Official Publication of Tigercat Industries Inc. ISSUE No. 15, NOV. 2006 INSIDE Recycling Matters • International Paper Steel scrap recyclers turn to Tigercat loaders for durable in Brasil pg. 4 construction and superior productivity. -- Mike Ross • Tasmanian Giants pg. 8 Steel is an alloy of iron produced Consumption of iron and steel scrap by • LX870C at Pacific Logging remelting reduces the burden on landfill by heating coke, iron ore and Conference pg. 10 limestone in a blast furnace. For disposal facilities and prevents the accumu- over 150 years steel makers and lation of abandoned steel products in the environment. It is cheaper to recycle steel • Getting More Volume foundries have been highly than to mine virgin ore. One ton of recycled in Alberta pg. 12 dependent upon scrap steel as a steel saves 2,500 lb (1,130 kg) of ore, raw material in the production of 1,000 lb (450 kg) of coal and 40 lb (20 kg) • 234 Knuckleboom new steel and cast iron products. of limestone. The remelting of scrap steel Loader pg. 16 In the United States, millions of requires much less energy than the produc- tons of steel appliances, tion of iron and steel products from iron • AFCA Conference pg. 18 construction materials and auto- ore. This reduces energy consumption which in turn reduces the amount of green- • 4-3-2-1 Skidder mobiles are recycled every year. house gases released into the atmosphere. Warranty pg. 19 Depending on the process, scrap Efficiently managing and recycling used steel can make up 25-100% of steel products is important to maximize the • Tigercat News pg. 20 the raw material for new steel. utility of the commodity. “Scrap steel is cont. on pg. 2. Tullis Metals produces ten trailer loads of scrap steel per week on average. Steel makers and foundries are highly dependent upon scrap steel as a raw material for the production of new steel and cast iron products cont. from pg. 1. being traded everyday on the stock packaging of the small metal products like exchanges, therefore the price per ton insulated electrical wire and aluminum cans changes daily,” says Richard Tullis. “In order is quite labour intensive. Tullis Metals to stay profitable, you have to be competi- employs eight people, most of whom are tive and that involved in the handling and separating of means having the smaller recyclables. Cutting torches are the right often used to cut up larger pieces into a personnel and manageable size that can be hand fed into the right the metal processing machine. The company equipment.” also has a machine that strips down and Richard and chops up electrical wire into pure copper Linda Tullis, which is reduced to small pellets. All the owners of metals have to be separated and properly Tullis Metals packaged before being shipped to various have been in recycling facilities. the scrap steel The primary function of the T240B is to business for 28 top load trailers with the large recycled years. The items like cars, appliances, hot water company pur- heaters, bicycles, lawn mowers and swing Richard Tullis standing chases scrap metal from industrial accounts sets. beside his versatile new toy, the Tigercat T240B and the public, processes it and resells it to Miscellaneous steel and tin is loaded first. loader. recycling facilities. Based out of Buford, As the T240B operator loads the trailers, he Georgia, Tullis Metals is just a stone's throw periodically drops a 3,000 lb (1,350 kg) flat from Gainesville where Tigercat distributor weldment into the trailer to compact the Smith & Turner Equipment is located. contents. “This method helps keep the Although the Tigercat name is not widely loader in good working order. Using the known outside of the logging industry, machine to compact the metal with the Smith & Turner salesman, Keith Reems boom and grapple is not what the machine convinced Richard Tullis to try out a was designed to do, so we don’t do it that Tigercat T240B track loader. The machine way,” says Tullis. was delivered to the Tullis Metals yard in Three cars are placed end to end on top of March 2006. Tullis was immediately the miscellaneous scrap metal to help keep impressed with the overall design and capa- everything in the trailer when transporting bilities of the 240B. “It was equipped with a the material to the shredder. The operator standard Tigercat [LG4053] grapple which uses a heavy I-beam weldment to compact has been great for removing the catalytic the cars before placing them in the trailer. converter, gas tank and coolers from the cars,” says Tullis. “You can also remove the engine but we typically The operator keeps the area around the trailers leave it in the clean by using a chain link vehicle.” Tullis fence roll as a broom. purchased the Tullis focuses on avoiding unnecessary stress and machine shortly wear. thereafter. The separation, processing and 2 The average payload is 30,000 lb (13,600 kg) and Tullis Metals delivers an average of ten trailers each week. Tullis has adapted other tools to the loader. The operator keeps the area around the trailers clean by using a roll of heavy duty chain link fence as a broom to sweep the ground. Tullis always focuses on working the machine in such a way as to avoid unnecessary stress and wear. It is quite evident that Tullis looks after his equipment and thus far he has experienced no downtime. Although the machine has been operating in the scrap yard for five months, it is washed and looks like new. “If you look after a machine it will last a long time,” explains Tullis. (He won't admit to waxing it.) Tullis says the Tigercat LG4053 grapple is great for removing the catalytic converter, gas tank and coolers from the cars. He is currently investigating using a Rotobec rake style grapple in an effort to decrease the time it takes to load a trailer. More Tigercats Spotted in Urban Areas. This type of grapple is able to pick up a greater volume of material and might better Athens Auto Wrecking (AAW) located in Hull, Georgia also utilize the powerful boom lifting capacity of purchased a Tigercat T240B from Keith Reems. This loader is the T240B. Tullis is also exploring the equipped with a Rotobec orange peel grapple. Owned by Joe possibility of a magnetic attachment on a future Tigercat machine. “First, we have to Alewine, AAW is the largest scrap metal business in the convince Richard that he needs to replace his Gainesville area, producing 25-30 loads weekly. “Last year AAW other older pieces with another Tigercat produced $57 million worth of scrap metals,” says Farrin Gibson machine,” says Reems confidently. who manages day to day operations. Tullis joked to Reems that the next T240B “We used to use Barko machines before purchasing the he purchases needs to be discounted the price of a 2006 Corvette since the first Tigercat,” says Gibson. “But from now on it will be Tigercat Tigercat machine cost him that much extra. machines that we continue to purchase for their superior When asked to explain this, Tullis grinned product. Smith & Turner is a great dealership too. They had sold and said that when he decided to buy this us the Barko machines in the past and having them service them new toy, he figured his wife deserved a toy too. Although Linda doesn't drive the was never a problem.” Corvette as much as Richard operates the Currently the Tigercat T240B is used 95% of the time to load and T240B, they both thoroughly enjoy their new unload trailers. “The only reason it is not used 100% of the time toys. is sometimes trailers have to be unloaded and loaded at the same time because things are very busy,” says Gibson. 3 A PROVING GROUND Tigercat and International Paper In Brasil International Paper uses Tigercat Fertile soil, high rainfall and plenty of warm equipment extensively in its sun make the growing conditions so Brasilian harvesting operations. favorable that one can practically watch the Near Campinas are the crop-like trees grow. Probably nowhere else in the Chamflora eucalyptus forests. In world has so much performance, equatorial Brasil outside the city productivity and efficiency been coaxed out of Macapa, is Amapa Florestal. of a harvesting system. The feller buncher and skidder operate International Paper's operations in Brasil three eight-hour shifts, six days per week have become a sort of proving ground -- a and accumulate 5000 hours per year. real life laboratory -- for mechanized Productive hours average 6.5 per shift harvesting equipment. Although South including all employee breaks, scheduled America's largest and most populous maintenance and machine downtime. country, offers many advantages for large- Amazingly, this figure has only reduced by a scale commercial plantation forestry, each half hour since the machines were new and application has a unique set of challenges. it speaks to the reliable nature of the Tigercat equipment even after thousands of hours in service. The seven year old 2x3 m (6.5x10 ft.) spaced eucalyptus trees average 0.2 m3 (0.22 tn.) per stem. The 860 fells 550 trees or 100 m3 (110 tn.) per hour, accumulating 6-8 trees per swing cycle usually without moving the tracks. The 630B will pick up 12-16 trees (two bunches) per drag for short distance skids. For longer distances, the skidder picks up 25-30 trees, weighing 7-8 tonne (7.7-8.8 tn.) The maximum skidding dis- tance is 500 m (550 yd.) and the average is The 630B works 250 m (275 yd.) around the clock, Chamflora The trees are manually delimbed in-field accumulating 5000 Tigercat equipment has been working in prior to skidding.