Moving mountains, or rather glacial erratics, was one of the obstacles in Big Sky Land Management's next big project. Glacial erractics are rocks transported by a glacier, sometimes for hundreds of miles, and then left behind when the glacier melts. The rocks can come in a variety of sizes, from a pebble to a large boulder, and fortunately for the company, they received the full gamut, with the largest of the rocks being 20 feet tall, 20-ton boulders.
Being a recycling company specializing in excavation and forestry, they were excited to take on glacial erratics; however, once they got to work, they uncovered all of their obstacles. Then came concerns about spending money and ways to manage the material. Soon, the word "challenging" defined their job site.
When we spoke to Big Sky Land Management, we noticed that their significant problems had some commonalities: time, accessibility, and transportation. "Well, we are working on a very remote job site up here, and trucking is a big issue, bringing material could take up to two hours," Justin Miller, CEO, and founder of Big Sky Land Management told us. Even after waiting for the material to arrive, they only received 10 yards. "The biggest challenge," Miller stated, "is taking a useless product and turning it into something we can use on the job site."
With a job site located in the mountains, the costs of having trucks bring the material to them, or disposing of the rocks were more expensive than if they were in the city. When the expenses started to accumulate, they had to reconsider their current process, the cost, and whether it would keep them on schedule and within their budget. Their system consisted of hammering the boulders down to a manageable size before sending it to a dump, waiting for trucks to bring the material to the job site, and spending $40 a yard. When the answer to their question was no, their current system was a detriment to their efficiency; they decided to look at other options. Their priority was finding a solution to manage the glacial erratics and solve the additional challenges their project presented.
After doing some research, they found MB Crusher's BF120.4 crusher bucket and grew interested when the unit seemed to check off all the boxes. It was a portable machine easily transported to the job site, and it would allow them to crush the glacial erratics down to a ¾ inch minus, reuse it for their project. By processing the material on-site, they eliminated the need to bring new material onto the job site.
The production rate also intrigued them, at a 5-inch minus, they could reach a production rate of 62 cubic yards per hour and could even crush as a small as half an inch if needed. They wanted to learn more about the unit, its compatibility with their excavator, and to explore other options in the range if it wasn't and contacted us. After speaking to our specialists, they moved forward and purchased the unit.
Once the BF120.4 arrived and installed on their excavator, they saw the benefits immediately. They pulled the boulders out of the ground, then put them in a pile before having the crusher scoop them up and crush the rocks.
When asked whether or not the unit has helped them saved time, Miller said, "Currently, [the BF120.4] 's making, maybe, sixty yards an hour out of the 5-inch minus, so we're moving right along. It's changed our dump truck laps from two hours to more like 15 minutes." He even told us that to get the rocks down to the size they desired, they needed to use the crusher bucket all week and had it running for most of the day. "So right now," Miller said, "we are currently taking useless rocks that we pretty much would have to throw away and turning it into road base, which has given us a lot of savings."
As they continue to crush the glacial erratics, Miller said they were impressed with the crusher bucket's performance and had plans to crush it down to a ¾ inch minus so they could use it as structural fill, as long as the material passed the compaction test.
Without the BF120.4, Big Sky Land Management would have had to keep using their previous process, which would have left them spending money and downtime. The crusher bucket's portability and ability to create reusable products out of waste materials allowed them to take the boulders and find a use for it on their remote job site instead of seeing the material as waste and sending it to a dump. As Big Sky Land Management continues to take on challenging projects, the BF120.4's versatility will be there to do the job.
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