by Jon M. Casey

For the staff at Pine Bush Equipment (PBE), the choice for the addition of a Tier IV compliant, tracked portable jaw crusher became clear, the addition of an Atlas Copco PC2 crusher, outfitted with the HS1 Screen box was a clear choice. Since they had been representing the Atlas Copco line for some time, and offered a rental fleet that includes crushing and screening equipment from other manufacturers, the addition of the Atlas Copco crusher to their rental fleet, seemed like the perfect fit.

“We’ve represented the Komatsu line since they came to the U.S. back in the 1970s,” said Steve Boniface, PBE CEO, in advance of the onsite demonstration of their new unit at their headquarters in Holmes, NY location, April 26. “We have several of their crushers in our fleet; however we were looking for a smaller, Tier IV jaw crusher. After our equipment specialist Dave Ewald had done an extensive review of several equipment lines, the Atlas Copco PC2 was the ideal product to add to our rental fleet for the customers who needed that kind of equipment.”

Holly Bodnar, president of the PBE Group agreed. “Pine Bush Equipment has been proud to represent products within the Atlas Copco family for years, so it was only natural we would look to feature a reliable crusher line,” she said.

Ewald noted that the Powercrusher PC2 is a great fit for either rental or purchase, in both recycling and small job aggregate work. He added that the HS1 screen can provide both fines for pre-pavement work and also aggregates for drainage or fill. “Together, the PC2 and HS1 have a small footprint,” he said, “That is important to a lot of customers who have sites where other screens might not fit.”

According to Eric Amberson, the U.S. Powercrusher product line manager, the versatility of the equipment is a key feature. “The screen offers the advantage of being able to produce two products from one machine,” he said. “The PC2 can also create its own spec product out of the end of the jaw when the screen is not attached.”

He said the Powercrusher PC2 jaw crusher features a unique “Quattro Movement” that causes a figure-8 motion in the moving jaw. That increases the feed capacity and produces a post-crush at the crusher outlet. The initial swing-stroke movement of the jaw gives 100 percent crushing across the entire surface of the jaw plate. The PC2 material inlet is an opening 40 by 28 inches wide, with a capacity of 330 tons per hour.

As a supplement to the Powercrusher, the single-deck HS1 screener enables customers to produce two salable products. As noted in today’s demonstration,

The screen box has large clearances to help eliminate blockages even when the crusher is producing a high volume of output. The re-circulating conveyor option deposits oversize materials directly back into the hopper of the crusher.

Atlas Copco field technician, Wolfgang Schwaha, who was operating the crusher for the demonstration, said that for this event, the jaw was closed down to its minimum opening (2”) and the HS1 screen box had a 1-1/2” screen which together was producing two products that are routinely used at construction sites as fill material. Interestingly, the crusher was comparatively quiet for a diesel jaw crusher. Amberson said that even though the unit was only running at about half its normal production rate, the noise level was close to what it would be under full load.

Boniface said that Pine Bush serves 10 counties in southern New York, the state of Connecticut, Pike County, Pennsylvania and Sussex County, New Jersey. For more information on Pine Bush Equipment with locations in Pine Bush and Holmes, N.Y., and Newington, Conn visit their website at www.pbeinc.com or give them a call at (845) 744-2006. For more information on the Powercrusher PC2 and other Atlas Copco equipment, visit their website at www.atlascopco.us