When Rusty Rushing, general manager of Journey Ltd., Middletown, OH, needed a versatile screening machine that could handle a variety of products without excessive downtime, he turned to the Screen U.S.A.Tornado Star 4012DLX.
Rushing examined a variety of makes and models and couldn’t find what he was looking for.
Journey’s recycling yard handles mostly mulch, topsoil and compost. Rushing wanted a machine that could handle all three, especially the high moisture content topsoil and compost. “Normally, it would take a couple of machines to take the place of this one machine. This one will handle all three products,” he added.
During his comparison shopping, Rushing noticed that most machines were set up with a grate on them, with the material moving around the disc. With the Tornado Star 4012DLX, he said, the material moves on the screen with the disc. “You can work with wetter material because nothing clogs,” Rushing said.
According to Rick Cohen, president of Screen U.S.A., when Rushing put other machines to the test, they clogged up due to moisture. Also, the downtime required to change screens didn’t impress this prospective buyer. “On trommel screens, the amount of time it takes to change the screen could take up to six hours. Rusty didn’t like that. He wanted a machine that wouldn’t require that much downtime,” Cohen said.
Then, Rushing saw an ad in a magazine and gave Cohen a call.
According to Rushing, Cohen said he would transport the machine, the Tornado Star 4012DLX, from Atlanta (Screen U.S.A.’s headquarters) to Middletown. “He brought it up and I bought it that day. It was a combination of a good machine and a good owner. Here he is the owner, and he came up to sell the machine himself. He was very enthusiastic about helping us,” Rushing said.
Cohen added, “Rusty called us in October 2000, and told me he had a conventional shaker screen. He was trying to work with a variety of products and he wanted a machine that could handle this variety without the downtime.
He added, “Rusty called me and requested an extremely portable screening plant that could screen all of his products without blinding and without the downtime for different particle sizes.
“The Tornado Star 4012DLX was specifically designed for high-moisture materials where conventional shaker and trommel screens fail. We had a signed agreement that if the machine worked the way he wanted, he would buy it. After a two-hour demonstration, he bought the machine and the rest is history,” Cohen explained.
According to Rushing, the Tornado Star 4012DLX has been working wonders in his yard.
“When we have the high moisture content topsoil, it is extremely impressive to work with this machine. Instead of physically changing the screen each time, we just change the screening size just by turning some knobs on the machine,” he said.
One of the nicer aspects of this machine, Cohen said, “is that he [Rusty] can do his 3/8 in. minus compost material and change over to screening mini-mulch, which is 3/4 in. minus, in a matter of three seconds by simply turning a knob. This gives him the versatility to be able to fill all of his customer’s orders without downtime and with one machine.”
The Tornado Star 4012DLX has a 5.5-yd. (5 m) hopper; a heavy-duty 36-in. (91 cm) wide variable speed, drag chain feeder; a 12-ft. (3.7 m) long star screen with dual variable speeds; a 115-hp (86 kW) John Deere diesel engine; an 80 gal. (303 L) fuel tank; a 110 gal. (416 L) hydraulic tank; a 36 in. (91 cm) wide by 44 ft. (13 m) long fine discharge conveyor; and a continuous Star Screen cleaning system.
Cohen noted that Journey’s machine also is equipped to power an optional 40 or 50 ft. (12.2 or 15 m) radial stacking conveyor with quick disconnects right off the machine.
The set-up and the ability to change between materials without changing anything else makes Journey more efficient and more productive, Rushing said. “Productivity is up. We can change directions at any time without any hassle,” he added.
And, he added, Screen U.S.A. has excellent service to boot. “We asked for a few add-on parts, and they sent them right up to us,” Rushing said.
Screen U.S.A. also offers a machine that is smaller than the 4012, called the Tornado Star 4008 for smaller producers and one that is larger, the Tornado Star 4020 for larger companies. Besides the Tornado Star family, the company manufactures small portable shaker screens designed for 1 to 3 yd. (.9 to 2.7 m) buckets loaders for all aggregates, topsoils and mulch, Cohen said.
“In addition, we make a similar machine with a 3 ft. (.9 m) wide, 60-blade hammermill shredder that pulverizes soils and clays, screens and has a built-on 30-ft. (9 m) conveyor,” he added.
All Screen U.S.A. models can be pulled behind a dump truck or a 3 ton (2.7 t) truck via military pintle. “The reason we chose not to utilize a fifth wheel,” Cohen explained, “is because most of our customers do not have tractors sitting on their sites. However, dump trucks and utility trucks are extremely common and can incorporate the military pintle.”
Journey Ltd, a 12-truck construction-based trucking company, was started six years ago by Bill Jergens, the owner of R. B. Jergens, the parent company, a 300-piece heavy equipment company.
According to Rushing, he took over at Journey about a year and a half ago. In the search of something to add on to the trucking business, one of the company’s workers, J.D. Profitt, came up with the recycling idea, and it evolved from there, he added.
Now Journey sells and delivers aggregate products, processes topsoil and does any type of dirt hauling. For the organic end of it, Rushing said, the company takes the organic material and makes it into mulch.
“It gives our trucks something else to haul and that’s the reason we got into it. Now that it is doing so well, we will continue it,” he said.
“It is a growing business and we are still learning. We are keeping our trucks busy, which was the original goal. Recycling is the wave of the future. The landfills are getting full. We just try to find someone’s problem and fix it for them,” Rushing said.
So far, there are not any immediate plans to expand the business. But, Rushing added, “if all goes well this year, we are going to try to move to more areas.” Currently, the company covers the Middletown and Dayton area and all of southwest Ohio.
According to Cohen, Journey has all of the requirements for being extremely successful. “They have an excellent location and the know how to be successful in recycling, and now they have the equipment. I foresee them to totally take over the Ohio market for recycling yards and possible even opening more sites,” he said.
He added, “A big advantage is that they have all of their own trucks. They can haul the material in, recycle it, haul it out and dispose of it.
“They have a gold mine. they are extremely nice and honest to deal with, which is a pleasure,” Cohen concluded.
Rushing added that he would definitely buy from Screen U.S.A. again, when he is looking for another machine. “It’s a good machine, good service and good owner,” he said.
Today's top stories
