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Reducing the costs of moving a sand and gravel spread

Posted by ELRUS Aggregate Systems on Thu,Jul 20,2017 @ 08:54 AM

Moving a ELRUS Twin Screen Plant

Moving a portable sand and gravel crushing operation from one location to another as quick, safe and economically as possible has always been one of the biggest challenges faced by producers.

Early in its evolution, portable sand and gravel processing equipment was cumbersome, expensive and labor-intensive to move. Each component of the crushing and screening process required at least two or three transfer conveyors for feed, discharge, and movie material to the next processing stage.

Realistically, a rudimentary single stage, 4-piece crushing spread consisting of a feeder, crusher, screen and power van (and all of the supporting conveyors and stackers) could easily become 10 to 15 pieces that require eight or more loads to haul. On top of that, there would be all of the labor and support personnel and equipment required for tearing it all down, loading it on trailers, hauling it to the new location and setting it back up again.

Despite the advancements in technology and process's that have been developed and used throughout the industry over the years, it is still not uncommon to hear statements like, “It took us three weeks to tear all of it down, and another 3 weeks to set it back up.” (David Freels, Godbey Red-E-Mix before the purchase of an ELRUS Spread – Shameless plug.) 

For crushing operators, the costs associated with tearing down a spread, moving it to a new location and setting it up again can be quite significant. Many operators think they know what those costs are without really investigating the hours of revenue lost, and where savings could be made. An adequate record keeping system can be extremely beneficial and provide more accurate information to assess these costs.

Measuring the cost

Calculating the cost of a move is fairly straightforward. Many factors make up the cost of moving a spread including the time of the move, the cash costs of using cranes, trucking costs, labor costs and of course, the cost of lost revenue during the down time. The more pieces of equipment you have to move, the higher the complexity of the move and the associated costs. Another thing to consider is that when you involve cranes, there is a greater safety risk to your workers.

Reducing the cost

Operators who believe that all moving costs are unavoidable may want to consider the following questions
  • Could the number of loads be reduced?
  • Can we eliminate or reduce the need for expensive support equipment like cranes?
  • Can the overall plant design be simplified so that fewer pieces need to be disassembled, moved and reassembled?

Solutions

We've been specializing in the design and manufacture of portable bulk processing equipment for the aggregate and mining industries since 1975. Our systems are modular, featuring 'common level' design with a minimum of loose conveyors to facilitate site set-up. Learn more about reducing the costs of moving your spread.

 Learn more about Reducing Moving Costs

Topics: gravel crushing and screening costs, Aggregate Crushing and Screening


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