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CRUSHER BUCKETS ATTACHED TO EXCAVATORS

DGODGR

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I've been interested in one for site demo jobs we do as there is always some sort of concrete being removed. These jobs may have 60' of curb and gutter or 10K sf of 4" concrete slab to haul off. A crusher bucket however slow would be a better alternative to trucking and dumping.

Subscribed to the thread to see if anyone else has more info. DGODGR you going to Conex?

I'm not sure yet.....I'd like to, and will likely plan to, but I have many job starts for spring and if the weather is very mild customers will be chomping at the bit. Further complicating things is that I'm already committed to a dirt bike trip in Baja through 3/2. You?
 

CM1995

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The wife and I already have rooms booked at MGM and airfare.
 

DGODGR

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Dec 18, 2009
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It seems a little odd that this thread isn't getting much activity. I would think that there is a large enough membership base that there are quite a few of us that have experience with crusher buckets (and therefore would have something to contribute to this thread).
Anybody?
 

Tags

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Connecticut
I think the problem is that the cost of the buckets are so high and the production you get out of them is fairly low (at from what I have seen at demos) that many people don’t commit to owning them, and I don’t believe there are many places that rent them…
 

Falcon1115

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Jan 12, 2020
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Michigan
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.
 

CM1995

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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.
 

Falcon1115

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Michigan
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.
 

CM1995

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Thanks for the info Falcon.

Crushed limestone in my area is running $21-25 a ton delivered so the cost of virgin rock is getting expensive enough to start running numbers between hauling off the concrete demo on a job, then turning around and ordering #57's to backfill storm sewer with. It is not a significant number per job but over many the numbers add up.

For instance - I am currently bidding a Chik-Fil-A scrape and rebuild. The building slab, footings, sidewalks and drive through lanes are all concrete. About 170 CY's of concrete haul off. On the flip side the storm sewer is HDPE with around 200 tons of #57 limestone backfill. $5,000 worth of virgin stone and $7K in haul off charges. No major money savings on this one job crushing and re-using but 10-20 over a 4 year span adds up.
 

Falcon1115

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Michigan
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.
 

Bls repair

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EE258089-86E6-4DD0-A7E2-2C5B42335DBC.jpeg EE258089-86E6-4DD0-A7E2-2C5B42335DBC.jpeg Worked on tearing down and crushing up concrete of the old GM fisher body plant in Nj . Used hammers to break up footings and Pulverizers to size for track crushers
 

DGODGR

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Dec 18, 2009
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S/W CO
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.
 

DGODGR

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Dec 18, 2009
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S/W CO
I thought I'd add a few crusher bucket pictures.
This first one is from a demo job we did a while back in which I used my breaker and crusher bucket to turn the foundation and brick walls into fill material which we used on-site.
IMG_1548.jpg

The second picture is from a job where we hammered and dug about 1,800 yards off of a cliff face for a house foundation. The picture shows the crushed product by the loader and the feed material is at the back by the trackhoe.
IMG_2698.jpg These last (2) pictures are of the same job but the remote location that we were crushing at was shut down to us. We ended up hauling some of the virgin spoils back to the site and crushing it there. The site had NO flat ground other than the narrow paved dead end street that the site was accessed from. This is where the crusher bucket was really in it's element. The picture below is the 245 with the crusher bucket attached crushing the spoils. In the foreground one can see part of the self-erecting crane that was parked on the site that arrived way too early. The GC started renting it early because he thought that he would lose the opportunity to rent it. It was just an obstacle for us as it was never even used on the job. It simply sat in our way for a while.
IMG_3097 (2).jpg This last picture is of the same job as above. It shows the 245 on the "to be crushed pile" and the 315 is placing the crushed material as foundation backfill. Once it was all said and done the crawl space was about 35' deep! The front wall was about a 12' high wall like that of a walk out basement. The high wall at the front of the foundation required a layer of geo-grid every 2' of backfill...even though we were using structural fill and the foundation was placed directly on the bedrock. Installing lifts of fill (315 would switch between bucket and ho-pac to install the lifts), and messing with the geo-grid, allowed the crusher bucket to keep up with the process. With all the complications presented by this job it was probably one of, if not the most, challenging jobs we've ever done. It took (3) different stages of dig/pour/backfill at each stage. As it turns out it was about a $200k dig-out (for a single family house!).

IMG_3171.jpg
 

hvy 1ton

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Lawrence, KS
While we're talking about small/compact crushers, does anyone have experience with compact scalper screens?
 

DGODGR

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S/W CO
I'm not exactly sure what a compact (or even normal size for that matter) scalper screen is. I currently have an MB s14 screening bucket on demo. Haven't been able to use it yet due to hydraulic connection issues. I should be able to get it going soon though as I now have the parts required (at least I think I do).
The S14 is a trommel screen though. They sent it to me with (2) different screen sizes (1" and 3").
 

skyking1

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Nov 3, 2020
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7,465
Location
washington
I have not seen a crusher bucket around here. I will keep my eyes peeled.
There is a large demo contractor just down the street. I did some work for them several years ago. I ran excavators with a hammer, and a crusher/snipper to get the rebar out of reinforced beams and piling. The cleaned concrete went into an onsite crusher plant. I don't know what happened to it after that.
 
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New York
I have used one for the last 18 years. when new, it would chew right through a Jersey barrier. Tons of re fabrication at 10 years as it has held up through many inexperienced operators. Although it is not what it used to be, she still crushes. Had the pumps rebuilt (always do both) and replace the bearings (always both sides). I did find a place to get the belts a lot cheaper. I've had the threaded rods with the eye made local so I keep these things in stock. When new, I could crush 18 heaping dump truck loads a day with it. She's still crushing. We had it on an old Kato 1880 HD. when that got to weak, we added a motor dedicated to run the crusher. Now it is on a case cx330. Added a valve and it runs off of the left track pressure when crushing. Real old school scrap yard stuff. I would buy it again. I use a skeleton bucket with a built in vibrator to sift out the dirt on a link belt . The re bar has never been an issue in the crusher but the dirt slows things down and can cause it to jam. Through the years, i have completed my 20 acre yard two foot thick of crushed concrete as well as selling base material to the local construction companies. They dump their concrete for free and I had all of the base I needed. Labor pulls the re bar out of the crushed material.
 

DGODGR

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Dec 18, 2009
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I have used one for the last 18 years. when new, it would chew right through a Jersey barrier. Tons of re fabrication at 10 years as it has held up through many inexperienced operators. Although it is not what it used to be, she still crushes. Had the pumps rebuilt (always do both) and replace the bearings (always both sides). I did find a place to get the belts a lot cheaper. I've had the threaded rods with the eye made local so I keep these things in stock. When new, I could crush 18 heaping dump truck loads a day with it. She's still crushing. We had it on an old Kato 1880 HD. when that got to weak, we added a motor dedicated to run the crusher. Now it is on a case cx330. Added a valve and it runs off of the left track pressure when crushing. Real old school scrap yard stuff. I would buy it again. I use a skeleton bucket with a built in vibrator to sift out the dirt on a link belt . The re bar has never been an issue in the crusher but the dirt slows things down and can cause it to jam. Through the years, i have completed my 20 acre yard two foot thick of crushed concrete as well as selling base material to the local construction companies. They dump their concrete for free and I had all of the base I needed. Labor pulls the re bar out of the crushed material.

Which crusher bucket (make and model) are you using?
Bought 18 years ago?....Branded as EcoCrusher and sold buy Larry Guiberson?
 
Joined
Aug 26, 2021
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New York
It's an MB I believe. Pretty simple design. Mine runs on a rocker plate. The replaceable pads are made of manganese. When ever I change a belt, i crush a few and re adjust the belt and repeat a couple of times. All of the supports have broke so we have done some modifications to it and fabricated all new supports. The connection plate with the pin ears cracks as well so some added gussets to strengthen that. The permanent cutting edge has ripped apart as well but I replaced and lined the bucket with more cat cutting edges. Like I said, real back woods scrap yard stuff. what ever plate steel is around, that's what we use. Lots of fabricating to hold this thing together through the years but like I said, inexperienced operator abuse has caused most of it and the amount of concrete we've shoved through this thing. As long as I grease the bearings a couple of times a day and replace the rubber block when worn, she holds up. The bearings are a bit expensive ( I want to say around 3-4 thousand) but all in all, I definitely got my money out of her. I believe it is a MB 120.4 they make different sizes but i think the .4 means mine is a 4. I just looked it up. some design changes on the new ones and mine came with teeth but i think they are pretty much the same.
 
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