Jesse Garcia, Sims Metal Management NW Equipment Manager, stands in front of the Richmond scrap yard’s SENNEBOGEN 840 R special. Mounted on a 7’3”pedestal, the machine’s wide undercarriage offers the stability and mobility Sims Metal Management was looking for in its replacement material handler.

RICHMOND, CA – The existing pedestal crane at the 18-acre Sims Metal Management scrap metal yard in Richmond, California had become a bit of a production liability for Jesse Garcia, Sims NW Equipment Manager. Repairs to the pedestal crane were difficult and Garcia often found himself having to lease replacement equipment to keep up production on the yard’s shear when the crane went down. When it came time to replace the crane, Garcia chose a SENNEBOGEN 840 R special, a purpose-built material handler that gives him the mobility and problem-free reliability and uptime he was seeking.

“Metal on metal”
“A scrap yard is a tough environment – it’s constant metal on metal. You need dependable equipment that is built for this application. SENNEBOGEN machines are purpose-built for handling scrap metal, they’re not just retrofitted excavators,” says Garcia. “Our tracked SENNEBOGEN 840 R special is perfect for this application. We can move it in and out for quick, easy maintenance, and should the shear go down, we can utilize it elsewhere in the yard.”

The 840 R special that Sims purchased is a wide-tracked model mounted on a 7’3” pedestal. With the machine’s elevating cab, operator’s eye level is over 20’ in the air – a height that enables them to see inside the shear’s hopper and some of the high-walled trailers that often appear in the yard. According to Garcia, however, the machine’s pedestal offers sufficient height for most routine operations. Fitted with a Young 1.5-yard Grapple and offering a generous 68’ of reach, the 840 R special is used primarily to off-load 40’ trailers and feed the yard’s 1335 Harris Electric Shear.

"We chose the crawler model for the stability that its wide stance offered, and its mobility when required. The more comfortable and secure our operators are – the more productive they tend to be,” says Garcia. “Our operators brag about how quickly and smoothly they can off-load trucks and feed our shear with the same machine.”

According to Garcia, the increased mobility offered by the tracked SENNEBOGEN also gives the Richmond scrap yard much more flexibility than ever before. This includes the possibility of moving the machine to the dock to load and off-rail road cars, should the need arise.

Jesse Garcia, Sims Metal Management NW Equipment Manager, watches as the SENNEBOGEN 840 R special feeds his yard’s 1335 Harris Shear.

A good year for uptime
Since going into operation about a year ago, the 840 R special has logged about 3200 hours of service. According to Garcia, it has been a “good year for uptime.”

“As an Equipment Manager, I really appreciate how problem-free the 840 R special has proven to be,” says Garcia. “With no computers on board, the machine’s hydraulic design makes it really mechanic-friendly. Regularly scheduled maintenance every 250 hours has definitely maximized the machine’s uptime and increased our productivity.”

Garcia says that there will “definitely be another SENNEBOGEN” in the future for the Richmond Sims Metal Management scrap yard.

“We have discussed the possibility of acquiring a SENNEBOGEN hybrid machine,” says Garcia. “It would use a diesel-powered pony-system for travel and an electric motor for the unit’s hydraulic material handling operations. You could move it anywhere in the yard and just plug it in.” It would offer us the best of both worlds = fuel economy and flexibility.

“With the rising cost of diesel fuel and the company’s corporate position in developing environmentally friendly business practices, it is definitely something for us to think about for the future,” says Garcia.

About SENNEBOGEN
SENNEBOGEN has been a leading name in the global material handling industry for more than 50 years. Based in Charlotte, North Carolina, SENNEBOGEN America offers a complete range of purpose-built machines to suit virtually any heavy lift or "pick & carry" application. A growing network of distributors supports SENNEBOGEN sales and service across the Americas, ensuring the highest standard of professional machine support and parts availability.

Constantino Lannes, President
SENNEBOGEN LLC
2835 Jeff Adams Dr., Charlotte, NC 28206
Call toll free: 1-877-309-0099 or fax (704) 347-8894
E-mail – sales@sennebogenllc.com
Visit the web site at www.sennebogen-na.com

- SEPTEMBER 2008 -