The right combination: several factors led Gold Metal Recyclers in Dallas to choose Fuchs.

When the scrap market began to heat up in 2003, Neil and Ken Goldberg, the co-owners of the Gold Metal Recyclers facility in Dallas, realized that they would need additional mobile material handling capacity to match increased production requirements.

The Goldbergs were fortunate that they had a good relationship with the Continental Equipment dealership in Dallas, and Mark Woodson at Continental was pleased to be able to recommend a Fuchs MHL 360 model wheeled scrap handler to Gold Metal.

Neil Goldberg was intrigued by what he saw when researching the Fuchs line of scrap handlers. "We had seen them in the area at a couple of other companies, and the other companies spoke highly of them," he remarks.

The Gold Metal facility is entirely paved, making the rubber-tired Fuchs platform an ideal fit. "The rubber tires are good for us. We're on concrete and this machine needs to move around quite a bit," Neil notes.

The company went with a Fuchs MHL 360, which provided a capacity upgrade from the machines it had been using. "We were used to handlers in the 50,000- to 60,000-pound range, but this is more like a 97,000-pound machine," says Neil, who says the upgrade was necessary because the facility is handling more tonnage.

The Fuchs MHL 360 has quickly become a workhorse at the Gold Metal facility, performing a variety of tasks, although loading outbound trucks with ferrous scrap is its most common application. "It is putting in a good day's work," Nell says of the machine, which spends about 95 percent of its time handling ferrous scrap and occasionally undergoes a quick attachment change from a grapple to a magnet.

Operators have been pleased with the climate-controlled cab, which also elevates to offer better views and comes down to ground level to make it easier for the operator to get in and out of the cab. "The operators like it because this cab saves them from climbing up and down a ladder."

Neil and Ken have been pleased with the production level offered by the MHL 360, which has demonstrated sturdiness and a valuable longer reach. "The production and reach are better--it definitely has a longer reach than we were used to."

The performance of the Fuchs MHL 360 has helped cement what was already a good working relationship between Gold Metal Recyclers and Continental Equipment. "I would say the dealership is one of the reasons we purchased the machine," says Neil. "This dealer has served us well in the past. They're really close to us and they can get a service person out quickly when that's necessary."

For the foreseeable future, the rubber-tired Fuchs MHL 360 machine will be wheeling around the Gold Metal Recyclers yard helping to keep scrap metal moving into the yard, into the company's shearing and baling equipment and then out to its consumer destinations.