As the operations manager of a C&D facility, Adam Waters believes what he does is making a difference to the environment and he pointed to Sennebogen’s green line 305 multihandler as a key tool in this objective.
Waters is the operations manager of Clover Flat Landfill in St. Helens, Calif., a construction and demolition (C&D) facility located a short distance north from Upper Valley Disposal & Recycling. The operation began about a year ago when company President Bob Pestoni noticed that a lot of the refuse being dumped at the landfill could be diverted for scrap.
Nothing Goes to Waste
“We would see new stuff still in packages being thrown away. That’s the reason why we opened the C&D facility so that this stuff doesn’t end up in the landfill,” said Waters. “We just don’t want to fill up the canyon with trash.”
Waters explained that diverting this material for scrap recycling improves the environment by reducing the amount of material going to landfills and by reducing the amount of raw material that must be taken out of the earth to make room for it.
“For the diversion program, we aim for 60 to 70 percent, and on average we are probably pretty close to that,” he said, adding that with current volume reaching 100 tons each day, he has already seen a significant decrease in the amount of material ending up at the landfill.
“Landfills are more concerned about yardage than tonnage. A lot of stuff can be pulled out which takes up a lot of space,” he said.
“The single most common material pulled from the landfill is wood waste including construction lumber, which generates about 10 to 15 tons a day. All of that used to go to the landfill,” he said. “Some of the bigger landfills can take in thousands of tons a day. Wood just doesn’t compact very well so it takes up a lot of space.”
The wood waste is extracted and ground up, with much of it coming off the picking line at the C&D facility and run through a screener. Some of the wood chips get sold and the rest gets composted.
“Nothing goes to waste,” said Waters, who speculated that Pestoni will find even more uses for it in the future.
“Perhaps the wood can be used for biomass energy. Maybe even use it to generate power for the facility some day,” he said.
Improves Productivity
and Efficiencies
With nine out of the company’s 13 employees working on the picking line, much of the work is done by hand or with the assistance of traditional front-end loaders with bucket and thumb attachments. However, it was obvious there was something more the company needed as it sought to improve productivity and efficiencies. They found it in the Sennebogen 305 multihandler.
As part of the company’s green line, it is the first multihandler featuring a hydraulic hi-rise operator’s cab with an eye level of 13 ft. 1 in. (4 m) and being able to reach a lifting height of 24 ft, (7.3 m). The machine, with an operating weight of just over 25,000 lbs. (11,340 kg), is outfitted with a 124 hp (91 kW) diesel engine.
At first glance, Waters admitted he was skeptical.
“I didn’t even know about Sennebogen until my boss read about the company in a magazine article. And I didn’t know anything about the 305 other than what I saw in a picture,” said Waters.
“I unloaded it off the truck and I remember thinking to myself, ’I don’t know about this’. But we have been running it for a while now. It’s very sturdy and right away we noticed that this machine was different.”
Waters explained that the machine was required to do a variety of tasks that would normally have taken more than one piece of equipment.
“We needed it to do everything including pushing material on to the feeding belt. We have to push but we also have to feed the hopper too. We have all our picking lines raised up with drop boxes underneath. When they get full they are too heavy to pull in and out with a skid steer but this machine has no problem pushing these boxes around,” said Waters.
Greater Reach
and Loading Ability
The Sennebogen 305 multihandler is well-suited for all loading operations (including sea container loading with special attachments) as well as lifting operations that require extra reach, according to the manufacturer.
The hydraulically-controlled quick-change mechanism with an extra-wide quick-change plate has a very large tip angle, offering optimal shovel control. This ensures clean, fast and efficient tipping with minimal debris lost during travel as well as minimum material left in the bucket when dumping.
Some models also have an optional longer XL telescopic boom. This provides the operator with an extended reach and lift height of 30 ft. (9 m). Greater reach and loading ability means that the operator can access heights and dump materials that traditional telehandlers or forklifts cannot do.
“Our loaders don’t even come close to doing all of that or getting up that high. We would have to build a ramp to load our trailers with our loader, and a [forklift] wouldn’t work as well either because it’s not made for tamping down the material in the drop box. The bucket on the 305 drops down two to three feet so we can actually reach down into the box and tamp the material down so stuff doesn’t fall out. That’s what I really like. We just don’t get that kind of reach ability with the other loader,” said Waters.
This also is a practical benefit when using high side trailers to get the material to the landfill as the 305 allows the company to tamp everything down for a safer trip down the road, he added.
Small in Size, Big on Work
Its dimensions, measuring only 15.7 ft. long (4.8 m), 8.2 ft. high (2.5 m) and 8.1 ft. wide (2.48 m), combined with three different steering systems, including crab steering, all wheel steering and front wheel steering, allow the multihandler to work in tight areas, which is a key feature for operators at Clover Flat Landfill.
“We are working in a small area so we needed a small loader, something that is maneuverable because we have to take trucks down a road to the scale and back up again so it’s easy to get around other vehicles,” Waters said.
A Bird’s-Eye View of the Job
One of the multihandler’s most unique features is one that Waters appreciated the most: the hydraulic hi-rise cab. The ability to raise and lower the cab offers operators less guesswork and more precision — to better see where they are going, what they are moving and where they are taking it, giving them a bird’s-eye view of the job.
“From a safety stand-point, it’s a nice unit for working around the public. It’s so small and compact the operator can see all around. It’s nice to have that kind of visibility,” he said. “We have the cab three-quarters in the air most of the time.”
With 1,000 hours of service already on the machine within the six months of owning it, Waters said the Sennebogen multihandler has already proven its reliability.
“Working around trash and debris is a messy job, which is hard on equipment. In addition, we also are working in small areas so we needed a small loader that is maneuverable, but it also needs to be tough,” said Waters, adding that the Sennebogen multihandler met their criteria.
“It has a fuel efficient engine but it can lift and push a reasonable size load. It’s like having a big loader in a small package,” he said summing up the machine’s capabilities.
“It does everything we need it to do effectively. It pushes empty or full 30 to 40 yard drop boxes, it maneuvers around vehicles in tight spots, it gives the operator an unobstructed view of the pedestrian traffic… I’ve used a lot of different loaders and rough terrain forklifts and I have never seen anything like this. It’s a nice all-around tractor that I would recommend for anybody who does this type of work,” he said.
“For us, it is the lifeblood of the C&D facility. After using it for a while, I wouldn’t want to use anything else.”
For more information, call 877/309-0099 or visit www.sennebogen-na.com.
Today's top stories
