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Taking down for scrap, a 600 ton four post mechanical press

ichudov

Hot Rolled
Joined
Feb 1, 2008
Location
Illinois
Attached is a picture.

This is a 600 ton capacity mechanical press with bed dimensions of 144" by 48". Weight 478,000 lbs. It sits about 6 feet deep in a pit. I need to cut it up for scrap.

I am a rigger and a scrapper, however I have never done anything this size!

I do have some equipment, such as 60-80k rigger lift and 60-80k versa lift, as well as scrap torches. But still not sure what is the best way to take this down. It is about 18-20 feet tall. It is held together by tie rods.

I am thinking, first, to "undress" the press and drop everything down, remove all motors, shafts, tanks, and flywheels. Then remove all covers.

Then drop the hammer down, so that it would lay on timbers laid on top of the bolster plate.

Then cut the tie rods on top. (I forgot to check the pit but they might fall down into the pit through the press, or they might not.

After that the crown should be more manageable. Put some timbers on top of forks and lift up the crown (about 100k or maybe less if everything is dropped from it) with two big forklifts. If tie rods still remain, just lift up a couple inches, brace, then torch cut tie rods. Take the crown out and lower down. After that everything else can be done relatively easily.

Any other ideas?
 

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Attached is a picture.

This is a 600 ton capacity mechanical press with bed dimensions of 144" by 48". Weight 478,000 lbs. It sits about 6 feet deep in a pit. I need to cut it up for scrap.

I am a rigger and a scrapper, however I have never done anything this size!

I do have some equipment, such as 60-80k rigger lift and 60-80k versa lift, as well as scrap torches. But still not sure what is the best way to take this down. It is about 18-20 feet tall. It is held together by tie rods.

I am thinking, first, to "undress" the press and drop everything down, remove all motors, shafts, tanks, and flywheels. Then remove all covers.

Then drop the hammer down, so that it would lay on timbers laid on top of the bolster plate.

Then cut the tie rods on top. (I forgot to check the pit but they might fall down into the pit through the press, or they might not.

After that the crown should be more manageable. Put some timbers on top of forks and lift up the crown (about 100k or maybe less if everything is dropped from it) with two big forklifts. If tie rods still remain, just lift up a couple inches, brace, then torch cut tie rods. Take the crown out and lower down. After that everything else can be done relatively easily.

Any other ideas?

Common as Hell need in the aftermath of warfare or major civil building highway or railway bridge failures, lock & dam doors, and Tainter gates damaged by storm-driven navigable-river barges.

Tainter gate - Wikipedia

The "tool" you need for the hairest part is "thermate" // Thermite cutting charges, remote initiated.

Modern Uses of Thermite for Demolition and their applicability to the WTC | Metabunk

Stock in trade for Combat Engineers or their civilian counterpart commercial structure demolition experts, pretty much since Iron was first used in a bridge.

If you are neither? Call one in when it gets down to that last and most dangerous part. No NEED of a human inside the zone with a torch atall.

ELSE arrange enough heavy lift to take it out, vertically.

If you need remotely-removable temp bracing, as the lock at Charleroi, PA needed?

Two steel plates. Bond with amorphous Sulfur. Remote initiated incendiary burns it out. Bracing drops free. Or almost free. Chains are OK. But again - key factor is no human inside the zone to BE at-risk.

Really weird load? Bear the temp load against a structure of dry-ice slabs. Place a steam lance. Remote valve. The rest should be obvious?

:)

Specialty or not, Thermate could be cheaper, faster, and far less hairy, crew-risk-wise.

BTDTGTTS, even taught the course at Belvoir, two generations in a row.
 
To get the scrap yard to take the big pieces, probably have to cut them to pieces with an oxygen lance.

A friend of mine got a call like yours... a scrap dealer in Tulsa got ahold of him and said they had a machine, setting in a pit like yours, that they were given because the buildings new owner had no way of getting it out.

Scrap dealer paid him to come down and cut up the huge pieces with an oxygen lance.

They brought machines and help and got the big pieces of the base and ram outside and sat them up on cribbed railroad ties... he stood down below and gouged and sliced and cut~ from the sides and bottoms... with great puddles of molten steel/slag piling up on the ground below the cut.. til he got them cut into the sizes they desired. I think he said 10,000 pound chunks~ he's dead and I can't call him and refresh my memory!
 
I dont know how much damage to the site you are aloud to do if damdage to the ground around is okay. i would start from the top with a man basket and start cutting. a couple of bottles of liquid oxygen and some large tips Should get you several semi loads of steel There is all kind of cool stuff for scrapping but as a 17 year old working at a scrap yard they would start me cutting On old d9s Oxy and propane just start at the top turn it into #1 as its cut apart that way its only handled once
I second though makIng sure all fluids and flammables are dealt with first
 
I have a scrapper friend do one very similar.

he had the 60k lb forklift, stuffed forks in just under the top, said he lifted to top "up" and lanced off the 4 columns.
I was at his yard, and that whole top (motor ,flywheels & clutch) was all sitting
on a lowboy.

I think the biggest problem, is setting the pit on fire, as your pretty sure it's
filled with grease and oil.
 
The plattens and tie rods a way thicker than oxy propane, plus probably cast iron on the plattens, so your into oxy Lance or packed Lance as you like, the oil in it a real hazard, the alternate is deconstruction, crane, either way strip till there’s nothing left to strip, cut till there’s nothing left a torch can do then Lance what’s left, if you do think worst case, what the hell is going up in flames, soak the area, keep fire hoses handy,
Mark
 
Okay. Usually they drop the tie rods down from the top, heat them to stretch and then torque the nuts while stretched so that there is a preload between the bed, uprights, and crown. You should be able to reverse the process either with tierod heaters or if you have access to the tie rods around the uprights you can usually stretch them with an torch. Prior to that though, you'll want to take the slide out. Loosen the connection rods on the crankshaft and drop it down on blocks. Take the front or rear gibs off and remove the ram with forklift. You may have to take the connection rods out or at the very least you want to run the shutheight adjustment all the way up so that the connections clear the crown. I think you can count on the ram on that machine running in the 20 to 30,000 lbs range. Once the slide is out you can start stripping the crown down ideally to just the weldment. If you can pull the tie rods you don't have to lift as high. However there is some advantage in leaving them engaged with the uprights so the uprights can't tip over when you lift the crown off.
 
Since the biggest thing I ever scrapped weighed 4,000# I have nothing to contribute, other than be safe and the timing appears good because at least in my neck of the woods scrap prices have rebounded close to the highs of a couple years ago.
 
"If you have to ask how, maybe you should give the job to someone who knows how. " thats BS, the owner of the press would not let just anyone in there, you need bonding, fire ins, and a track record. Its a tuff buss to get into, the op just want a few pointers, if he didnt meat the grade he would have no job, most likely he was the low bidder...Phil
 
Some good advice so far, let me add this:

If you have helpers or bystanders, be CERTAIN that their safety is uppermost on your mind. This means that they have the right PPE (eye protection, thermal gear if oxy cutting, etc.), but also have a clear plan for order of operation for each part of the work.

Accurate communication is key, especially if doing multi-point lifts. Dropping a 25 ton block because of a misunderstood command is not fun...
 
Something I always try to remember is it was assembled. So it probably comes apart the same way.

I would suggest that it's an expensive job and it's likely to cost more to break it apart than it's worth as scrap.
 
That would be a fun project.

Surprised no market for a 600 ton press like that? I guess I'm assuming it's in working order. Pics make it look pretty nice.
 
Something I always try to remember is it was assembled. So it probably comes apart the same way.

I would suggest that it's an expensive job and it's likely to cost more to break it apart than it's worth as scrap.

It is worth $38k delivered to a scrap yard where I am at.
 
To get the scrap yard to take the big pieces, probably have to cut them to pieces with an oxygen lance.

A friend of mine got a call like yours... a scrap dealer in Tulsa got ahold of him and said they had a machine, setting in a pit like yours, that they were given because the buildings new owner had no way of getting it out.

Scrap dealer paid him to come down and cut up the huge pieces with an oxygen lance.

They brought machines and help and got the big pieces of the base and ram outside and sat them up on cribbed railroad ties... he stood down below and gouged and sliced and cut~ from the sides and bottoms... with great puddles of molten steel/slag piling up on the ground below the cut.. til he got them cut into the sizes they desired. I think he said 10,000 pound chunks~ he's dead and I can't call him and refresh my memory!

My scrap yard can take any size piece that I am able to bring to them. I can haul up to 64,000 lbs or so legally under my blanket oversize permit.
 








 
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