by Jon M. Casey
Rockster® Recycler hosted its first ever North American Demo Days event December 1-2, 2016 at a site within the Rockingham County Fair Grounds facility outside Harrisonburg, VA. Hosted by Rockster Recycler, N.A. and Greenfield Equipment Sales, LLC with support from Lawrence Equipment who provided CASE equipment and operators used during the event. Rockster CEO Wolfgang Kormann welcomed prospective dealers on Thursday and potential future customers on Friday, to this two day event.
Looking to build a dealer network across the U.S., Kormann emphasized his company’s dedication to providing training and service after the sale. He said that by opening a U.S. headquarters in Hammonton, NJ, Rockster Recyclers was prepared to grow equipment sales by taking on experienced dealers who are looking for a line of compact, high producing equipment that offers innovative design features. A few of these include fully hydraulic power and optional features like the company’s patented Duplex System, an option that allows for operators to change the unit over from a jaw crusher to an impact crusher in just a few hours.
They also offer their patented closed circuit system on the R700 and R1100 models. Each crusher can be outfitted with a removable screen box and return/stockpile conveyor. Together, these two accessories allow producers to crush material in “one pass” to produce a marketable product without further crushing or screening. Recyclers often use this feature when crushing recycled concrete as a way to make consistent sub-base material in one pass, with one machine.
Quoting a Newark, NJ newspaper article from November 14 about the future of the construction industry, Kormann told prospective dealers that the new U.S. President’s commitment to improving infrastructure across the U.S. provides an excellent opportunity for dealers to take on a new line like Rockster. The Rockster product line is one that can help fill the equipment needs of contractors who will be rebuilding the nation’s roads and bridges. “We are lucky to be at the right time, and in the right place,” he said.
During the demonstrations, Kormann indicated that Rockster would be planning more Demo Day events like this one, in the months to come. He believes that dealers and customers benefit more from live demonstrations than in other venues. While no dates have been set, he said that Rockster would hold events like this one to help support their dealer network in both sales and training.
New R1100DS
Friday attendees had the good fortune to see the new R1100DS tracked impactor in action following its overnight trip from the U.S. Customs facility at a port in New Jersey. Arriving at mid-day, the machine was up and running its first material within an hour. It was the first material through this new unit since it was built at the company’s manufacturing plant in Ennsdorf, Austria. While initial startup of new equipment can be met with trepidation and potential equipment failure, the new R1100DS fired up flawlessly and began crushing large boulders with ease.
The R1100DS has an inlet opening of 44-inches x 29-inches, which not only allows for the infeed of large material, it also offers a high output capacity for varying sized material at rates up to 400 tons per hour. Basic features on the R1100DS include an adjustable bypass chute, magnetic separator, and remote, electronic controller with color display; soundproofing, a dust suppression system and crusher overload protection. As demonstrated the R1100DS came outfitted with the optional RS114 Screen box and the RB95 double function return belt that fed screened overs back into the infeed hopper for additional crushing. The eventual output of the R1100 DS crusher was a 1-1/2 inch-minus aggregate.
Other featured equipment
Crusher demonstrations on Thursday and Friday also included the running of an R700S impactor, and an R900 impactor model crusher. The R900 was used to crush recycled concrete, discharging it into a RST18 (27-foot length) tracked stacker for discharge onto a nearby stockpile. The R700S was used in conjunction with a RSS514 tracked double deck scalping screen, to process both recycled riprap from a pipeline construction project as well as recycled asphalt material collected from a road resurfacing project, demonstrating the flexibility of the units for crushing both types of material.
An RTT517 tracked trommel was also onsite, specifically to screen a small sample of topsoil material. Despite extensive rainfall the two days prior to the Demo Days event, the wet soil conditions did not deter the RTT517 from doing its job. Clean, finely screened material came rolling off the fines belt while chunks of oversized material, twigs and mud covered rocks came off the oversize belt.
According to Norbert Feichtinger, Rockster Equipment Engineer, the addition of the trommel line has offered new inroads into sales to recyclers who are looking for a rugged, well built machine. By listening to the customers’ requests for a product of this kind, Rockster has ventured beyond the basic crushing and screening equipment found in concrete and asphalt recycling operations.
Dan Civinski, Superintendent of Rockster, N.A. said that with the addition of new dealers like Greenfield Equipment Sales, LLC, Rockster is looking forward to a bright future in the U.S. For more information on Rockster Recycler, visit their website at www.rockster.us.com or give them a call at 856-213-2119.