Upgrading the force: Annaco Inc. is no longer working on the railroad.

According to John Biro, Operations Manager at Annaco's recycling yard in Akron, Ohio, the switch to SENNEBOGEN "green machines" from its old rail cranes was simply a matter of economics. "Those old cranes were just costing too much to maintain. We keep our cranes busy 50 to 60 hours a week, so we really can't allow downtime. The rail cranes were past their prime; so we decided to replace them instead of to continue to service and repair them."

With 70 percent of the site now paved, the decision in favor of wheeled scrap handlers was clearly the way to go.

"Mobility was a major factor in our decision," Biro says. "A wheeled machine can do anything a rail crane can do, without being confined to its reach from the rail line."

The beginning of the end for Annaco's rail cranes actually came more than three years ago when the plant engineer at Annaco, Rich Robertson, saw an ad for the SENNEBOGEN 835 M machine. At that point, Annaco had experience with many other machines, tracked and wheeled, and Robertson thought the unit in the ad looked like "a good, beefy machine." He made a call to SENNEBOGEN and, within a month, a demo machine was at work on the site.

"We could see right away that the machine was very strong and well built," Robertson recalls. "The swing ring is just mammoth compared to other machines. It also looked good to work on; it has a lower profile design than most machines, so it allows easy access from ground level for oil changes and service."

Within a year, Annaco's management team was convinced that the "green machine" was every bit as good as it looked. A second 835 M was commissioned into service in 2003.

"They're very good from a servicing standpoint," Biro reports. "And the service from our distributor, Gibson Machinery, is especially good. We always did our own maintenance in the past, but we switched over to have Gibson do all our SENNEBOGEN service. Their response time is excellent, and it's unusual to see such a tight tie-in between the dealer and the manufacturer."

Annaco now has three 835 M machines and one 850 M, with another 835 M on the way this spring. The machines cover the full range of lifting duties in the yard, loading trucks and rail cars as well as feeding the shear and block breakers.

The new 850 M, fitted with a 72-inch magnet and a grapple, is earmarked for Annaco's heaviest jobs. As Robertson explains, "The 835 M can lift good weight for unloading trucks, etc., but it can't lift the entire legal limit for a truck in one go. The 850 M can." Annaco occasionally receives a truck loaded with a single casting that weighs up to 50,000 pounds. Rather than rent or hire a specialty crane, Annaco considered purchasing a 50,000-pound forklift to offload these castings. "Then we found that the cost for the forklift would be about the same as an 850 M, says Robertson. "The difference is, a forklift would sit idle most of the time where, with the 850 M, there's no such thing as idle!" Additionally, the 850 M does a great job as a drop ball machine (with a 5-ton ball) to break castings.

While the rail cranes are gone at Annaco, the wheeled SENNEBOGEN green machines are making sure this recycler stays on track.