A specialist Scottish contractor and plant hirer has reduced crushing costs on small-scale construction and demolition contracts with the purchase of a new Dig A Crusher bucket from sole UK importer, Worsley Plant Ltd. Loch Gilphead-based George McNaughton & Son Plant Hire and Contracting is using the crusher bucket in applications that are uneconomic for the company’s track-mounted mobile crushers
George McNaughton & Son Plant Hire and Contracting has purchased a 900 Dig A Crusher from sole UK importer, Worsley Plant Ltd. The 0.70 m3 capacity crusher bucket has already proved to be a viable and economical alternative to a track-mounted mobile crusher on a number of smaller, fast turnaround projects being undertaken by the Argyll-based specialist contractor.
Strong Reputation
Founded in 1975, George McNaughton & Son is a well-established contractor and plant hirer that has built a reputation for the quality both of its work and of its equipment. Operating within a 150 kilometre radius of its Loch Gilphead headquarters near Oban on Scotland’s West Coast, the company is a regular supplier to the Forestry Commission and several local councils. More recently, it has completed the construction of a wind farm near Dumfries.
“Regardless of whether the equipment is for our own construction, civil engineering or demolition work or for operated hire to a third-party company, we pride ourselves on running a young, well-maintained equipment fleet comprising some of the best-known names in the plant world,” says company partner George McNaughton. “We operate Hitachi excavators from 1.5 to 37 tonnes, a fleet of Volvo articulated dumptrucks, Thwaites dumpers, and track-mounted mobile crushers from Pegson.” It is the company’s experience with these larger track-mounted mobile crushers that led George McNaughton to add the new Dig A Crusher to the company’s plant fleet. “For jobs requiring the crushing of more than 3,000 tonnes of rock or demolition waste, the track-mounted mobiles are the perfect machine,” he explains. “But on smaller jobs, they are often uneconomical. They require both an excavator to load them and a wheel loader to support them, both of which require an operator and transport. We needed an economical alternative.”
Perfect Solution
Having looked for a suitable solution to his small-scale crushing needs, George McNaughton finally opted for the Dig A Crusher 900 from Worsley Plant. The 70 tonnes/hour capacity Dig A Crusher 900 unit forms part of a three-model range that is suitable for excavators in the 14 to 35 tonnes operating weight class. All three models employ standard jaw crusher principles and feature eccentric shaft and settings to suit different applications. The Dig-A-Crusher attachment will reduce oversize quarried rock or construction and demolition waste of up to 130 mm down to -20 mm, with the great advantage of loading, crushing and stockpiling with just one machine.
Mounted on a 26 tonne operating weight class Hitachi 255 excavator, the unit has already proved to be ideally suited to crushing both rock and demolition waste and is now considered an integral part of the company’s equipment fleet. “The Dig A Crusher bucket is a great piece of kit,” McNaughton concludes. “It will never take the place of a dedicated crusher on larger projects but on contracts of 3,000 tonnes or less, it is the only economical solution.”
