Equipment report

Equipment companies come to the rescue

Several equipment companies serving the construction and demolition (C&D) recycling and demolition industries are coming to the aid of those cleaning up from the recent hurricanes in Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico and other parts of the Caribbean.

Komptech Americas, Westminster, Colorado, said it would send its inventory of high-torque shredders for debris cleanup after Hurricanes Irma and Harvey went through much of Texas and Florida. Six machines, a combination of Komptech Terminators and Komptech Crambos, have been sent to help cleanup efforts.

Florence, South Carolina-based ESAB Welding & Cutting Products has announced that with every shipment of select products through and Dec. 31, it will make a contribution to assist with rebuilding efforts tied to hurricane relief efforts. ESAB says it has selected sales of some of its highest volume products to tie into the donations, including Thermal Dynamics Cutmaster 60i manual plasma cutters, the Rebel 215ic and 235ic welding machines and Victor Journeyman Edge, Journeyman 450 and Performer oxy-fuel outfits.

Continental Biomass Industries (CBI), Newton, New Hampshire, is equipping debris management contractors with horizontal wood grinders to play a role in cleanup after recent storm damage. CBI is providing more than ten machines for contractors, particularly the 6800BT horizontal grinder.

Veteran-led disaster response organization Team Rubicon, Los Angeles, began the heavy equipment operations of Operation Hard Hustle in Texas on Sept. 14 with equipment and on-site support personnel provided by Case Construction Equipment, headquartered in Racine, Wisconsin.

Initial heavy equipment operations included debris removal and home demolition near Rockport and Aransas Pass, Texas, where the eye of Hurricane Harvey made landfall in August. Sonsray Machinery Inc. of Torrance, California, also shipped compact track loaders in for the operation, and Michelin North America Inc., Greenville, North Carolina, donated sets of its Tweel airless radial tires to outfit skid steers.

Liebherr USA opens sales and service center

Liebherr USA Co., Newport News, Virginia, held an opening reception at its new sales and service center located at 880 South Beckman Road in Lodi, California Sept. 12, 2017. Attendees included local customers, guests and Lodi city officials.

During the event, Liebherr showcased its newest technologies, product range and service capabilities across the U.S. for the Mobile and Crawler Cranes and Foundation Equipment divisions. Guests had an opportunity to tour the facility, operate the crane simulator, participate in the human power crane obstacle and view a variety of machines and components.

This new location will serve as the sales, service and repair facility for the company’s divisions in the western region. The integration of the divisional activities allows Liebherr to expand and increase the presence of its product portfolio in the U.S. market.

Lefort America opens headquarters, adds staff

Lefort America has recently moved into its new corporate headquarters located at 0895 NW 50^th St., in Sunrise, Florida.

The newly acquired building provides the company with nearly 15,000 square feet of combined office and warehouse space, which Lefort says will allow it to provide the best possible after-sales support for its customers.

To further enhance its growth, the company has hired John Olsen as its most recent addition to its national sales force.

Olsen is now the regional sales manager for the western region, and the company says it is excited to have this “highly motivated, experienced sales professional on our team.”

Lefort also has hired Jon Miller as its product support director. Miller brings more than 30 years of equipment experience to the company.

Miller and his team will elevate Lefort America’s Product Support Department by providing service, parts support and training that will be “second to none” in the industry, according to the company.

Lefort America, a division of the Gosselies, Belgium-based Lefort Group, was founded in 2014, to serve the U.S. and Canada scrap recycling and demolition markets.

Lefort offers shears and balers and says it is continuously adapting its product line to accommodate market demands and desires.

CBI hosts factory forum

Continental Biomass Industries (CBI), hosted its 2017 Factory Forum Oct. 3-5 at its global headquarters in Newton, New Hampshire. It included live equipment demonstrations and workshops.

The event opened with a reception and cocktail hour at the Portsmouth Harbor Events and Conference Center followed by a factory tour through the CBI facility the next morning. Tours were headlined by the CBI road-mill, which was first put into service for Hurricane Andrew cleanup in 1991 and has logged more than 60,000 hours. Ingerson Transportation brought the machine down from its business in Jefferson, New Hampshire, for a static display.

Neal Nowick, general manager of CBI parent company Terex Environmental Equipment, was the first to present in a series of keynote presentations that included overviews and a look ahead for the CBI and Ecotec product lines. Terex Financial Services presented and was followed by a Tier 4 compliance overview from Caterpillar, Peoria, Illinois.

A demonstration took place at the company’s demo area, including CBI’s XP log screw and stump shear. Guests also viewed demonstrations of the 5400BT, 5800BT and 6800BT wood grinders, the Phoenix 2100 trommel, the TTS 620 drum screener, the 7544 flail and disc chipper, the TRS 550 recycling screen and the AirMax material density separator.

The final day of the event focused on workshops at graduated levels of safety and performance optimization. Aaron Murray, technical research and development lead at CBI, walked attendees around a 6800BT for a safety and basic functionality workshop.

Field Service Technician Tim Peters underscored safety throughout his preventative maintenance workshop. Performance optimization workshops were led by CBI engineering specialists Mike Goutier and Nate Fuller, who presented on simplified machine controls and gave live examples of best practices.