When charged with the demolition of an old electric furnace structure in Warren, Ohio, Mike Ramun, owner of Exodus Industrial, knew that this project would take a substantial amount of time and effort. The scope of the job included complete demolition of an abandoned industrial structure to make way for construction of a new storage building.
Ramun is no stranger to complex demolition jobs. Having been in the industry for more than 35 years, he has seen more than his fair share of massive concrete structures that need breaking, buildings that need dismantling and scrap piles that need removing. What the average person sees as an impossible and daunting demolition job, Ramun sees as an opportunity to show folks where his company, Exodus Industrial, shines.
Ramun has demolition equipment in his blood. In fact, his father, Michael Ramun Sr. was the inventor of the first hydraulic shear — so it’s no mystery why this line of work comes naturally to him.
Decisions, Decisions
Before they could begin the demolition project, Ramun had some questions to answer. The first obstacle that needed to be addressed was figuring out how he would break through the massive 12 by 12 ft. (3.7 by 3.7 m) solid concrete foundation structures.
“I knew that I needed a no-kidding heavy-duty breaker,” said Ramun. “I spoke to my friend Lee Gibson over at Gibson Machinery, and he told me that the only way to go was with a Chicago Pneumatic RX 45.”
Gibson knew that the RX 45’s power-to-weight ratio was perfect for this kind of demolition project.
As an industry veteran, and the owner of Exodus Industrial, Ramun is always watching his bottom line, and after crunching the numbers, he decided that the Chicago Pneumatic RX 45 hydraulic breaker offered the best option. One of the major reasons he chose the equipment he did was because it came in much less expensive than other options.
“When faced with better numbers and increased production, it’s really easy to make that decision,” said Ramun. “Add to that the power and performance of the breaker plus steadfast support from Gibson Machinery, and the decision was simple,” he added.
It’s not that there weren’t other offers on the table. In fact, other folks tried to persuade Ramun to use their hydraulic breakers, but it was the RX 45 that proved to be the right tool for the job. Ramun initially anticipated that he would need a much larger breaker to attack the 12 by 12 ft. (3.7 by 3.7 m) solid concrete structures, but Lee Gibson at Gibson Machinery was confident in the fact that the Chicago Pneumatic RX 45 was the ideal model for this kind of application. The smaller breaker and the smaller carrier of course translated into savings for Ramun, and proved to be extremely important later on in the demolition.
The Right Tool For the Job
Armed with the proper equipment, Ramun and his crew got to work. It wasn’t long into the demolition before another challenge presented itself to the guys. On one side of the demolition site there was a live oxygen and gas feed. On the other side of the demolition site was a 23,000-volt power feed. Operator precision and control came into play and shortly into the demolition, Ramun was glad he had chosen the more compact RX 45 hydraulic breaker over some of the larger options that were presented.
“Using a powerful and compact breaker was key for this job,” said Ramun. “I’m pretty sure I could not have done it with some of the other solutions that came across my doorstep.”
Utilizing the RX 45 allowed Ramun to select a more nimble carrier, which allowed him to finish the demolition safely. The correct carrier class for an RX 45 breaker is in the 35-55 ton category, and the Doosan 350 proved to be the ideal carrier for this project.
“At first I was a little hesitant,” said Ramun. “I wasn’t 100 percent convinced that the RX 45 would be powerful enough for this heavy-duty demo job, but it broke through those foundations like a hot knife through butter.”
At 380 to 580 blows per minute (bpm), the RX 45 breaker is ideal for tough demolition jobs.
Greg Petherbridge, product manager for hydraulic breakers of Chicago Pneumatic Construction Equipment can attest to the power of the breaker itself.
“The RX hydraulic breakers simply have the hardest hitting impact per class,” he said. “Pound for pound, there’s no other product out there that can handle tough breaking applications like this line.”
These rock-solid statistics would prove incredibly valuable to Mike Ramun and Exodus Industrial throughout the project.
Bringing Down the House
Ramun’s crew powered through the demo, which ended up taking two months before the building was ready to be dropped.
“We flew through the job, and there was really no maintenance or downtime with the breaker,” Ramun said. “We just did our daily maintenance checks, and that kept the equipment running smoothly for the duration of the project,” he added.
Due to sound demolition work, Ramun and his crew did not use explosives to bring the building down. With all crucial structural elements having been demolished, all it took was a tug from a cable attached to an excavator to reduce the old industrial building to rubble.
Once the dust had settled, and the entire building (concrete foundations and all) had been demolished, Ramun returned the trusted RX 45 hydraulic breaker to Gibson Machinery in Cleveland and spoke with his friend Lee Gibson about the success of the project.
“He was right,” said Ramun. “And he really helped the profitability of the project with his recommendations.”
Whatever It Takes
The relationship between Ramun and Gibson has existed since 2003, when Gibson Machinery first opened its doors. Since then, they have operated under the credo “Whatever it Takes…” Gibson said that to he and his team, these words mean that they will do whatever it takes to “make sure our customers are receiving the best support possible.”
For Ramun, it means that Gibson Machinery was there to help come up with an equipment solution for a daunting demolition job, and see the project through until the end.
Along with Chicago Pneumatic, Gibson Machinery is also an exclusive distributor of Sennebogen material handlers, Doosan excavators, wheel loaders and articulated trucks, Genesis shears and non-impact tools, and other quality lines of construction equipment.
When asked about why he recommended the Chicago Pneumatic RX 45 to Exodus Industrial, Lee Gibson said, “When you’ve been providing construction equipment as long as we have, you know what will work, and what won’t work. I just knew from the beginning that the CP RX 45 was the right tool for the job.”
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