M. Bradsher Company has only good things to say about the OM Track machines it operates, even going so far as to say the crushers have had a “tremendous impact” on its business.
The fact the OM Track (Omtrack) was purchased by Keestrack will not change that opinion, nor will it change Bradsher’s purchasing habits. According to owner Malcolm Bradsher, the company’s next crushing spread will be a Keestrack system.
In the Beginning
M. Bradsher Company was established in 1989 under the name of M.B. Enterprises. Starting out with small excavation jobs and manufacturing its own materials, the company maintained a high quality level of production and workmanship. Over the years as the company has expanded its equipment inventory it has expanded into the removal and recycling of concrete foundations, floors, walls, walkways and many other types of concrete construction. It has recycled these materials into a wide range of products, which it and other area contractors re-use in other construction jobs. The company is often hired by demolition and general contractors to subcontract the recycling of crushed rock, stone, concrete, and bricks on projects all over New England.
In the company’s early years when Malcolm Bradsher first started getting involved in aggregate recycling, he purchased and rebuilt a 1970 vintage Austin Westin crushing plant that had been badly neglected. He then purchased an extreme duty Nye mechanical pulverizer from National Attachments in Maine that had a ripper thumb mounted to it. Once the excavator and the pulverizer broke up the concrete, the material was processed by the Austin Westin crusher.
It was kind of a makeshift, shoestring operation, but it got the job done and it proved to be profitable, which is what motivated Bradsher to purchase his first new portable tracked machine, an OM Track 26 x 40 portable tracked crusher. The model is known as an “Argo” and according to Bradsher it has been a fantastic machine. In fact, it worked out so well that a few years later he purchased an OM Track 30 x 42 portable tracked crusher known as a “Saturno.”
“These crushers have had a tremendous impact on our business,” Bradsher said. “Our company’s growth exploded with the purchases and our processing time, production numbers and efficiency dramatically improved. We immediately went from processing 200 tons a day with the old machine to 1,200 tons a day. The materials that we create are either re-used on site or they are hauled back to our yard for resale.”
According to Bradsher, the machines are wonderful to operate and extremely portable; its setup time is about five minutes.
“As our reputation has grown for selling aggregate materials, we purchased a quarry in the Farmington/Rochester, New Hampshire, area, which is where we set up the Saturno machine. Each time that we purchased one of the OM machines we tried competitive makes and models and nothing else has stood the test of comparison.
“The stainless steel, one piece belt on the OM machines is superior to anything else on the market. We have operated from six to seven thousand hours without replacing a belt. This stainless steel belt is so superior that when we had to replace it, we temporarily had to use a rubber belt like most other machines use, and we tore it up in no time at all. If, while processing, the belt is damaged, the machine automatically releases the pressure on the belt and shuts off the supply of material going to the belt from the feeder,” he said.
“Our OM Track Argo machine is approaching the 10,000-hour mark and we are still very satisfied.
Getting Support
In 2010, OM Track was purchased by Keestrack. Equipment East, now the Keestrack dealer for New England, has been supporting these machines for some time now.
“Richard Zibell is our representative from Equipment East and they have done a tremendous job supplying parts and technical support for these machines. We anticipate that our next crushing spread will be a Keestrack system purchased from Equipment East,” Bradsher said.
“As our business has grown, we have tackled larger and larger projects. New England is littered with abandoned mills and factories that need to come down or to be rehabilitated and we have tackled more and more of those jobs. We go into these sites and pre-clean with our skid steers and excavators, removing all of the recyclable metals, electrical utilities and plumbing until there is nothing left but the concrete and the bricks. At that point our excavators and the OM Track machines make short work of the project.”
Notable Features
There are a several features of the OM Track machines that Bradsher said he really appreciated. One is the hydraulic adjust, which allows them to change the size of the processed material without shutting down the crusher. The crushers also are equipped with hydraulic relief, which allows the jaws to automatically release when hitting material that would damage the jaw, such as steel, rebar or any other extremely hard material, thus protecting the jaw from serious damage.
Finally, the jaw also has sensors that are tied to the feeder. For the jaw to operate at maximum efficiency the hopper should be kept full. If the material is being processed too slow or too fast the sensors adjust the amount of material coming from the feeder to keep the jaw at that three-quarters full maximum operating level, according to Bradsher.
Only the Name Has Changed
Omtrack was a manufacturer of portable crushing equipment that has been marketed in New England for a number of years. There is a population of OM Track machines in the New England market but all future machines will be know as Keestrack.
For more information about M. Bradsher, call 603/679-3888 or visit www.bradshercorp.com
For more information about Equipment East, call 978/454-3320 or visit www.equipmenteast.com.
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