When Avalanche Excavating, Inc. was awarded a project in April 2015 that dealt with 11 residential blocks of underground utilities, storm sewers, and water lines in Salida, CO, the company knew it would not have much room at their location to navigate and process the spoils of the job.

Both Howard Houghton III and Tabitha Hapl from Avalanche Excavating foresaw the challenges of hauling off the waste material to be processed. So, they set out to search the web for a solution and happened upon the MB crusher bucket through a YouTube video.

According to Hapl, Avalanche Excavating dabbles in a little bit of everything — mostly underground dry utilities, excavation work, demolition as well as building roads, paving highways, driveways and; large and small jobs.

The machine impressed Houghton and Hapl as it crushed large piles of concrete and rock onsite. They contacted MB Crusher America, Inc. to find out more about the product and soon afterward Houghton and Hapl purchased the BF90.3 crusher bucket for their Salida project, and then later used it to produce product that classified as Class 5 and Class 6 material.

The first few days on the underground utility job proved to be of great interest to the other contractors and the crusher unit provided a great source of entertainment, as they would show up on the site to watch as the BF90.3 was put through its paces.

“A lot of people have never seen anything remotely similar to what this machine is capable of doing,” Hapl said. Houghton quickly added, “Especially in this area.”

Hapl explained what sort of benefit they expected from the crusher, “Feasibly, we save money by not having to buy land to set up a crushing service.” They can do it right on the job site.

With the BF90.3 crushing attachment, Houghton and Hapl could use the unit to crush the waste material onsite without having to transport it to a processing facility — solving the concerns they had with their 2015 project. The BF90.3 crushing attachment is a mid-sized MB jaw crusher designed for excavators weighing more than 46,300-pounds.

While using the crusher on the Salida job, Hapl and Houghton wanted to see what kind of product they were putting out from the spoils with their new piece of equipment onsite. They were extremely pleased with the outcome.

“Our Class 5 product is straight from the spoils that we had tested through a certified lab and it came through our gradation and passed it with flying colors,” Houghton said. The crusher also passed on leach rock at an inch and a half.

Avalanche Excavating now generates it’s own fill right on the job site. Hapl added, “The crusher bucket has also helped us with not having to buy Class 6 and Class 5 from an outside source and bring it into our projects, so we don’t have to haul as much, and we can stay on the job site. We are able to do everything right then and there, and move it around and shuffle it to where we need it to be.”

Once Avalanche Excavating began using the crusher bucket regularly, the company started to see an increase in savings, not just from creating its own Class 5 and Class 6 material.

They’ve saved tremendously across the board by at least 30 to 35 percent, according to Houghton.

On the “total trucking purchasing, our hauling, our overall expenses, our fuel, everything.”

He went on to explain “We typically use the unit daily, anywhere from 8 to 10 hours. Weather doesn’t really shut us down.”

The company has also begun to sell part of its Class 5 and Class 6 product as structural fill. Since its initial purchase of the BF90.3 crushing attachment, Avalanche Excavating has added a MB-S14 trommel screening attachment to its equipment lineup to further cut cost. Its MB-S14 screening attachment will screen the already crushed material in order to create more product for the company to sell.

The MB-S14 is one of MB’s screening models designed for excavators weighing between 19,900 and 44,000-pounds. It is built with several different screening panels to accommodate the needs of the job or project.

To learn more about Avalanche Excavating, Inc. visit their website: www.avalancheexcavating.net.

For information about MB Crusher, visit MB Crusher America’s website at www.mbamerica.com, or contact the company at 855-MB-CRUSH (855- 622-7874). Federal customers can purchase MB’s products through the GSA Advantage! catalog at or through its contract number, GS-30F-007DA.