DESERT MANOEVRES

Growing up around heavy equipment, Jordan Bartlett started working in the aggregates industry at age 18. An experienced plant and machinery operator, he’s now running two sites of his own. With years of work already lined up on his books, the young business owner is breaking norms as well as rock out in the Californian desert.

“Growing up in a small town, I was around heavy machinery at age eight and nine years old,” says Jordan when asked about his background. “Everyone used to share the work out there and I’ve always loved running around and sitting on dozers or learning to run a scraper tractor or backhoe. So when I turned 18, I knew this is what I wanted to do as a job.”

Working for several years across Ridgecrest and Bakersfield, California, Jordan quickly learned how to run a crushing plant. Gaining experience across a range of equipment, aggregates and plant types, when he lost his job at a local paving company in 2016, he was presented with an opportunity he couldn’t turn down.

As he explains, “I found a plant that was cheap and old. It had been beat up and neglected but I could afford to pay cash for it. I had to fix it up and get it running again, but luckily I had the money to get it set up. Once it was working I managed to get a couple of jobs done in the year after losing my job. Growing a reputation in the portable crushing market.”

Alongside his crushing sites, 33-year-old Jordan has worked on projects across California, Nevada, Arizona and Utah. With two operations running, including one in the Las Vegas area, the President of Bartlett Crushing is focusing on growth. “I rented a new plant to set up in the Mojave desert, which I’m now running myself,” he explains. “I’ve already started plans for a third spread.”

DESERT MANOEUVRES

Set against the backdrop of the Sierra Nevada mountains, the Mojave Desert is home to Jordan’s newest crushing plant. The closed circuit set-up combines both Cat and Astec equipment to produce two products, one inch minus rock and sand. It’s also used to recycle concrete.

A one-man operation, the product Jordan produces is fed into Robertson’s Ready Mix site at Ridgecrest. With around 90 concrete plants across California and Nevada, Robertson’s is one of the region’s biggest ready mix providers. The second site of its kind in the local area, its material was previously sourced from a quarry owned by its competitor.

By getting Jordan in to run their pit, the ready mix producer made huge cost savings and increased its production. He explains, “They don’t have to buy their rock outright or truck it in from a quarry out of town, which means they immediately save money per tonne. Plus, rather than feeding 120 to 130 tonnes of material into their plant, we can produce 170 tonnes of rock and 150 tonnes of sand per hour.”

Using a Cat 330 excavator, Jordan quarries material out of the pit. He then uses a Cat 982 wheel loader to feed the hopper of his crushing circuit. Working in a closed loop, an Astec FT2650 jaw crusher breaks down the main rock material before it’s fed onto an Astec FT6203 horizontal screen. This screens out the 3/16-minus sand product before feeding into an Astec FT200CC cone crusher.

This plant design didn’t just help Jordan’s customer save money but made him more cost-efficient too. “I worked directly with my dealer and the engineers at the factory to extend the screen from a 5x10 to a 6x12,” he says. “Using this bigger screen to feed the material straight into the jaw crusher doubled my production. When recycling concrete, we can achieve 300 to 350 tonnes an hour consistently depending on the material and weather.”

Switching to Astec equipment has also helped Jordan reduce his maintenance time and costs. As he explains, “I’ve been using this circuit combination for almost a year and ten months. The crushers haven’t needed a lining yet. Previously I was using an impactor, which needed a lot more maintenance. It used to cost around $5000 to $7000 a month. This set-up costs maybe $1000 a month. It was a big investment initially but will save me loads in the long term.”

POWERED BY CAT

Jordan is a self-professed fan of the Cat brand. Alongside the wheel loader and excavator on the Mojave site, he has a Cat 972 machine on his Vegas plant. Though he considered having the same to feed his new crushing circuit, the heavy-duty features of the medium-sized 330 eventually won him over.

He explains, “On the Vegas plant, production isn’t so high and the bucket of the Cat 972 is the perfect size to keep the feeder full. Out in Mojave, we’re mining solid rock. The 330 can be fitted with a breaker, so I can do it all myself and don’t have to hire an extra excavator. Plus, the full set-up can be moved on a five-axle lowbed and still make weight, which means we can move it fairly easily.”

The ease of maintenance and lower fuel costs of Cat technology is also a major benefit to Jordan. The 330 offers savings of up to 25% on upkeep and can achieve up to 20% better fuel efficiency. It also produces fewer carbon emissions, which is important when working under California’s strict environmental rules. Jordan also gets these benefits from his Cat 982 Next Gen wheel loader, despite the toll that breaking up rock and concrete takes on a machine.

The durability means this equipment can keep up with Jordan’s demanding production schedule. “I like to work hard,” he admits. “A 12-hour day is standard to me, which means we produce around 2000 tonnes a day here. I’ve got a rock bucket on this loader and it’s got a better transmission than other machines, which is useful for getting into hard rock. It’s digging into rough material all day every day, but I don’t have to do as much maintenance on it as I would have to with a regular type loader and bucket.”

Using this bigger screen to feed the material straight into the jaw crusher doubled my production...

The machinery in Jordan’s crushing circuit has to be equally as powerful and durable, particularly in the harsh desert environment. The Astec FT200CC Mobile cone crusher, which Jordan fitted with an engine from his beloved Cat, has helped him work more efficiently.

“The PLC clutch on the cone has been replaced with a hydraulic drive,” he explains. “This means I can get more power-to-engine load ratio and I am using 120 to 130 gallons of fuel compared to the 150 or 160 I was burning before.”

When it comes to the features Jordan swears by, there are a few that come to mind. He says, “On all plants, I use optical belt scales. I’m crushing by the tonne and get paid by the tonne so it makes sense.

“With my system, I’ve got one-time calibration for whatever material I’m processing which saves me loads of time. I can also see the running and production rates in the cab. So if there’s any drop in performance, I can take a look and see what’s having an issue. It’s all these little things that help out when you’re running a plant on your own.”

SIMPLE AMBITION

With all the machinery on his Mojave site running with Cat engines, maintenance and parts sourcing is much easier for Jordan. Particularly as the Californian Cat dealership offers good availability and service support. He explains, “When you’re working far out, getting the right parts quickly can be hard. I can carry a few parts in my truck and they’ll be universal for all engines. All the oil filters will be the same and they all use standard bearings.

“Plus the Californian Cat dealership is awesome. They have everything on hand in case of emergencies and if I have a service issue it’s a case of making one phone call. I don’t have anything against other machine brands, but I can’t make a living if my belts aren’t working. So I need to make every aspect of my maintenance as easy and quick as possible to keep it going.” Yet this isn’t enough for the ambitious Jordan, who’s always looking for ways to work quicker and smarter. “One day, I’d like to try and engineer my own plant,” he says. “I’ve got a lot of years work on the books and can’t get to it despite running at full production all the time. I’d like to create a simple, easy-to-run plant that’s versatile and can be used by less experienced operators. It would also be all-electric, which would be lighter and more efficient. It’s definitely something I’d like to look at in the future.

“I’m truly passionate about crushing. I love every aspect of it. Working for myself, I can hustle, go hard and get after it. I like setting my own pace and, at the end of the day, I’m not working, I’m enjoying doing my hobby.”

I’m truly passionate about crushing. I love every aspect of it...