Along with multiple expansions of its Omagh manufacturing facility, Astec continues to grow its product portfolio with the release of two new machines at Hillhead 2024
Global demand for tracked crushing and screening equipment has significantly increased in recent years, and one business that is thriving in this product sector is Astec Australia.
Astec, founded in the US in 1972, designs and manufactures a wide range of products including crushing and screening equipment, bulk materials handling systems, asphalt road building equipment, asphalt and concrete production plants.
Servicing the Asia-Pacific region since 2008, Australia accounts for a significant portion of Astec’s tracked equipment sales and the company has gone to work to expand its manufacturing capability to keep pace with this increasing demand.
At its facility in Omagh, Northern Ireland, Astec manufactures mobile crushers and screens for international markets, including Australia, and the factory has seen several expansions in recent years.
“We’ve initially transferred our US tracked plant designs to Omagh,” Astec materials solutions business line manager Adam Gordon says.
“Doing this has not only freed up manufacturing space in our other facilities around the world, it has also provided other benefits such as reduced shipping costs and increased flexibility.”
If Astec needs to supply additional tracked units, it can simply dial up production at one of its US-based factories.
In the past three years, the Omagh facility has seen several expansions which has enabled Astec to increase its throughput and manufacturing volume.
“12 months after we opened the facility, we doubled its size,” Gordon says.
“In the year after that we doubled it again, and then further expansions were made in the following year.”
According to Gordon, Astec is committed to continuously improving all its equipment, including the mobile crushers and screens.
“Innovation has always been a cornerstone of our business, and through our own innovation and responding to feedback from our customers, we’ve been able to develop a range of tracked plant that is robust, reliable and designed specifically for Australian conditions,” Gordon says.
“We’ve got newly designed products being manufactured at our Omagh facility, that we’re now rolling out for the world market,” he says.
New products
Some of these new products were on show at Hillhead 2024 in late June.
Dubbed the largest quarrying, construction and recycling exhibition in the United Kingdom, this year’s event attracted more than 26,000 visitors.
The large crowds on deck for each of the three-days of the exhibition got an exclusive look at Astec’s brand-new SF20 rinser mobile incline screen.
Gordon says the screen attracted high interest, and several units were sold during the show.
The SF20 features a 20ft by 5ft (6.1m by 1.52m) screen box and is designed for medium to large scale operations where large volumes of high specification products are required.
It also features a class-leading power unit delivering 100kW (134hp) of power and has the largest screen box bearing size in its class.
The SF20 is most effective in applications including crushed stone, sand and gravel, topsoil, recycling, quarrying and mining.
“We released the SF20 at the show and units were sold on the first day,” Gordon says.
“Two of those sold units will be coming to Australia later this year.
“These units are coming with the optional rinser kit where, in a matter of hours, they can convert into a wet or dry screen depending upon the specific project requirements.”
Another Astec product manufactured in Omagh and released at Hillhead was the Kolberg 9225S modular sand processing plant.
Designed for dewatering and fine-tuning sand products, the 9225S is an ideal match for the SF20.
Gordon says that together, these two become a powerful mobile sand plant.
Tracked equipment
In addition to these newly released products, Astec also showcased one of its most popular mobile jaw crushers at Hillhead.
The powerful FT2650 features a jaw opening of 26” (660mm) by 50” (1,270mm), which makes it capable of handling much larger rocks than other competing jaw crushers.
Another significant advantage of the FT2650 is its optional hydraulic Tramp Iron Relief (TIR) System, a key feature that reduces maintenance costs and increases plant availability, while also providing significantly higher safety for operators.
When handling difficult material or uncrushable objects, the Astec Tramp Iron Relief System protects the FT2650 from operational damage, a problem that could impact wedge adjust jaw crushers.
“In a traditional crusher, a piece of steel that’s stronger than the crusher would cause enormous stress to the machine,” Gordon says.
It could bend a shaft or, next time it happens it’ll break or, worst case, crack the jaw frame.”
But the FT2650’s hydraulic relief feature allows pressure spikes to be relieved quickly in the crusher, so the operator can hit reset and then re-start production.
“When an uncrushable comes through the FT2650, it is not a major problem because of the fitted TIR system, and if the plant shuts down for any reason, with material in the jaw, the operator can hit relieve and cycle the jaw hydraulically, safely crushing that material out of the chamber without any significant stress on the frame,” Gordon says.
“Additionally, it means someone doesn’t have to manually open the jaw crusher, they just operate the push buttons.
“They stay safely outside the jaw crusher chamber and the rock is broken up hydraulically without exposing the operator to danger.”
Future plans
Astec has a range of other new equipment in the pipeline and plans to release more products in the first quarter of 2025.
“We’re always looking to innovate,” Gordon says.
“We’re continually improving our machines, making them more efficient, more productive and more economical. That’s our commitment to our customers, and that’s how we help them succeed.”
For more information on Astec’s product portfolio, visit www.astecindustries.com
- Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter to receive the latest news in the earthmoving industry
- Never miss a great deal and subscribe to our monthly magazine
- Download a free copy of our latest digital magazine to catch up on the biggest news and developments in the earthmoving industry