Terex ‘Rinse Plant’ Proves to Be Critical Purchase for DeFeo

DEFEO from page 8

“We are purchasing from them a byproduct of sand production, any gravel that is above half an inch. We can’t pull it all from just one location because number one, there’s just not enough material, and number two, we blend the gravel from the different locations, creating the multi- colored products offered”

DeFeo takes all of its mixed stone ranging in sizes from half-inch up to 12 in. and piles it in one large stockpile where it is screened and separated by size using an EvoQuip Colt 600 screening plant.

“The EvoQuip was our first screening plant, and it has been an amazing machine. It’s a compact plant that's relatively new to the market. We work it very hard, and it has been extremely durable, giving us little or no downtime. We had considered buying a simple box screen and I’m glad we did not do that. The productivity we get out of this machine far exceeds anything that would have happened with a simple box screen plant.”

“We purchased the machine from Powerscreen New England. As a dealership, they have been wonderful to work with, and their sales rep, Graham Wiley, has been invaluable as a resource.”

“What really makes Graham and the entire Powerscreen team fantastic to work with is their willingness to come out and work with you side by side in the field. They worked with us through the entire set-up process, showed us how to keep our repairs and maintenance costs down, and how to keep our production levels up without losing quality. If we experience issues that they were not familiar with, they are immediately reaching out and working with Terex in Ireland to get answers.”

“We get an added bonus with our sales rep Graham because he is a mechanical engineer, and he understands how the equipment actually works. We moved about 80,000 tons of product last year and our goal this year is 100,000 tons, so we are always expecting more from our equipment. What comes with that is expecting more from the vendors we work with.”

DeFeo separates the fines and oversized gravel with the EvoQuip, then they process the gravel further by their latest addition to DeFeo’s equipment fleet, a Terex M 1700X rinse plant.

“Terex refers to it as a wash plant, we call it a rinser, but by whatever name you want to call it we love it. It was the perfect option for us. We met with the owner, Seamus Sheelan of Powerscreen New England, and he and Graham Wiley felt strongly that this was the right machine that we were looking for to clean our stone.

“They took our needs very seriously and invited us to go to ConExpo to meet with some experts, which is where we made the final buying decision. We went with the Terex M 1700X for several reasons — most importantly is that it is self-powered and self-contained. That allows the water to be directed back into our settling tanks.

Another feature that was important to DeFeo Materials was the large feed hopper, at 14-ft. in width.

“[This is] a big plus to us when other machines’ hoppers are only 12 feet wide, and our loader bucket is all of 12 feet wide. If you’re operating a loader of that size the extra two feet makes all the difference. It eliminates spillage and cleanup time.

“We measure our production from the onboard loader scale, so if we can’t get the entire bucket of material into the hopper, we can’t calculate our production. The hopper holds 10 yards, which allows us to put an entire bucket load from our Cat 980 in one pass, which is very efficient for us. It’s an impressive machine, allowing us to run hundreds of tons of material in an hour. Our total fuel consumption has dropped to just over 10 gallons per hour to wash a hundred tons, improving our carbon footprint by almost 40 percent.”

“The portable aspect of the M1700X is a huge benefit, allowing us to transport the machine to other aggregate producers and make products at their sites. We need to know that we can produce anywhere at any time.”

“Terex worked closely with us to determine how much water capacity in our storage tanks we would need, what size pumps we would need, and what our water pressure requirements would be. All of this made us very comfortable that we were dealing with the right people.”

Another key feature to the plant is its triple deck screen.

“That feature alone saves us 30 to 40 hours a year because we do not continuously have to change out our screen sizes. Because the plant rinses while it screens, we are not limited to screening under only dry conditions. Utica can be noted for its cloudy, dreary days, which can limit your production opportunities. The Terex M 1700X eliminates that concern.

“We are experiencing a significant spike in demand and because of the Terex M 1700X we have been able to keep up with the orders.”

A big plus to the Terex M 1700X is it can be converted quickly and can be turned into a dry screening plant instead of a rinsing plant in less than one day, DeFeo said.

“There is an additional belt that goes on the bottom, and we can use this at different sites with different applications, where no water usage is permitted.”

The rinsing plant was a critical purchase for DeFeo, which needs to ship clean materials to its customers — the product does not sell well when it is dirty because customers can’t see the color and beauty of the rock. Without a wash plant, the best the company could do was run the stones through the screener multiple times, but it was not an adequate approach to cleaning the material. DeFeo had made a small, self-made contraption to wash the stones as they were being screened, but it just wasn’t doing the trick.

“What you or I may consider a clean stone is a completely different standard to the homeowner and the landscaper. They do not understand that it would be a simple process to just hose off the product after it’s put in place. They want it to look perfect when it’s laid down. So, for our stone to be delivered very clean is critical. Even after washing, the stone gets dirty again during transportation. That’s why we invested over $200,000 in the past year on asphalt and concrete floors where the stone is stockpiled. That way once we wash it, the stone stays clean. A lot of companies would think we’re crazy to do that, but we really care about the quality of the products that we sell to our customers. But just as important, one of the biggest keys to our success is our amazing employees that have worked as a team to help us grow.”

For more information, visit www.discountriverrock.com.