Introduction

We recently installed a MC32 Mobile Compactor that was to be used for compacting insulation material. Everything went smoothly with the installation and our partner was happy with the machine until it came to emptying it. With the design of our rear door, the insulation material didn’t have enough weight to push the door open, not something we had experienced before. This led to the compactor failing to be emptied after several attempts.

After a few long discussions between Steve, our partner and their waste collection company we got the machine back into the workshop to modify it using the waste collectors' feedback.

The mobile compactor we replaced.

The Challenge

  • The compactor had already been built and was on site.
  • There was too much resistance for the insulation to empty by its own weight.

The Solution

The first thing we needed to do was get the compactor back to our workshop, the modifications couldn’t be done while it was in place. Once it was back our team got to work with an angle grinder removing a lip that is normally used to guide the waste as it is being emptied, this was causing extra resistance to emptying the insulation.

We changed the design of the rear door from a top-hinged door to a side-hinged door. We did this by grinding off the paint and welding on the new hinges whilst the top ones were still in place. When the new hinges were welded to both the frame and the door we dropped in the hinge pin and ground off the top hinges carefully, checking the alignment as we went to ensure the door didn’t drop.

We painted the areas where we had stripped the paint and gave the compactor a once-over while we had it.

The grey lines represent the lip that was removed. Normally this lip is used during emptying to guide the waste but in this case was part of the problem.

Key Benefits

  • The big benefit is obviously having a compactor that can be emptied!
  • The side-hinged door now doesn’t require gravity to fully open and with no lip, the insulation can slide straight out.
  • We have a better understanding of how an unusual material interacts with our compactors.

Back in place and everything is running smoothly now

The Road Ahead

The partner has a service agreement in place so we will be visiting this compactor regularly in the future. We will also be getting regular updates from the partner to check what weights they are getting and how the emptying is going.