Concrete pulverizer hard on a machine?

We are looking at bidding on a concrete tear out job and need a little help. The concrete is from the 1920s and its loaded with rebar and its 16 inches thick. It is a 16 inch slab 300 feet by 300 feet and then pillars 6 foot tall and then another 16 inch slab of the same size on top of that and then a poured concrete wall building with walls 6 inches thick 30 foot tall. We have a hammer on our kobelco sk300 and are thinking about getting a concrete pulverizer for our old cat 225. How hard is a concrete pulverizer on an excavator? We are hoping to use both machines rather than switching from hammer to pulverizer back and forth on the kobelco. We dont own a pulverizer yet and were looking for opinions on if it is worth it? Any other imput appreciated.


Thanks,
Mike

We had to replace a boom on one of our 235's. It was riddled with stress cracks, and we got lucky and found a used one at Toromont Cat. We were told that pulverizers / jack hammers are hard on booms, that a previous owner used.

I run a LaBounty CP60 (I think that's the model) and once an experienced operator gets the hang of it, they can fly through a pile. I have mine on a 690elc, and after 3+ years of use have not had any cracks at all. I bought it through Company Wrench, and they told me the pulverizers are most effective if you mount them directly to the stick, not with a quick coupler. There is a learning curve to achieve maximum productivity, just takes some seat time. Hope this helps!

I hung one on my old JD 792 without any ill affects.

The ones with problems were probably from misuse or from companies that use them in demo every day. One job is not likely to hurt your machine, as long as it is done properly so as not to add unneeded stress.

Thanks for the replies, we are going to bid on the job and if we get it we will post pictures.


Thanks again.

One place I worked we broke a lot of pins when we pulverizers on our 30ton hoes. But I have never seen that anywhere else. We did use them to demo building there, but we really did use them hard.

My experience with demoing old concrete is that its way easier then the new stuff. Less engineering went into the bar placement and the concrete breaks easier. While it might be thick it goes easier then then todays stuff thats 1' thick and has bar on 1" centers.

Those cracks are from some rammy operator swinging into it . The boom and stick do not like being slammed sideways into what was a structure .

Brad:

I sure hope you get that Elk Grove job, and all the others that you are interested in! Best of luck and I hope they get back to you soon.

As to the holiday madness, look at it this way, you could put it all off tiil Valentines Day and have a relaxed time about it. Well, I hope you enjoy and all the best. Keep me posted when you are ready to go.

Thanks,

John