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Metal meets its match … and loses

Spring 2012

To read about an industrial recycling facility cutting metal with a shear attachment mounted to a Doosan DX225LC excavator doesn't do it justice. You have to see it firsthand to believe how easily a shear's sharp blades slice through old truck frames and I-beams before smaller pieces are loaded onto trucks and shipped to area mills to be reprocessed.

Patrick Denney owns and operates a prosperous metal recycling facility in Carrollton, Ga., where his family works with individuals and commercial businesses to keep recyclable - and very valuable - metal out of landfills. Working with his father-in-law and business partner, Doug Mabry, their operation processes scrap metal to be re-used by mills in Georgia and Birmingham, Ala. The name of their business is SLM Recycling, a 25-year-old company, and it is hopping with activity on most days.

Carrollton is a small town approximately 50 miles west of Atlanta, and the people who frequent Denney's business are often as diverse as the recyclables they're selling. The general public, including a group of customers that Denney refers to as "peddlers," collects ferrous and non-ferrous metals and sells them to Denney. He receives all kinds of materials, including cars, trucks and appliances, down to aluminum cans.

Heavy-hitting equipment

Once materials arrive, Denney's employees rely on an assortment of durable equipment to handle and cut metals into smaller pieces. "We have two machines with grapples, two with magnets and a Doosan excavator with a shear attachment," Denney says. "The machines with grapples load shreddable materials, appliances and cars into trailers to send them to a crusher. Meanwhile, we're cutting metal into smaller pieces with the shear and then loading it into trucks with magnets to send on to the mill."

Denney's Doosan DX225LC with a shear attachment - purchased from Cowin Equipment - cuts through metal at a rapid pace. Denney says it is operated for as many as 8 hours a day, and the DX225LC has performed exceptionally.

"The Doosan machine has performed as well as, if not better than, other brands out there," he says. "We use it to upgrade what metal we get in. We buy long I-beams, and we'll shear them into 3-foot lengths, to make them ready for mills. We'll get tractor trailer trucks and we'll remove and cut up the cabs, shear up frames and upgrade the material to a mill-ready item.

"Before, metal-cutting was all done with a torch ... propane and liquid oxygen. Imagine how long it takes to cut an I-beam with a torch? With a shear, it's a huge difference. It allows us to process material much more efficiently and be able to compete with bigger recycling yards because now we can go directly to mills, just like they can."

Parts and service support beyond the sale

When it was time to purchase a new machine, he says his Doosan equipment dealer stood out from others for several reasons. His dealer supports machines long after the sale, providing parts and service support to maintain the DX225LC.

"Based on past performance that I've gotten out of Doosan machines, I was convinced to stick with Doosan," Denney says. "Parts are always readily available; I don't have to worry about that. My mechanic has received exceptional support from my dealer. The service department spent 30 to 45 minutes helping him troubleshoot a problem. That kind of support means the world to a guy who's working on his own machines; answering questions is a tremendous help. The dealer bent over backward to help us do everything it could and to get the machine here on time when we needed it."

With more than two decades of operating equipment in the scrap yard, Denney has seen numerous product improvements, particularly to the operator cab. "There's no comparison to older machines," Denney says, "because of improved joystick controls and monitors to tell you what's going on. The rearview camera is a nice feature, too. Operators can see the machine surroundings, and the air conditioning is convenient, especially during hot summer months.

"Overall, we think Doosan machines are excellent, and we couldn't ask for better service or support. The products do exactly what the dealer said they would do, and when minor issues have come up, they solve them."

For an owner-operated family business, Denney has a simple philosophy that he credits to his continued success: "Service our customers quickly and treat them fairly. My partner and I are here every day, and customers can see us for pricing or service."