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By Greg Udelhofen
Editor
Thompson Recycle, Tecumseh, MI has moved their asphalt rubble crushing operation from site to site more than 750 times to crush 18 million tons from 1995 through 2007, which includes 13 crushing seasons of eight to nine months each. Thompson operates exclusively in Michigan, generally covering an area from Grand Rapids east to Port Huron on Lake Erie and south to the Indiana and Ohio borders.
But Thompson Recycle does not operate a compact, so-called “mini-crusher” designed for fast in-and-out handling of small crushing jobs.
Rather, Thompson uses a large, road-portable, electric powered Grasan KR1515 primary horizontal impactor plant capable of up to 600 tons per hour as the heart of their recycling system, which also includes a screening plant, radial stacker and return conveyor that are all road portable.
A front-end loader and 30-foot stackable conveyor are transported on trailers. A generator and control center are housed inside a 40-foot shipping container on a 53-foot trailer.
“We move basically seven major pieces of equipment with seven tractors, plus smaller items such as a water tank and light tower that are towed with pickup trucks,” says John Thompson, owner and president of the contract crushing company. “Tractors are provided by a leasing company as needed at each site. We own the trailers.