Tilcon New York West Nyack’s production manager Wayne Hardick says the XL400 ran alongside a second H4000 for a couple of years, and began to prove that its production capabilities provided improvement over the older cone. “When we began to work toward our production increase, it became evident there would be a bottleneck at that (quaternary) stage,” he says.

According to John DeAngelis, maintenance supervisor at West Nyack Quarry, “The older cone had about two-thirds the capacity of the Raptor cone crusher, so we had to send more material to the Raptor cone than the H4000. If the Raptor cone was shut down for maintenance, then it caused production issues because the older cone couldn’t produce fast enough. Also, the H4000 wasn’t as automated. So we replaced it with a second Raptor cone at the beginning of the year as a step in our upgrade to increase production, match our goals, and automate the process as we completed our crushing circuit.”

The design of the Raptor XL400 cone crusher lends to its production capabilities. It is said to feature a high pivot point and large crushing stroke that offers better crushing action throughout the crushing chamber than many competitive models. An active feed opening creates a desirable end product shape for high production of salable material. With a large head diameter of 52 inches (1.3 meters), the XL400 can accept feed that is up to 25 percent larger than can be accepted by a crusher with less throw or head diameter.

Automated features include advanced overload sensing technology that detects crushing force overload. A simple alarm is activated, or the system can be configured to automatically take corrective action. This same advanced automation system can be used to optimize crusher performance, with feed control, setting adjustment, and monitoring of all critical lubrication and hydraulic parameters.

The crusher employs “fail safe” hydraulics through an internal relief valve within the dual-acting tramp release cylinders. This feature ensures the machine stays protected from mechanical overload in the event of an accumulator bladder failure. An additional safety feature standard on all Raptor cone crusher models is the counterclockwise rotation crushing action that protects the machine if adjustment ring movement is excessive or if the ring gear brake fails.

Bulnes notes that Tilcon New York has placed three Raptor XL400 cones in other locations between the installation of its first and second XL400 at West Nyack. “The decision was based off of the success we had with the first one,” he says.

“In addition to the new cone, our winter 2008 upgrade also included a surge bin upgrade; we replaced our belt feeders with vibratory electromagnetic feeders, which have helped our throughput and performance,” says Bulnes, adding that a new dry classifying system cuts the minus-200 mesh material from all 1/4-inch-minus manufactured sand product, and new conveyors have prepared the plant to fully handle added capacity. Additionally, the site will add new loaders to better feed the new gyratory primary crusher when it is in place.

“It’s been a bit of a puzzle,” Hardick says, “moving, adjusting, and fine-tuning the whole plant to handle the increased production.”