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Scrap, garbage, yard waste … no problem!
Winter 2015
Whether we think about it or not, we all depend on recycling and solid waste companies — both the services they provide and the dedicated employees who put in many hours to ensure that they run efficiently. And when scrap metal recycling facilities and sanitary landfills need reliable heavy equipment, they turn to a brand they can trust: Doosan.
Durable Doosan heavy machines — including crawler and wheel excavators, articulated dump trucks (ADTs) and wheel loaders — are currently being used to sort and separate materials at scrap metal facilities and keep up with the daily tasks at sanitary landfills. Although the job functions vary from site to site, Doosan’s optimal machine performance, unmatched service, operator comfort and easy attachment exchange remain constant.
Performs well, saves fuel
When it comes to machine performance, reliability and fuel efficiency, Doosan equipment has the customer in mind. Max Mullins, president of Mullins Salvage in Mount Olive, Illinois, has been operating Doosan heavy equipment because of its stellar performance. “We tried one machine and really liked it. In the scrap business it’s a big deal because you need a machine that will run,” he says.
Currently Mullins and his employees operate seven DL250 wheel loaders, one DL200 wheel loader and a DX340LC crawler excavator for up to 10 hours a day, six days a week at his salvage yard. His operators perform day-to-day functions such as using a shear, bucket and pallet fork to process and move scrap metal.
In Mullins’ eyes, a machine that performs well and saves fuel is a win-win on the jobsite. “The machines are very easy on fuel and will run almost twice as long as other machine brands,” he says.
Reliability on the jobsite is also key at Smith Iron and Metal Co. in Richmond, Virginia, that has owned and operated Doosan heavy equipment since 2000. “We looked at a machine that was sized for what we were doing, and the machines have far exceeded our expectations,” Tom Tolbert, with Smith Iron and Metal, says. “They have very little downtime and are the best, most reliable machines we’ve ever had.”
Smith Iron and Metal currently owns a Doosan DX225LC crawler excavator and a DX210W wheel excavator that uses a 40-inch magnet to unload 200 to 300 pickup trucks of scrap metal per day. They purchased the Doosan machines from H&E Equipment Services, a local Doosan heavy equipment dealer.
Excavators, ADTs load cover
Doosan machines not only perform well at scrap metal yards, but also exceed at moving and leveling waste in sanitary landfills like the 320-acre Black Hawk County Landfill in Waterloo, Iowa. David Dobbs is the general manager for
Waste Tech Inc. (the company that manages the daily operations of the landfill), and has more than 20 years of experience. He oversees the heavy equipment, including two Doosan articulated dump trucks (ADTs), DX255LC and DX420LC excavators and a DL300 wheel loader — purchased from RTL Equipment in Grimes, Iowa.
At the landfill, an operator loads dirt or “cover” with a crawler excavator and bucket into two Doosan ADTs, and then the trucks transport the material to active cells that hold approximately 180,000 tons of waste. The cover helps to minimize waste from blowing onto neighboring properties. According to Dobbs, the facility collects waste from approximately 290 businesses a day, roughly 900 tons of material from five nearby counties.
Yard waste, grass clippings and leaves that were previously buried in the cell were separated years ago, according to Dobbs. The landfill collects, sorts and stores the organic waste until it can be processed onsite and later recycled or reused. “We maintain the yard waste coming in, so as far as the
Doosan wheel loader, we’ll go out and push up the pile just to keep the stockpile in a smaller area,” Dobbs says.
An ease of service
When a machine needs service, Doosan customers look for an understanding dealer who will respond quickly to the problem at hand. Luckily for Mullins and Tolbert, their operators can take care of many service needs themselves.
“We do what we can ourselves and very rarely have to call a dealer,” Tolbert says. “We’ve never experienced any engine problems and have had very few hydraulic issues.”
Smith Iron and Metal’s machines currently run 12 hours a day, five days a week, plus eight hours on Saturdays, pushing between 3,000 and 4,000 hours per machine per year. However, if a service issue arises, a local Doosan dealer is ready to help Smith Iron order parts or send someone to the site to assess the situation. Dobbs receives the same level of high-quality service from his Doosan dealers, including Browns Heavy Equipment in Ames, Iowa, to help maintain his ADTs.
Keeping operators comfortable
Doosan equipment operators will often stay in a machine for hours on end, emphasizing the need for a comfortable cab. Doosan machines feature one of the largest cab openings on the market, making it easier to enter and exit the machine. And they’re comfortable inside to protect operators from outside elements.
“Our new machine is very roomy, comfortable and easy to operate,” Tolbert says.
Along with a roomier cab, heat and air conditioning are essential to the seven operators at Mullins Salvage who are in the cab for up to 10 hours a day. “The heat and air conditioning are important because operators are out in the heat and cold and really need that feature,” Mullins says. “There’s also a lot of glass for good visibility.”
Dobbs says today’s cabs have come a long way from when he started working in this industry. He says operators used to create make-shift cab enclosures from cardboard because they were all open, exposing them to harsh weather, especially in winter. His operators appreciate the heat and air conditioning in the Doosan machines, and the ability to easily communicate with each other because there is less noise. Operators regularly communicate via radios from inside the cabs to ensure safety.
