only get to sell it once. Once it’s gone it’s not coming back

At my old job I went to a zinc refinery in TN. They used the slag from steel mills that would melt down recycled scrap and they'd pull the zinc out that was left from galvanized stuff. The mills would pay them to take the slag away, they'd sell the zinc back to the mills to be used again for galvanizing, and they'd sell whatever was left to asphalt companies as filler.

Always neat when you can find a way to monetize pretty much every aspect of your business.

 

[bgaidan]

At my old job I went to a zinc refinery in TN. They used the slag from steel mills that would melt down recycled scrap and they'd pull the zinc out that was left from galvanized stuff. The mills would pay them to take the slag away, they'd sell the zinc back to the mills to be used again for galvanizing, and they'd sell whatever was left to asphalt companies as filler.

Always neat when you can find a way to monetize pretty much every aspect of your business.

My old company ran a crusher on bigger highway jobs. They'd also make deals with the concrete plants and get paid to clean out the washout and waste concrete at the plants....bring it back and crash it and then sell it back to them as crushed concrete base.

 

[HillbillyDeluxe]

Alright, Im assuming you have a dot #. Im fixin to bring my truck up there and we can put a belly dump or end dump behind it and when Im not running it, I'll just run equipment for you.

 

[ConwayMuddy]

One yard in town that we can have a recycle pile and crush it into gravel once every 2 years or so.

I bought a 180 acre farm a few years back that will make the most excellent quarry.

Who has the recycle dump out my way by 29 and O? Drive by it but never see any activity.


Does this farm suffer a fall waterfowl problem I can come massacre?

 

[ThePanzerFuhrer]

Who has the recycle dump out my way by 29 and O? Drive by it but never see any activity.


Does this farm suffer a fall waterfowl problem I can come massacre?

That’s county concretes. They are just filling in the pit. They will not recycle that.

No waterfowl there. Beaver issues yes, birds not that I know of.

 

[cj3a]

If you have beavers you have ducks

 

[ConwayMuddy]

That’s county concretes. They are just filling in the pit. They will not recycle that.

No waterfowl there. Beaver issues yes, birds not that I know of.

Normally I see pits get flooded, makes sense to fill it with stuff they can't recycle. Cover it with dirt, but any use after that?

 

[arse_sidewards]

Still have a ample supply. Had to get some down the other day. Still smell like good pickles!!! I get pickle cravings when I get a fresh bucket

My BIl was doing the lords work by cleaning up the pollution along a few rail road tracks and needed some buckets. All because the pellet guys turned me down when I asked to buy some.

I haven't worked in food service in close to a decade. My pickle buckets still smell like pickles.

 

[ThePanzerFuhrer]

So this is a stupid trick. We are making some 6”- breaker stone today. It bounces a ton when you drop it between conveyors. So that means it will find a way into the tail pulley and poke holes in the belt.

My $5 fix is to toss some plywood which was collected out of the garbage from the local home builders, between the rollers for the first few. This solves the issue 98% of the time . A few minutes of work saves a $3500 belt.

This belt is due for replacement but we are gonna run it until if fails before that. I have a roll of belt at home ready to replace it for when that time comes.

 

[[486]]

now I'm imagining a rock stuck between the t-bar flutes of the end roller punching holes in the belt with every rotation like a sewing machine.

 

[ThePanzerFuhrer]

now I'm imagining a rock stuck between the t-bar flutes of the end roller punching holes in the belt with every rotation like a sewing machine.

Pretty much. It’s the splice that gets destroyed when this happens. The bet is pretty forgiving. The splices not so much.

 

[speed bump]

Pretty much. It’s the splice that gets destroyed when this happens. The bet is pretty forgiving. The splices not so much.

Are most of your belts flexco spliced?

For reference here is a picture of the guys patching a 42 inch screen feed belt because truck drivers are to lazy to clean the table off a belt when the they see it build up.

 

[ThePanzerFuhrer]

Are most of your belts flexco spliced?

For reference here is a picture of the guys patching a 42 inch screen feed belt because truck drivers are to lazy to clean the table off a belt when the they see it build up.

Yeah I use flexcos on everything. I route them into the belt so the hide below the rubber. That way the scrapers and what not don’t catch them every time it swings by.

Yeah that sucks when that happens. Tail pulley full of shit and it stretches the belt all goofy. You let it go too long and it fucks the cords up in the belt.

Need to put a better scraper and make sure the side skirts are adjusted up good.

I hand make some special rollers for the low hanging belts like yours. I make the roller frame contained in less than the roller diameter. That way when the shit builds up and lifts the belt it only hits the bottom of the can instead of the roller frame. The belt hits the roller frame it rips a section of belt out by the staples and fills the tail pull let up like you got there.

 

[ThePanzerFuhrer]

I got a call for some open grade today. Told the dude there isn’t a pile of that shit in the entire county. It’s the worst shit to get into spec. Absolutely stupid stuff.

Told him the best I can do is mix my 3/4” and 3/8” washed stone together to get it really really close. I’m not dealing with that shit.

 

[speed bump]

Yeah I use flexcos on everything. I route them into the belt so the hide below the rubber. That way the scrapers and what not don’t catch them every time it swings by.

Yeah that sucks when that happens. Tail pulley full of shit and it stretches the belt all goofy. You let it go too long and it fucks the cords up in the belt.

Need to put a better scraper and make sure the side skirts are adjusted up good.

I hand make some special rollers for the low hanging belts like yours. I make the roller frame contained in less than the roller diameter. That way when the shit builds up and lifts the belt it only hits the bottom of the can instead of the roller frame. The belt hits the roller frame it rips a section of belt out by the staples and fills the tail pull let up like you got there.

We use the flexco 190 clips routed in and if the guy doing it gives a shit they work decently. If you get guys who go loosen up the scraper instead of grinding down the studs it's an annoying game of correcting lazy mechanics. Any belt that has a two plus year life we get it vulcanized instead of clipping though.

This belt now has a V plow on it to keep carry back out of the tail.

 

[rdr99]

We use 140 clips if we do it. Weststate vulcanized our larger belts, have a few with the piano hinge as well.

 

[rockyota83]

There is way more science that it lets on.

and way more maintenance/repair

 

[[486]]

It’s the mechanical locking of the particles together. The rounded river sand doesn’t do that.

Then there is something with the density and air entrainment that this sand helps with. I don’t get to talk to the asphalt tester people too much to get the whole scoop on this.

figured it was something like that, asphalt not being totally rigid ever, so it needs the compacted particulates to support the load without mushing outta the way as easily.

 

[speed bump]

We use 140 clips if we do it. Weststate vulcanized our larger belts, have a few with the piano hinge as well.

Where are you at? Weststate does a good job.

We use 140 hinges on our weigh feeder belts but moved to the 190 clips elsewhere because they don't rip out nearly as easily.

 

[rdr99]

Currently run one of HSGs crushing spreads in Helena.

 

[ThePanzerFuhrer]

Currently run one of HSGs crushing spreads in Helena.

Pictures please. What machines?

 

[rdr99]

K300, K400. Bunch of random conveyors, Superior, Reesco, Kolberg. Elljay screen decks. Taking the 300 down for liner change next week.

 

[speed bump]

Currently run one of HSGs crushing spreads in Helena.

Nice, I was wondering when you said you had Westate doing your belts.

 

[ThePanzerFuhrer]

K300, K400. Bunch of random conveyors, Superior, Reesco, Kolberg. Elljay screen decks. Taking the 300 down for liner change next week.

Super jealous of the long conveyors. Not jealous when they stop fully loaded

How do you like the jci cones? Seems in our area everyone who has one, nuked it a few times.

I’m a big Allis/sandvik cone fan. You can pour the hard stone through them and they keep on crushing. I also have a eljay roller cone and keep him to the recycle and natural stone jobs. The eljay was the cone jci copied.

What do you use for a jaw? What kind of stone do you guys crush? So many questions

 

[ThePanzerFuhrer]

My cheaters have been working exactly as designed lol. The plywood is catching the floaters and keeping them out of the tail pulley.

The portable guys don’t have the luxury of being able to have the perfect conveyors machines to do the job. Like me I make 10,000 -15,000 ton a year of breaker stone. To have a 48” wide slow moving stacker to keep the rollers at a minimum is not affordable. So we need to figure it out.

Today is auction day. Gonna be a sad day seeing a 92 year old guy sell just about everything he owns. It’s crazy but my halfassed math thinks he should clear 500k today pretty easy.