I happened to come across this post today and just had to register. Ive had multiple compact crushers (red rhino,Komplet,mb, and the Rebel Crusher) that i have owned and used including an Mbl 200 crusher bucket. I had it for less than a year before moving on to another mobile track mounted crusher. It was attached to a cat 299d track loader and then a cat 420e it backhoe. If I would have had a larger excavator at the time I probably would have purchased a bf70 or 90. I crushed mainly concrete/asphalt with it. All in all it worked ok. I shouldn’t have expected so much I guess. It would regularly jam if too large a piece was fed into it. Any Dirt/mud just about nearly stopped production. I was under the impression when talking to the sales rep from mb that i could crush 2-3’ wide 4” thick sidewalks and concrete slabs up to 6” thick. It sounded like the perfect attachment. I could remove 3’ sidewalks and just feed them through the wide crusher bucket (i think it was almost 48” wide) and make base product in our yard or jobsite. After taking delivery, and watching a piece of concrete about the size of an 8” cinder block jam it, i was not very impressed. I read through the manual and found that it was only meant for crushing 6” minus concrete chunks. So basically i had to process the concrete to a 6” minus with a hammer and then it came close to meeting their production rates. Mb was helpful with trying to resolve my issue and kinda kept pointing at my machine as the problem making me think I needed more flow/pressure. Truth is i had the backhoe modified and plumbed by the cat dealer so i know it was hooked up correctly. All in all in the end I do believe i got what i paid for. I would tell anyone else considering purchasing a Crusher bucket to demo one first if possible so that you know what the actual capabilities are of the attachment. They do have their applications in places where there is limited access and very low amounts of material to be processed. But in my opinion, when it comes to being cost and time effective, its hard to beat a dedicated mobile crusher.
Hi Falcon! I'm glad that you posted in this thread. I was very disappointed that there was such a complete lack of crusher bucket knowledge/experience and/or participation in the forum about it. I'm just now seeing it and it's been over a year since you posted it. I found it because I've had more issues with the crusher bucket and am looking for other solutions (which is how I found this).
I found that my BF70 does not crush asphalt worth a darn, It's just too soft of a product. If one adds it (in small quantities) to concrete of rock feed material it will crush it but it slows things down. I also wondered if it would do better with asphalt in cold temps but I haven't yet had a chance to try it.
I am still on the fence a bit about buying a dedicated crusher. For me the constraints of the initial expense, the mobilizing of a 100k# track mount, and the space it takes to operate it are what have been holding me back. There is also the learning of, and setting up for, a new type of business model, not to mention the potential MSHA (and other regulating bodies) issues. My application is generally the building of a 10 gallon house on a 5 gallon lot. This puts space at a premium. Factor in that most of my work is within a high-end gated golf community (with paved streets), generally requires crushing <1,000 yards (usually to 3" minus) per job, and the crusher bucket (if it worked as advertised) should fit the bill. That being said, I've got about $70k invested in my bucket (including the repairs I've done thus far, and am looking at about $20k more-which is why I'm looking at alternatives) and MB is wanting me to pony up to a bigger unit. I'd still like to try it out but I'm stuck on paying the freight (+/- $4k) to demo a unit when the first one has, in my opinion, failed miserably.
Welcome to the Forums Falcon115, glad to have you.
Since you've owned a Rebel Crusher how did it perform? The reason I'm asking is I've been kicking around the idea of a small portable crusher to process demo debris (concrete, block and asphalt) on site when we can or crushing at our dump.
I like the compactness of the Rebel but like with anything the smaller you go the more you sacrifice production.
I would agree with this but there may still be a somewhat hidden advantage to the smaller unit that could counter the higher production rates of a larger unit. If the Rebel only weighs around 40k#, and is less than 8'-6" wide, the ease of transport would allow one to perform "gorilla warfare" type crushing tactics. One could potentially set up, crush, and then disappear before one fell under the radar of any regulating body. Thus avoiding one of the biggest potential headaches of the crushing business.
The Rebel is what we are currently using for about the last year and a half and i love it compared to the others Ive seen. I can easily transport it and make sellable product with the onboard screening system. I can scalp, crush, remove wire, screen and now stack after attaching hydraulic stacking conveyors to the plant. Its a very well thought out machine that allows you to have a lot of capability without having to support and move around a larger crusher. For us its the perfect size. Ours is set up as a jaw and with about 750 hours on it, I haven’t had much in wear costs other than a few replacement belts/splices. Jaw dies are easily still 75 percent.
I have been playing phone tag with RR Eqpt Sales but hope to speak to them directly soon. I certainly like the idea of a unit that only weighs 40k#, and can process several products in a single pass. I could easily get away with only crushing to 3" minus but making other products is attractive too.
You are welcome. I didn’t know anything about crushing 5 years ago and was always disappointed at the lack of information regarding compact crushing out there, so im happy to offer what i have learned so far. I had it figured that it was costing us about $22 per ton to haul off concrete and purchase recycled aggregate. With my current compact setup, i can prep and crush/screen concrete to a 3” minus for others for about $7-10 per ton and be profitable. That would be making a 1x3” clean rock and a 1.5” minus base material. I can also set the Rebel jaw to approximately a 1” closed side setting and produce a 1.5” minus in a single pass at about 50 ton per hour. But with crushing, there are lots of variables that can affect production. I do believe though as the cost of transportation and virgin aggregate keep going up, we are going to see alot more of the compact crushers.
I'm glad to hear that the Rebel is meeting your expectations. It's interesting to note that almost every Rebel crushing video is of the unit crushing concrete. It sounds like you are also crushing concrete...even though you mention "virgin material" a couple of times in your posts. I generate "virgin material" when I excavate. It is not usually in the form of concrete though. It's rock and since it is not nearly as soft as concrete it can be tougher on machines to crush it. So far (when considering the Rebel for my application) the weight of the machine has given me pause. I wonder if the Rebel will have enough a$$ behind it to handle the stresses of crushing rock as opposed to concrete, etc. I know that the high silica content of concrete normally goes through wear parts (dies, cheek plates, etc.) faster but my rock has high silica
and its hard to boot!
Thanks again for your input. I would love to be able to speak with you in further detail if your open to it.