Transporting Portable Plants Safely and Efficiently

Crushing equipment like portable impactor plants, jaw, and screening plants are manufactured to be moved from job site to job site efficiently. Before moving these machines, it is important to prepare them properly and ensure that they are ready to be transported safely.

Understanding Your Plant’s Needs

To begin, every portable plant model has different criteria that needs addressed before being moved, as each plant has a variety of pieces and parts that make them unique.

To determine which components need addressed, the portable plant operator’s manual will disclose which components need raised, lowered, removed, or attached in order to meet the plant’s necessary height, width, and weight for travel.

It is also important to determine if the plant move is just within a jobsite or leaving the jobsite.

Transporting Within Your Site

When a plant needs to move within a jobsite it is usually easier than when transporting off of a jobsite, but precautions must be made nonetheless.

When moving equipment within a job site it is important to determine exactly how far the plant or plants will need to be moved and ascertain any possible obstructions along the way like trees or low-hanging overhead power lines. While a plant may be able to keep components on or folded out, if obstructions exist, they’ll need to be removed or retracted.

Other components like screens or feeder should be secured prior to moves, even on a site, as the likely rougher nature of a site or haul road could damage the components.

Also, it is vital to clear any loose materials, tools, and other equipment from the machine that could fall during transport and damage a vehicle or injure a team member.

Additionally, it is important to check the suspension, brakes, wheels, and tires to ensure they are in good working order. Even a move of a few feet still requires they be in good working order as not to damage the plant.

Transporting Outside Your Site

When preparing a move off the jobsite, it is important to prepare based of your intended or permitted route to the next site. The route may have additional restrictions beyond the typical, requiring additional work prior to transporting.

As always, follow the procedures outlined within the operator’s manual and ensure all components are prepared for transport. The includes, but not limited to:

• Feeders
• Screens
• Control panels
• Magnets
• Conveyors
• Drive motors
• Service platforms
• Ladders

It is again important to check the suspension, brakes, wheels, tires, and ensure that the plants turn and brake lights are in good working order.

Before hitting the roadways…

It is critical to refer to the owner’s manual for travel restrictions like maximum travel speeds on paved and unpaved roads as well as daylight and visibility requirements. This information can also often be found on a travel decal affixed near the portable plant’s kingpin.

It is also important to remember that many portable crushing and screening plants exceed weight, height, or length limits set by state, provincial, or federal departments of transportation. It is always the responsibility of the plant owner or contracted transportation company to ensure all proper permits are in hand prior to moving the plants on public roadways.

Need More Information?

For more information about preparing portable plants for transport, feel free to contact our Eagle Crusher service department to speak with a Team Eagle representative, and we will be happy to speak with you.