Construction and demolition recyclers work in conditions of dust, dirt, noise and danger. But the stress on the equipment is worse. While grinders and other size reducers ultimately can help turn lumps of concrete, steel, wood and other materials into an easily recyclable size, construction and demolition debris typically starts off in a size format too large for efficient size reduction.

That’s where mobile construction and demolition shears come in. These powerful hydraulic cutters attach to excavators, front-end loaders, skid steers and other wheeled equipment, allowing construction and demolition recyclers to bring tremendous shearing power wherever it’s needed. They serve as replacements or additions to other tools and techniques such as saws and cutting torches. Items such as steel rebar, steel I-beams, concrete block, bricks, poured concrete, pipe, railroad ties, wire and even steel plates are all susceptible to cutting with handy and efficient mobile C&D shears.

“It’s a tremendous tool for dismantling a structure such as a bridge, a parking ramp or buildings,” said Curt Helmen, inside salesperson with Genesis Attachments in Superior, Wisconsin. “Shears cut the material with no open flame. They take the place of a number of torch cutters, which is expensive and can even be dangerous. A shear is much quieter and safer and much, much faster.”

Genesis’ shears draw their power from the hydraulic system of an excavator or other equipment. The company makes 11 sizes, each available with or without rotation for a total of 22 different size models. “We fit machines from skid steer loaders to excavators over 500,000 pounds in weight,” Helmen said.

Genesis’ XP Mobile Shear features a patented bolt-on piercing tip that can be replaced without grinding or welding. The cutting blades are four-way indexable to provide four useable cutting edges. An auto-lube system reduces maintenance, and speedy cycle times increase the number of cuts-per-hour operators can expect, the company said. Models range from the GXP 200, suitable for excavators 25,000 lbs. to 40,000 lbs. to the GXP 2500R which itself weighs 54,000 lbs. and can be mounted on excavators from 240,000 lbs. to 360,000 lbs. The “R” series of XP shears allow for continuous 360 rotation.

Helmen said the company’s main challenges are unsafe usage or poor maintenance. It addresses these issues, in part, by offering extensive customer training in safe operation and proper maintenance.

Business has slowed lately but is picking up, he said. “We pretty much ride the same wave as the price of scrap steel, which has strengthened in the past months, so we are busier than we were, but not as busy as we were a couple of years ago,” he said.

Rob Murray, product line manager at Stanley LaBounty in Two Harbors, Minnesota, said the Company’s mobile shears offer extended longevity to wear parts, as well as cutting advantages, with the help of a patented blade-lubrication system. “You’re not cutting dry metal on dry metal so it cuts easier,” Murray explains.

The feature allows blade-lubricated versions of Stanley Labounty’s extensive line of mobile shears to handle tougher cutting jobs than similar non-lubricated models. In addition, the lubrication reduces wear on the excavator hydraulic system. “Some of that stems from the fact that when your blades and jaws are lubricated, you overcome binding of dry metal to dry metal, which creates hydraulic spike pressures back to the excavator. That is nonexistent in the lubricated model,” said Murray. Stanley Labounty has offered Saber Lube since about 2006.

The Saber-Lube feature is available on most of Stanley’s MSD Saber line of sheers. “But it’s not available on the very small sheers that go on mini-excavators and skid steers,” he said. Stanley Labounty MSD Saber shear ranges from the MSD 7R for vehicles up to 15,000 lbs., to the MSD 9500-SL, a blade-lubricated design suitable for excavators up to 170,000 lbs.

The company also employs special blade designs. “The advantage on the blade patents is twofold,” said Murray. “One is that it totally encompasses all the wear areas, making those wear areas bolt-on surfaces. The second advantage of that feature is that the way it’s designed, it doesn’t depend on the bolt on retract, so you don’t bend or break the bolts.”

Murray said Stanley Labounty’s business has also slowed along with the market for recycled steel. “It hasn’t totally rebounded yet, but the market has shown some relief,” he said. “In 2010, it will still be coming back from the low of last year.”

Through the downturn, demolition has been a relatively healthy business for Stanley Labounty. “Basically, all demolition has stayed fairly strong,” he said. “I’m not going to say it was as strong as it was, but it didn’t fall as hard as the scrap.”

Stanley Labounty’s history of innovation in the field will continue, Murray said, with the future announcement of significant refinements to its mobile shear product line in the works. “We do have some new designs we’re working on,” he said, “but nothing that we’re ready to release.”