Elkhart County Gravel Increases Screen Wear Life and Boosts Plant Efficiency With High-Quality Screens.
By Mark S. Kuhar
Elkhart County Gravel, headquartered in New Paris, Ind., operates four Indiana and Illinois Department of Transportation certified sand and gravel pits in northern Indiana that produce landscape stone, asphalt blends and concrete mined from a bench below water.
As Plant Manager Arnie Miller knows the value of investing in products that save money and increase plant production, which is why he partnered with Durex. “We’ve used Durex from day one. I’ve been buying screens from them for 35 years,” said Miller.
Durex’s dealer Rock Machinery President Bryant Fazer knows why so many producers choose to work with Durex. “What’s unique to us is everything is 100% manufactured in-house. The raw wire is purchased domestically and not overseas like many competitors,” he said. “Durex has complete control over their process and the skill to make the best products in the industry.”
Increased Wear Life
Elkhart County Gravel uses a variety of Durex products, from modular urethane panels to long slot triple-shoot woven wire screens and Armor screens.
The Armor screens are where Elkhart has found an incredible improvement in durability. Built from high-grade wire cloth and modeled open-cast premium polyurethane, these tensioned screens offer a much higher open area than conventional polyurethane screens and much longer wear life than wire screens. Users get all the benefits of a side tension panel without having to convert their deck to a modular system.
Built to install like wire screen panels, an Armor screen requires no modification and stands up to highly abrasive wear in light to medium load application wash plants like Elkhart. “They work great and wear better,” said Miller. “We were using 4-5 wire panels a year and last year we went through a full season with just one Armor screen.”
Increased Plant Efficiency
Miller also implemented long-slot triple-shoot wire screens at the Elkhart plant thanks to the increase in efficiency they offer. Made of high-quality XT, oil-tempered, stainless or high carbon steel, Durex woven wire screen allows the use of lighter-gauge wire, and the long slot triple shoot wire cloth reduces plugging and binding.
When vibration is applied to longer unsupported wires, it helps to eject material that might plug or close openings. In addition, these screens are crimped specifically to provide better sizing accuracy. “The stones don’t block your screens and the material can go through – they work fantastic,” said Miller.
And Miller would know, given that he had to deal with major plugging problems before making the switch to Durex. “When I started here, we’d run a 1/8-in. square wire screen and I’d have to go out there with an ice pick and hammer to punch all the little stones out of a million holes.”
With everything being made in-house, Durex can make screens to client specification in a wide range of slotted openings and even manufactured in a “flat-top” weave for more uniform wear.
Become a Believer
With more than 55 years of experience, Durex is proud to offer innovative solutions and provide its customers with only the highest quality products in the aggregate, mining, recycling, concrete and industrial industries.
Focusing on quick lead times to ensure you are never down for long, Durex prides itself on being a partner you can trust to keep your plant running at maximum efficiency. Feeling uncertain about making a big change with the screens you use? As Arnie Miller put it, “Put two pieces of the competitor’s wire in and two pieces of Durex wire in, and let it make a believer out of you.”
Information for this article courtesy of Durex.
