Recently, production has risen sharply for one Greensville, PA, quarry.

To excavate sandstone, White Rock Silica Sand Co. Inc. would use two excavators: one was equipped with a single pointed ripper while the other was used to load the material. The single pointed ripper, however, produced a lot of sand and was a strain on the excavator to which it was attached. And, if it rained before workers could load, the sandstone would absorb moisture and gum up the crushing-plant.

“We tried blasting, too, but the amount of sand produced was excessive and we were more dependent on the weather … plus it irritated the neighbors,” said Troy Adzima, vice president of White Rock Silica Sand Co.

The company looked at options to improve production and decided on purchasing the “SHARC” Multi-Ripper Bucket from Leading Edge Attachments.

“Now, since we’ve been using the Multi-Ripper Bucket, we can do the same operation, but with only one excavator, and the bucket has proven to be easier on the machine and the operator —with better rock yield,” said Adzima. “Also, the sand yield has dropped from 15 percent, which we would get when blasting, to just 5 percent when using the Multi-Ripper Bucket.”

The Multi-Ripper Bucket is designed with SHARC (“SHanks on an ARC”) and is able to rip and scoop at the same time. It also can load as the material is ripped, decreasing the amount of moisture absorbed and enabling workers to keep a level pit floor, as well as producing less sand from re-handling the rock.

The Multi-Ripper Bucket functions similarly to a trencher, except that it uses the hydraulic excavator rolling action to rip. Due to its staggered design, no two ripper teeth align with each other, so that maximum breakout force is applied sequentially to each tooth. The rolling of the Multi-Ripper, by extending the bucket cylinder, exerts the full multiplied breakout force individually to each tooth so that the substrate is ripped out by the lifting action of each individual tooth.

In addition to sandstone mining, the Multi-Ripper Bucket can be used to excavate frozen ground, coral, limestone, shale, decomposed granite and caliche.

For more information call, 866/928-5800 or visit www.leadingedgeattachments.com.

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