COLOR BOOST

As one of Southern California's largest wood suppliers and recyclers, Apollo Wood Recovery plays an important role in supporting the environment, diverting urban wood residuals and land clearing debris from landfill and transforming them into valuable resources for use in landscaping and agriculture.

When the company wanted to increase production to meet a growing demand for its clean recycled soil products and coloured mulches used to beautify the Californian landscape, it didn’t think twice about approaching EDGE Innovate’s official dealers for California & Hawaii, Greenrock Equipment, for help in choosing the right machinery.

While the company had already looked at what competitors in the market had to offer in terms of coloring trommels and tracked stockpilers, it had every confidence in finding the right solution at Greenrock Equipment which celebrates its 10 anniversary next year, having been founded in 2015 by John Connolly and Shea McKiver.

“We were well acquainted with John and Shea, having dealt with them over the years, and knew that they would not only recommend equipment that would meet our needs, but would also provide the high level of service and support going forward,” commented Shawn Nutter, President Apollo Wood Recovery, which was established in 1996 to divert materials from landfill.

“Our old machine served us well, producing about 100 yards³ / hr, but it couldn’t match the growing demand for our material, so Greenrock Equipment suggested an EDGE TRC622 ColorPRO dye trommel which has exceeded our expectations. It can turn out five times what the previous machine could without any reduction in quality. In fact, the quality of the product has increased.”

Designed from the ground up for the coloring of organic materials, this self-contained portable ColorPRO dye trommel offers unmatched production rates of 500 yards³/ hr and high efficiency, providing operators the highest return of any coloring system available on the market.

It incorporates impressive features such as a 2m x 6.9m (6’ x 22’) long spiral drum with a built in material detection system to ensure against color wastage, while a large hopper capacity of 12.6m³ (16.5 yards³) complete with forward / reverse feed conveyor, variable speed feeder and drum rotation allows for differing production rates.

“Quite apart from the competitive price, we have found that it has reduced our coloring costs by up to 50% which will more than pay for the machine itself. Because of its design and size, we are using less colorant and getting a better and more consistent coverage. We have more than hit our productivity targets and are currently running the machine at about 450 cubic yards per hour,” says Shawn. “Colored wood mulch helps to control weeds, keeps soil moist, improves the quality of soil over time and best of all looks bold and vibrant!”

“We are using less colorant and getting a better and more consistent coverage…

Other notable features of the TRC622 ColorPRO include enhanced unit stability via three sets of hydraulic jack legs as standard. This feature allows operators to position the ColorPRO on uneven, soft terrain.

Additionally, EDGE’s Innovate’s ColorPRO is fitted with a tri-axle bogie complete with fifth wheel hook-up and air brakes. Transportation between sites is exceptionally easy with redeployment taking a matter of minutes thanks to hydraulic folding discharge conveyors and chassis jack legs.

Apollo Wood Recovery currently produces brown, black, red and gold mulches. They did turn out green, too, but Shawn said that was ‘quite a wacky one,’ given the uses for the product! He added: “The TRC622 ColorPRO has enabled us to increase our volumes, and we can easily double our sales and revenues with this, so we don’t have to look for any other equipment. Indeed, we will probably look at investing in one or two more.”

"TS65 Tracked Stockpiler has improved efficiency and productivity ten-fold…"

Along with the TRC622 ColorPRO, Apollo Wood Recovery purchased an EDGE Innovate TS65 Tracked Stockpiler which is offering the company an efficient, reliable and robust material handling solution.

The TS65 is part of the TS-series of tracked stockpilers boasting an array of design features that include a highly efficient hydraulic drive system with variable belt speed, low fuel consumption, adjustable feed height and variable discharge height and is proving to be the perfect stockpiling solution for Apollo Wood Recovery.

“It has improved our efficiency and productivity ten-fold,” said Shawn. “We don’t have to use wheeled loaders to move equipment or material around the yard as the stockpiler is on tracks and is self propelled. It far surpasses the efficiency of our loaders.”

Downtime at the yard can be potentially costly, but that has been virtually eliminated given the support from the team at Greenrock Equipment, as Shawn explained: “A big element in our decision-making process was not just the quality of the equipment, but the fact that we know we can rely on Greenrock Equipment’s ability to have a service team here on site within an hour or two. Plus, they have a wealth of knowledge on how and where to obtain any part that may be required to maintain our efficiency and productivity.”