Crushing business fine-tunes fleet with new equipment spread
Crushing plant mobility really matters to Hopkins Sand & Gravel.
Hopkins’ contract crushing business is on the upswing, and its crew tackles setup and teardown up to 15 times per year throughout northwest Wisconsin. To fine-tune its processes, the company recently added a new portable crushing and screening spread to its fleet.
According to crushing supervisor Cameron Hughes, the highly mobile plant speeds up site-to-site relocation while delivering greater uptime and reliability on the job. Along with a portable chassis for each plant module, all equipment systems and components on the plant – including the automated controls – are manufactured by Superior Industries.
Hughes and his team worked with Superior and its dealer, Rock Machinery, to configure the spread to Hopkins’ specifications.
“The cone plant lines up directly with the screen plant and offers the in-and-out chassis that we wanted,” says Hughes, who represents the fourth generation of the family-owned business that his great-grandfather founded.
According to Hughes, all of the on-plant conveyors fold out from the chassis, eliminating the need to access, transport and set up additional jump or transfer conveyors.
“The plant offers a very precise, one-shot setup, which is a big aspect of its portability,” he says.
Time-saving results
Hughes stresses that speed is the top advantage gained.
“This plant is designed for quick setup and teardown with its hydraulic run-on legs and heavy-duty hydraulic jack systems,” he says.
Hughes says the time-saving results experienced have been significant from the start. With previous plants, Hopkins Sand & Gravel had to power the hydraulics with a 12-volt battery. The process was slow, especially in colder weather.
Now, with hydraulic run-on legs, Hughes says Hopkins cut that part of setup from two and a half hours down to a single hour.
“It’s a lot more efficient for us,” he says. “All the hydraulics are easy to access and operate. You can adjust up or down by simply hitting the lever.”
As for total teardown and setup time, Hughes says it used to take Hopkins a full two days.
“With the new plant, we’ve cut more than a half day off that process,” he says. “That keeps us from working in the dark, which keeps the crew happy. We also have the time to do a quick test run the day before, which helps with production.”
Designed for portability
According to Matt Voigt, portable plant manager at Superior Industries, his company’s manufacturing approach offers unique advantages.
“Because Superior manufactures all the crushing and screening equipment and components – including idlers and pulleys – we can design crushing and screening circuits that are far more compatible with portability,” Voigt says. “It also gives us the ability for flexible customization to meet the contractor’s needs, such as making adjustments in size and weight, or altering a component for proper clearance.”