The FT4250 crusher from KPI-JCI and Astec Mobile Screens earned an A at Bowling Green State University this summer. Holland, Ohio-based Klumm Bros. Excavating & Demolition used the FT4250 from Columbus Equipment Company specifically to crush debris on the Harshman Quadrangle residence hall demolition project that ran through July.
The machine offered several advantages for this project, including mobility, noted Bob Klumm, president. The company owns portable crushers with rubber tires, but they wanted a track unit for the BGSU project. “Where the FT4250 has an advantage is that you can easily move it in minutes, versus a half day of teardown and reassembly for a wheeled machine,” he said. “This was a time-sensitive project. The goal was to complete it over summer break when there are fewer students on campus.”
“The FT4250 also has an excellent dust suppression system,” Klumm said. “Keeping the dust minimized was of utmost importance to everyone involved,” since Harshman Quadrangle is in the middle of campus.
Known for its unusual design—four wings coming off a circular building in the center—Harshman was erected more than 50 years ago. The 230,000 square-foot residence hall housed around 600 students.
After being processed through the FT4250, the entire building was crushed into pieces smaller than 2 inches and compacted on site. “The whole dorm was recycled with about 95 percent of the volume used right back in the same place,” Klumm said. The contract called for the site to be backfilled and compacted so it’s ready for a building in the future. For now, the university is using the site as greenspace.
The crushed product had to meet the 2-inch-minus specification, with the machine screening out larger pieces and sending them through the impactor again.
In all, Klumm estimated his crew crushed about 30,000 tons of material in about a month, including brick, asphalt and concrete. The FT4250 performed well on all the materials, including heavily-reinforced concrete, probably the most challenging material for a crusher.
The FT4250 is operated by remote control, rather than at a control panel on the crusher, allowing the excavator operator to stop and start crusher functions without leaving the excavator. Keeping the operator in an air-conditioned cab helps productivity and eliminates the dangers of employees walking around piles of concrete, Klumm noted.
The user-friendly machine is equipped with a telematics system that allowed Columbus Equipment Company to check a couple of error codes remotely during the project, preventing downtime for very minor issues.
Bob Klumm and his brother Ron, vice president, started the company in 1989 as a landscaping and lawn maintenance firm, taking their high school lawn mowing business up a notch. As they acquired bigger equipment, they branched out to digging basements and demolishing single-family houses.
“We realized demolition was a perfect niche for us. We bought our first concrete crusher in 2003 and that really launched the demolition end of our business,” Klumm said. Today, demolition and crushing represent about half their business.
Also in 2003, they become Columbus Equipment Company customers. “Columbus Equipment provides excellent service after the sale, and the sales guys remain engaged after the process. They stop by and make sure things are up to our expectations,” Klumm said.
As the Harshman Quadrangle demolition proves, with equipment and support from Columbus Equipment Company, Klumm Bros. Excavation & Demolition is crushing it.