Tools To Demolish

Enhanced demolition work tools are boosting contractor productivity, while more efficient on-site practices such as recycling save time and money.

While the popular view of demolition mainly revolves around the use of heavy wrecking balls or explosives, most work on a site – whether a full demolition job or demolition work as part of a larger site plan – is typically done with excavators and a range of work tools, though smaller machines such as skid-steers, cranes and other specialised equipment also find their place on a demolition taskforce.

Popular attachments include multi-processors, demolition and sorting grapples, hydraulic hammers, pulverisers or crushers, and scrap shears. With high wear and tear on machines and tools, increased durability creates massive cost savings for customers, while higher productivity speeds up a job while reducing the fuel bill and machine hours.

“Total operating and ownership costs are key when developing new work tools. Cat work tools have been brought to the marketplace following the feedback gathered from demolition customers on their needs,” says Gilles Ronnet, Demolition Product Application Specialist, Caterpillar. “One of our aims during the development process is to innovate through the use of technology.”

Caterpillar’s multi-processors and pulverisers/crushers feature patented speedbooster cylinder technology, combining the benefits of the speed valve and the booster valve.

The technology reduces cycle time by up to 51% and enables the use of tools that are lighter and therefore consume less fuel, while at the same time improving crushing capability, says Ronnet.

“This can be achieved because Caterpillar designs both the machines and the work tools to deliver best-in-class products that are tailor-made for the applications. Other examples include the blank firing protection on hammers, rotating work tools that require no drain line on excavators, the auto-lube grease pump mounted on the hammers and the removable main pivot on scrap shears.”

Parts commonality between work tools is also a key feature, as it increases parts availability globally and helps provide optimum productivity to end users, says Ronnet. Meanwhile, all Cat hydraulic work tools are tested and decontaminated on a test bench prior to delivery, to ensure the product is ready to work when it arrives, and safe. “We want to make sure our customers get the right products at the right cost, on the right machines, while delivering optimum performance.”

Antraquip’s tool range features an innovative dust suppression system using water and air

Demolition contractors also benefit from a wide variety of specialist suppliers. Antraquip Corporation (AQ) is a manufacturer of mechanised rock and concrete cutting equipment for the general construction and mining industries. Historically, Antraquip has focused exclusively on underground tunnelling and mining solutions with its line of roadheaders, but over the past decade it has expanded into many other facets of the construction industry, including excavator attachments for projects involving rock excavation and concrete demolition, says Jaime Snyder, Product Specialist at Antraquip.

In the attachment space, Antraquip offers drum cutters, rock saws, soil mixing, and milling/planer style attachments to fit on carriers ranging from 1t to 120t. For demolition work, its drum cutters and saw attachments are the most popular options, as they both provide the ideal combination of high performance and precision, says Snyder.

“Conventional demolition methods are often slow or do not provide the control that may be needed to not disturb other structures near the demo site. Antraquip drum cutters and carbide saws utilise carbide picks to efficiently cut reinforced concrete, while another option of the AQ diamond saws provides the option of even more precision. Additional advantages of these technologies are reduced noise and vibrations levels compared to hydraulic hammers and other demo methods.”

Atraquip attachments are designed for most extreme applications, to ensure maximum durability and availability even when facing demolition projects with large volumes of reinforced concrete, says Snyder. A robust gearbox system and heavily reinforced drum design ensure long-lasting performance with minimal need for maintenance; and since no greasing is required, the focus is on changing conical tools and wear parts as needed, based on the conditions. Additional features include Integration of water spray system for dust control, 360-degree rotation to maximise efficiency, and custom drum designs to ensure optimal fit for application.

Focus on HSE, recycling and costs

Environmental concerns and municipal restrictions have a broad impact on allowable machinery, whether it’s vibratory impact, dust, noise or restrictions such as the number of trucks that can leave a site per day. In addition, apart from standard health and safety concerns, contractors have also had to pay close attention to COVID-19 restrictions in 2020.

MB Crusher’s range can be used on a wide variety of machine types and sizes, including loaders, skid steers and excavators.

MB Crusher produces a range of attachments suitable for demolition job-sites, most prominently a range of crusher buckets, from small buckets with an output of 10m3/h, up to its largest, the BF150.10, which weighs over 10 tonnes, has a load capacity of 2.30m3, and is capable of production output exceeding 120m3/h. Other products include screening buckets, drum cutters and demolition and sorting grapples. While MB Crusher has powerful attachments for large excavators, it also offers a range of tools that can be fitted to smaller machines such as skid-steers, small excavators or wheel loaders.

In a year when social distancing has been extremely important, allowing operators to work alone in their cab was a strong point. The crusher bucket allows contractors to process material on-site and then reuse it, reducing reliance on transporters to remove material from the site. “With the crusher bucket, as they demolish a building, they can recycle the debris there and create their own aggregates to be using for refill without having to leave the site, and easily recover scrap metal,” said a company representative.

Overall, MB Crusher sees increased focus on on-site recycling solutions, driven both by potential regulations and the cost savings and efficiency benefits of avoiding sending material to dump sites even as aggregates for backfill are trucked in. Meanwhile, recycling on-site can reduce idle time, such as waiting for a truckload of aggregates to arrive, versus crushing and screening on-site.

“Recycling will bring down the costs a lot, whether it’s for a specialist demolition contractor or a general contractor on a major project. It doesn’t matter how big or small a site is, what is important is that contractors begin to embrace new technologies,” says the representative. “It’s not just because of rules, or because recycling has been under scrutiny, but because it’s a resource. At the moment, many contractors are throwing away money when they send material off-site. The moment that they stop throwing this material away, they start saving time and money.”

With restrictions on the use of hammers in urban centres in some markets, due to the damage vibrations can cause to surrounding buildings, MB Crusher is seeing increasing demand for its drum cutter range as demolition tools. The range is designed with twin-drive motors and a system to decrease vibrations.

At Antraquip, Snyder says that when it comes to the environmental impact of a project, attention to detail has never been more essential – and this trend will of course continue. “Clearly, reducing noise, vibrations and dust suppression, as well as having the capability to recycle the material, is essential on the modern-day job-site.”

Reducing noise and vibrations, and the ability to size material to reusable size, are among the benefits of Antraquip attachments. The company has also developed a more effective dust suppression system an using air/water combination. “With the background in mining, where dust suppression has always been a topic of concern, Antraquip leads the way in integrating the dust suppression on all AQ attachments,” says Snyder.

There has also been increased focus on remote tracking solutitions this year – Caterpillar’s Ronnet notes that all Cat demolition work tools are now delivered with the PL161 attachment locator as standard, allowing customers to connect via Bluetooth through the machine or smartphone in order to monitor location and actual working time, and schedule maintenance at a convenient time to maximise production.