Mobile versus static: an easy choice?

• 
• 3rd October 2008
• Recycling
 

 

Frank Hill considers the issues behind procuring mobile.

While any plant being mobile would at first glance appear to be a preferred option, it does depend ultimately on the circumstances of use. We are constantly being approached with our views on whether mobile is better than static but it all boils down to the following:

• do I really need the plant to be mobile?
• what am I trying to achieve from the plant?
• can the plant be demountable and not fully mobile?
• is the site constrained by space?

At John Craig we manufacture a variety of picking stations, trommels & conveyors and they are designed static, hooklift/crane demountable, or fully mobile.

The best example that we can give any client is that, for the same price, they can have either a fully mobile four-man picking station, or a six-man static picking station. The choice they have, although more detailed than that, is does it really need to be mobile or would they prefer a larger volume capacity with the six men facility.

Therein lies the main difference; with a fixed budget, mobile is obviously the preferred option but not always at the expense of the reduced capacity.

With any client looking at these types of plant, the manufacturer needs to understand the client's recycling model, incoming product and what they are trying to achieve before recommending mobile or static.

One recent example involved a recycling contractor with a large volume to recycle as quickly as possible. In the first instance a static system would have been the preferred option. However, on the site visit it became apparent that the large recycling area was overflowing with the product to be recycled and if a static system were to be installed a bottleneck would have been created, and no loader would have been able to cope with the loading. A mobile system was therefore recommended so that the mobile picking station could clear the product one area at a time, before moving onto the next.

The other problem can be with the product to be recycled. JCC mobile picking stations, although manufactured with the same heavy-duty materials and being insulated and cladded in the same way, have a one-piece conveyor belt to maintain the strength of the chassis. Although both systems now include a magnet frame for non-ferrous product, another reason to consider fully the mobile versus static option is if the client wishes to separate paper/cardboard as in order to do this requires an air density blower, and therefore a two piece conveyor belt.

We have had other examples where our mobile picking stations and trommels have been specifically requested by the client to be mobile, but they have not moved since installation.

The JCC 2008 mobile picking station tries to include as many features of a static system as we can design. These include: hydraulic access stairs instead on walkway panels to avoid slippage, magnet frames, insulated cladding and roof, double glazed windows and doors, and 3 m clearance height for 40 yard skips.

Frank hill is business development manager at John Craig Contracting

John Craig Contracting Limited

107 East Main Street
Darvel
Ayrshire
KA17 0JQ
UK

T: 01560 320320
F: 01560 322030

Associated Links

• Hub-4 Profile of John Craig Contracting Limited
• John Craig Contracting Limited Company Website