Dave Larson of Johnson and Sons Quarry in Seaside, Oregon – found himself in the enviable position of controlling the aggregate production in two of his own quarries, as well as, partial ownership in two others. Although many in the industry would love to find themselves in such a position, Mr. Larson’s problem was that the crusher operation he inherited was stationary and of no use to him in three of the four quarry sites he found himself in control of.

He contacted Capitol Equipment Inc., the Washington, Oregon, and Alaska; Eagle Dealer for an on-site visit. Mike and Sean Crotty welcomed the opportunity to visit this seaside village on the northern Oregon coast for a closer inspection of Mr. Larson’s present operation. On first inspection it was evident a new portable Eagle Ultra-max Horizontal Impactor crushing and screening plant could both decrease Mr. Larsons’ overall cost per ton at the main quarry site, while also providing the portability he needed for his other quarry and recycling sites that the present stationary system could never provide.

Mr. Larson was apprehensive at first, having been told by the compression crusher gang, that he could expect increased cost per ton with an impactor, due to increased wear costs. However, having discussed his concerns with a few of our clients those early concerns were put to rest. The rock on the Oregon coast, and throughout much of the Pacific Northwest, is not “soft” in nature – it carries specific gravities in the 2.8 to 2.9 range, and in Larson’s pit the L.A. was 11%, showing a relatively abrasive rock. However, over the last six years Eagle impactors had been turning conventional wisdom on its head in the Pacific Northwest in quarry after quarry where other manufacturers were telling owners and operators that you could never crush this type of rock with an impactor without a primary jaw. In point of fact however - Eagle Ultramax Crushing plants, with their heavy-duty rotors, had replaced both the Primary Jaw and the Secondary Cone in over a dozen quarries in both Washington and Oregon. These units had even crushed down to, in spec ¾ ODOT without the use of any other crusher – even with feed sizes up to 24 inches.

During the first summer of operation Johnson and Son’s crushed over 150,000 tons of ballast rock, base course, top course, and asphalt rock from all four quarry sites; while also recycling reinforced concrete and asphalt from the old Astoria Port facility with their new Eagle 1400 Portable Crushing and Screening plant. At the end of the season when they looked at their cost per ton analysis from both the four crusher stationary operation and the Eagle 1400 plant - they found what many of our clients had known for years - crushing with an Eagle impactor as a Primary/Secondary, can be one of the most efficient crushing systems out there. In fact, in Johnson’s case – the overall cost per ton with the Eagle was 40% less than the total cost per ton of the four crusher spread – and that bottom line made Dave Larson our newest Eagle convert.

All impactors are not created equal and Eagle has done a fantastic job working with our wear parts foundry’s to continue to decrease wear cost per ton in diverse applications across the country. One thing however, has been very clear from the outset in the Pacific Northwest – in many applications these heavy-duty impactors are taking the place of two, three, and sometimes four crusher spreads – matching or increasing production rates while lowering overall costs per ton. If you get near Seaside, Oregon just stop in and talk to Dave Larson he’ll be glad to tell you what he thinks of his new Eagle 1400 plant, and the applications knowledge and service support he gets from Capitol Equipment. Better yet, give Capitol or Eagle a call to discuss how an Eagle impactor plant could improve your company’s bottom line.