Miller Machinery President Mike Miller has been tearing down crushers, identifying their problems, machining parts and getting involved in the start-up and evaluation of their performance since he was 14 years old. So it’s no small compliment when he says that Metso’s HP4 is one of the most versatile pieces of machinery he’s ever used.
“I just think it’s an amazing crusher,” he said. “We bought three of them from Metso and they have been outstanding in every application where we’ve used them.”
As a Metso distributor based in Longview, Wash., Miller covers large areas of the Pacific Northwest, and the demands on his machinery vary considerably. Of the three HP4s he operates, he said that “We put one in an extremely demanding stationary application in a large quarry in the Seattle area to replace a failing competitor’s machine; we swapped out another competitor’s crusher on a customer’s portable plant; and we have a portable plant we built ourselves which has been very successful in several different applications as a rental unit.”
Consistent Output
The HP4s have continually yielded higher production and produced a consistent output gradation due to the unique on-plant feed hopper/belt feeder that helps optimize the choke level in the cone.
“It’s essential to maintain consistent cavity level in the crusher’s feed hopper to yield a consistent output gradation,” said Miller. “Our HP4 portable plant can handle that comfortably with our on-board cone feed belt and 6 cubic yard feed hopper that can swallow the surges in feed coming from the primary side of the plant. Our customers informed us that they were able to achieve less than 1½ percent variance from target values in their gradations, a feat they never achieved with their previous crushing spreads. ”
Customers also are impressed with the crusher’s ability to pull upwards of 450 amps with absolutely no ring bounce.
“The HP4’s claim to fame is its tremendous crushing force and ability to run at tight settings that were never possible before and pull maximum power from the motor,” said Miller. “It has exceptionally high tramp relief forces that virtually eliminate your concerns for ring bounce, which is one of the leading causes of catastrophic failure in cone crushers.”
With changing product requirements and the trend towards finer materials requirements, the crushed aggregate mix for an asphalt plant requires a lot of power.
“The tighter you can maintain the setting on the cone crusher, the more productive and efficient the crusher will be,” said Miller. “And that’s what really separates the HP4 from its competitors.”
Wears Reduced
Miller noted that the HP4 has proven to yield exceptionally good mantle and bowl liner wear life as compared to other cone crushers. A couple of factors influencing this are that the HP4 design allows for the use of thicker liners by comparison to the original HP series cone crushers, which means more mass to wear on. It also has a unique anti-head spin device which significantly reduces liner wear during initial feed stage of operation.
Additionally, the HP4 liners do not require epoxy backing material, which means that when they’re replaced cure-time for the epoxy is eliminated. The resultant increased availability of the crusher to resume production yields higher annual plant output than previously possible.
Development Team
Miller recently joined the Metso construction group’s North American Crusher Development Team. Adrian Quigg (VP Distributor Sales, Americas) invited Miller to participate in the team, which had its first meeting in York, Pa.
“We focused on reviewing existing products to see where they fit in the market and to identify niche opportunities for other new and improved products,” said Miller. “We discussed HPX technologies and identified a wide range of applications where we could put the HP4 to good use to benefit of our customers.”
The group’s goal is to further develop crushing machinery that will most efficiently yield the best quality crushed aggregate products, while minimizing the overall operation costs, in a safe and environmentally friendly manner for the customer.
“Metso’s support and dedication to offering high performance crushing machinery has been a key factor in allowing our company to be successful in the pursuit of offering our customers results they can count on,” Miller said.
For more information, visit www.metso.com.
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