Container Tilters & Loaders

May/June 2009

By Diana Mota

The challenge of transporting scrap via a shipping container is the container design. Unlike a truck or railcar, which scrap workers can load quickly using a wide variety of equipment that drops material into it from above, a shipping container has a relatively small opening on its side. Most scrapyards back the container—carrying truck up to a ramp or loading dock, where workers use a forklift or skid-steer loader to dump or push material into the container. Loading loose material such as sheared or shredded scrap creates certain safety concerns—if loaded too high, the material can fall out, hitting workers or equipment. This limitation can prevent scrapyards from loading containers to their maximum allowable weight. 

Scrapyards looking for a quick, safe method to fill shipping containers might want to consider using either a tilter or a loader to help do the job. The two technologies take separate approaches to filling the container to the brim. Loaders leave the container horizontal and deliver material into the container; tilters, as their name suggests, turn the containers at a 45-degree angle or greater, allowing loading from above. 

Companies that manufacture these types of equipment extol their many benefits: They fill containers swiftly, efficiently, and economically; they work well for ferrous or nonferrous materials; and they can replace skid-steers and forklifts, which could cause damage to the container. They consider the equipment safer to use than traditional methods of filling containers because workers do not need to enter the container. "You don't have an operator going in and out of the container [and] up and down a ramp, which could be a serious safety issue if they were to fall off the ramp," says Tim Conway, vice president of business development for the BEST sea-container loading system by Metso Minerals Industries (Brunswick, Ohio). 

The devices can help make any scrapyard into an exporter because the systems prepare materials for containerized shipping to overseas markets without the need for break-bulk port access. Containers have allowed scrapyards to take advantage of the backhaul—the cheap shipping of containers from the United Sates back to Asia, Conway says. They give smaller yards direct access to what can be a volatile market, says Simon Ward, managing director of A-Ward Attachments (Penrose, New Zealand). "More and more buyers and sellers of scrap prefer to sell smaller orders—500 mt to 5,000 mt—rather than the bulk shipment method of 20,000 mt and more," he explains. "Dealing with smaller shipments limits the risk of volatile market prices and [the risk of] not being paid for larger shipments."  

Further, the global export market has grown significantly, Ward says. U.S. scrap exporters need to consider Malaysia, Turkey, Indonesia, Brazil, and other mass purchasing markets, he adds.  Here's a look at these two container-filling technologies. 

Turning to Tilters 

Container tilters solve a variety of problems by rotating the end of the container upward. With the container at a 45-degree angle or greater, workers can load scrap into it from above and safely use more of the container capacity. Two container tilter manufacturers use slightly different designs.

The A-Ward tilter is a semiportable machine that allows users to manipulate 20- and 40-foot shipping containers. It comes in several configurations based on the height of the truck trailer deck and the orientation of the shipping container's doors—facing the cab or facing the rear. The dual-ram design accommodates trailer deck heights of 43 inches to 54 inches above ground. The adjustable wheel guides accommodate combined axle and tire dimensions of 95 inches to 101 inches. The company makes a basic 20-foot tilter for containers with doors facing the rear of the trailer for the U.S. market that's manufactured in the United States. A-Ward also makes a unit that handles both 20- and 40-foot shipping containers. 

This equipment is simple to operate, the company says. A driver backs a truck with an empty container into the wheel guide of the tilter. The container attaches to the tilter with four independent locking devices—one in each corner of the unit. The truck pulls out, leaving the shipping container in the tilter for loading. An operator activates the tilter by remote control, which angles the 20-foot container up to 90 degrees—at full tilt, the container can hold up to 30 tons of material safely. A 40-foot tilter tilts to a maximum of 52 degrees and holds up to 40 tons. Operators typically use a material handler and hydraulic grapple or a conveyor system to fill the container. As the material enters the container, the tilter weighs the load using a digital load bar weighing system. Once the container reaches the desired maximum weight, the tilter closes the container doors and lowers the container back to horizontal. The truck backs into the device, and the machine sets the container back on the truck trailer. Users can load and remove the container from the tilter in five to eight minutes, Ward says. 

HMS 80/20 is the most common product buyers use with A-Ward tilters, Ward says. Loading 80 percent of the product with the container at a 40- to 60-degree angle and then topping up at a 90-degree angle maximizes container weights, he adds. Users also load aluminum, stainless, electrical cable, or other bulk products at a 90-degree angle. "Metal and Waste in the [United Kingdom] has two tilters side by side in several different yards and loads 100 containers per day with an average weight of 25 mt in each container," he says. The self-contained tilters have a 13-hp gasoline engine, a 3,000 psi hydraulic pump and oil reservoir, and an optional battery starter. They cost about $99,000.

The A-Ward tilter includes several built-in safety mechanisms, Ward says. The main operating hydraulic cylinder has an independent counterbalance hydraulic locking valve, which prevents the tilter and container from falling in case of hydraulic failure. Forged steel safety lock bars, which hold the container to the tilter, were destruction tested up to 60 mt per corner, he adds. Further, the A-Ward tilter closes the container doors from a distance so workers do not need to stand near the open container doors, climb onto the container, or be lifted up to close the doors. 

The Phelps Industries (Little Rock, Ark.) container tilter for 20- or 40-foot containers differs from the A-Ward design in that it does not require separating the container from the chassis—it lifts both together. The container backs onto the tilter deck, and a hydraulic slide gate comes down to secure and support the container during the loading process. Two corner locks secure the container, and the truck uncouples from the container, pulling clear of the tilter. The user opens the container doors, and the tilter raises the container to the desired angle for filling, from 0 to 55 degrees. 

Phelps sales engineer Daniel Darcey says he considers the lifting of the chassis and container as one unit a big benefit because it saves time and manpower. The customer can focus on loading the maximum number of containers instead of on the container staging process, Darcey says. A Phelps tilter designed for 20-foot containers can tilt to 70 degrees in less than two minutes, and a tilter designed for 40-foot containers can tilt to 55 degrees in less than three minutes, he says. 

A Phelps tilter has a hydraulically operated slide gate, which locks into the chassis corner locks and supports the container endwall. "Supporting the container endwall makes the tilter safe to operate by reinforcing the wall where the force of the load is being applied," Darcey says. A Phelps tilter for 20-foot containers costs about $115,000, and a tilter for 40-foot containers costs about $150,000. Options include an integrated scale system, automated door closures, and a diesel power unit. The tilter ships almost fully assembled, though it requires some field welding along with wiring the electric motor. Typically, assembly takes one to two days. 

How the Loaders Work 

Container loaders keep the container in its usual horizontal position but find a way to load scrap into the container more safely and efficiently than by using a skid-steer. Two makers of container loaders for the scrap industry take entirely different approaches to the task. 

Metso's BEST system typically takes 10 minutes to 15 minutes to fill a 40-foot container, Conway says. "If you did it manually, you'd typically use Bobcats or front-end loaders on a ramp, picking up small loads and dumping them inside. You'd keep going back and forth. It could take 45 to 90 minutes to fill a container." Users load the feed hopper of the BEST loading system with ferrous or nonferrous scrap, Conway says. The hopper empties into a vibrating pan feeder. An adjustable gate between the two and a variable speed drive on the feeder control the material flow onto a belt conveyor cantilevered out so a 40-foot container can back underneath the conveyor or around it. The conveyor can run up to 650 feet a minute, and on it is a belt scale that weighs the product as it goes into the container. "As the product is conveyed into the container, [the users] slowly start indexing the container, or pulling the container out on the truck, until the desired weight is inside the container," Conway says. He differentiates his product from other loaders by noting you can install it on a flat surface. "A lot of [other loaders] need pits and other arrangements like that to make them work effectively," Conway says. The BEST system, in contrast, is a pretty straightforward piece of equipment, he says, which costs about $100,000. 

Steco's (Enid, Okla.) two-part container loader system comprises a transfer trailer base and a container packer/loading sleeve. Users load scrap into the sleeve unit from the top using any kind of loader. The shipping container sits behind the transfer base trailer so its floor and the trailer floor are the same height. An integrated scale weighs the material. Once the load reaches the desired weight inside the sleeve, the operator activates the wireless remote control to hydraulically insert the sleeve unit into the shipping container. Another control pushes the contents out of the sleeve with a push-blade assembly that is built into the sleeve unit. The unit backs out of the container as the contents continue to empty. The operator retracts the push-blade assembly after the sleeve unit is empty and then extracts the container packer unit back onto the transfer base trailer. The process takes less than five minutes, the company says. 

Steco now has two models—the CL-20 for 20-foot containers and the CL-40 for 40-foot containers—and expects to introduce a third model shortly. The company has tested its units with bulky, heavy scrap including HMS, P&S, shredded, and Zorba, all of which they can safely load into containers, says Greg Haub, executive vice president of Steco. He notes one advantage of this design is that the material does not fall into the container, ensuring the scrap does not damage the container walls or floor. The self-contained, diesel-powered unit travels on a street-legal transport trailer and does not require special set-up at the job site. Prices, depending on the model and options, range from $225,000 to $325,000.  

Installation and Maintenance 

All of the container loaders and tilters profiled here must operate on a hard, level surface such as concrete. Both tilters are semiportable; the Steco loader is fully portable, contained entirely on a transport trailer. The manufacturers say the equipment requires only routine preventive maintenance similar to other types of industrial equipment—greasing bearings, oiling gear boxes, and replacing filters.  

These companies do acknowledge one or two drawbacks. Because the equipment is designed for a specific task—tilting or loading containers—it doesn't offer the flexibility of a multipurpose tool like a skid-steer. "It cannot be used for other tasks," Darcey says. Further, "it does require a minimal amount of real estate." 

Manufacturers agree that the customer must decide what volume of containers it must fill to make their products worthwhile. "It varies [based] on the commodity handled, current market price of that commodity, and transportation costs," Darcey says. "This depends on the material being loaded as well as the model of container loader—20 foot or 40 foot," Haub says. "Businesses accustomed to loading scrap into containers via a Bobcat, which can take two hours or more, will realize a quick return on their investment when using our loader, as load times for the 40-foot unit can be less than 15 minutes." Using A-Ward's tilter, Ward says, "in our experience, customers are filling up to 20 to 50 containers per a day's shift depending on the products being loaded." 

The manufacturers suggest that scrapyard owners consider a few other points before purchasing a tilter or loader. "Do you have the proper area for using the tilter, which includes room for the material handler or conveyor belt used for loading the container?" Darcey asks. Further, "How often will the tilter be moved or relocated? What type of power unit is preferred?" Electric is more efficient and reliable than diesel, he says, but diesel is more portable.

Conway says purchasers should ask how robust the unit is and if it can speed up or slow down based on the density of materials. In addition to internal considerations, Haub says buyers need to consider the amount of material available for export, the availability of containers, and the general export scrap markets. These markets are slow right now, but companies that believe containerized scrap will flourish in the future might find such equipment a worthwhile investment. •

Diana Mota is associate editor of Scrap.