What is more significant however, is the dramatic increase in sales over the past few months as more and more operators are realising that magnets just make sound economic sense.
"A magnet used to be regarded as an optional extra, something that a customer would add to the plant at their discretion. Now they are becoming accepted as an essential component of our modular crushing and screening plants," says Africa sales manager, Wayne Warren.
Warren explains that there are two compelling reasons for this growing trend.
"The first is security. Significant damage can be caused to cone and impact crushers engaged in processes like aggregate production by particles of ferrous metal in the feed material. Known as 'tramp metal', this covers a wide range of potentially harmful objects, including nuts and bolts, broken grinding blades, angle iron, small hand tools and pieces of broken machinery."
Specific applications where he believes the integration of a magnet into a plant is absolutely essential include most forms of recycling. Post demolition crushing of concrete and masonry is particularly problematical as a substantial amount of building material is steel reinforced. The reclamation of disused mining properties and day to day green and rubber waste also contains the risk of damage from metallic objects.
He regards the addition of an overband magnet to a modular plant or conveyor system as being the customer's insurance policy against the risks of mechanical damage and downtime.
"The price of a magnet is relatively insignificant in comparison to a multi-million rand plant and is minimal when one considers the costs of a breakdown. These can include repairs, freight charges, valuable items of plant standing idle and commercial pressures related to contractual obligations. In short, it provides a simple low cost solution to what could be a very expensive problem," he says.
The second motivation, which has helped boost the sale of magnets over the past 12 months, is the fact that they have added an important new dimension to a customer's business.
"Magnets are increasing customer's operational profits as the ferrous metals which are being recovered by the magnets are saleable products and provide an attractive source of extra income, especially in the case of a major demolition project. The customer effectively owns a two-stage operation, crushing and recycling."
The magnets supplied by Pilot Crushtec International are TRIO Engineered Products. The powerful self-cleaning products are suspended over the feed conveyor mounted on heavy duty skid frames and traversed by a heavy duty stainless steel armoured belt. The magnets themselves do not require a power source and the self-cleaning belts are electrically driven at a rate of up to 300 feet per minute.
They are covered by a global one-year warranty and both finished products and essential spares are available from stock in keeping with Pilot Crushtec International's commitment to ensuring its customers enjoy 'legendary after sales support.'
