Capital Equipment News November 2021

ATTACHMENTS

Crushers are one of the most common attachments for demolition contactors.

Take on any task For interior and top-down demolition, many contractors have come to rely on remote-controlled demolition robots. And with good reason. These innovative machines provide industry-leading power-to-weight ratios. By Jeff Keeling, North American sales & marketing manager at Brokk Inc.

T he smallest models easily fit through standard doorways and are light enough to transport using a passenger elevator, making them ideal for demolition in tight spaces. Despite this compact footprint, they can provide hitting power on par with excavators three times their size. This power comes from a perfect pairing between carrier and breaker – standard equipment for these machines. For optimum performance, industry-leading manufacturers design their demolition robots starting from the tip of the breaker to ensure hydraulic flow and pressure are perfectly calibrated. This increases efficiency and breaking capacity, but also results in less wear and tear on the carrier for a hardier unit overall. However, solely relying on a breaker is selling these machines short. A range of attachments are available from manufacturers, allowing operators to tackle a variety of tasks, such as material handling, excavation, surface preparation and much more. Forward-thinking contractors are capitalising on the versatility provided by the right suite of attachments. The proper combinations can streamline their jobsites as well as open up new applications to grow their business – turning a demolition robot into a remote-controlled tool carrier. Selecting the right attachments is key to unlocking the full potential of these machines. Here are four attachments to consider for optimum efficiency with remote-controlled demolition equipment. Concrete crushers Next to hydraulic breakers, crushers are probably the most common attachment for demolition contactors. These attachments reduce noise

and vibrations, so they can be used in a number of sensitive environments. Where breakers use force to knock down a wall, crushers simply chew up the concrete, leaving rebar exposed. To do this, crushers require access to an exposed edge of the structure being demolished – either the top, side or end – in order to break it down. Imagine trying to take a bite from the middle of a piece of bread. It doesn’t work without bending the bread. Taking a bite from any side, on the other hand, doesn’t require any special manoeuvring. For top-down applications where noise and vibration constraints are primary concerns, crushers allow contractors to work during the day – in some cases without the neighbours even noticing. Recently, a Canadian contactor was able to remove 38 stories using crushers and remote-controlled demolition robots. The company’s primary focus was mitigating disruption to the local area with the dust and noise that accompanies

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