Terex Pegson XR400 takes on major brownfield project

A new Terex Pegson tracked crusher is being used by contractors Moorhead Demolition of Leeds, part of the Moorhead Group of companies, to crush concrete and brick demolition waste as the first stage in the redevelopment of a major site in the centre of York.

Formed in 1986 and operating their own fleet of excavators and ancillary plant, the Moorhead Group, which also includes Moorhead Excavations, has become well established in civil engineering projects ranging from initial demolition and site clearance to full site remediation, including hard landscaping and earthworks.

At the site in York, impact hammers are first used to break up the reinforced concrete slab, which is then crushed to produce a reusable product of a quality suitable for resale. The crusher is set to reduce this concrete foundation material to a –75mm product.

Commenting on their new machine, Moorhead Demolition’s owner and managing director, Ken Moorhead, said: ‘Although we have operated various manufacturers’ tracked machines for a number of years, we have found the Terex Pegson XR400 crusher to be the best to date, and ideally suited to our type of business.’

Supplied through Terex Pegson’s main dealer, Blue Machinery plc, of Warrington, the machine is one of the company’s latest generation of powerful and cost-effective tracked crushers designed specifically for operations in the recycling sector.

The machine’s feeder, which is Hardox lined for heavy-duty use, incorporates an extended twin-carriage grizzly section to aid material flow and discourage pegging. Any undersize in the feed can be taken out via a two-way chute to a side conveyor or, alternatively, can pass through the crusher to produce an all-in product.

A powerful 1,100mm x 650mm jaw crusher with an aggressive crushing action helps to ease material into the crushing chamber, thereby aiding machine throughput, while the crusher’s unrestricted feed opening allows large material sizes to be accepted without prior breaking.

The XR400 is equipped with a hydraulic release mechanism to alleviate the problem of crusher overload should any tramp material enter the crusher, which is a particular advantage when recycling unsorted construction and demolition waste. This system, which can be reset at the push of a button, protects the jaw mechanism from potential damage and quickly clears machine blockages to help save time and money.

In addition, the product conveyor can be lowered hydraulically for greater under-crusher access and to allow any re-bar to clear the crusher. This facility is also used to reduce overall machine height for transportation.

Power is provided by a clean-running 172kW Caterpillar C-9 diesel engine, with machine control via a state-of-the-art PLC with automated sequential start-up and shutdown. A key benefit of the XR400 machine is its HFO direct-drive system, which is said to offer substantial fuel savings compared with competitors’ similar-sized machines.

The tracked crusher also offers high levels of manoeuvrability and fast on-site set-up. Hydraulic folding of the 8.5m3 feed hopper sides and ends aids easy movement by road, while the machine’s compact design and 46-tonne net weight, is well suited to applications where it is moved regularly between contracts.

Once crushing is completed, the site in York will be prepared for new building work to commence. By this stage, the XR400 will have crushed in excess of 20,000 tonnes of demolition materials to 6F2 specifications.

TEREX Pegson Ltd, Mammoth St, Coalville, Leicester LE67 3GN; tel: (01530) 518658; fax: (01530) 518664.