REDEFINING PRODUCTIVITY

A&L McCrae Ltd’s New Heavy Duty Powerscreen Premiertrak 450 jaw crusher

Based in Argyll in Scotland A&L McCrae Limited took delivery earlier this year of a new state-of-the-art Premiertrak 450 jaw crusher from Blue Machinery (Scotland). The first to be sold in Europe, the new crusher, which was showcased in April past at ScotPlant 2024, has marked another significant milestone in the company’s long and successful history.

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Established over fifty years ago, A&L McCrae Limited has grown from a single owner-operator into a multifaceted civil engineering company and quarry operator. Today it offers a wide range of services, including contract crushing and screening, heavy plant hire, bulk haulage, ready mix concrete and the supply of high-quality aggregates from their hard rock and sand and gravel quarries.

As the largest independent supplier of quarry products in Argyll, the company has been built on the philosophy of “quality doesn’t cost, it pays”. It is renowned for reliable service and a commitment to modernising equipment, to ensure it meets the exacting demands of large-scale projects across Scotland.

The company’s impressive client list includes regional councils, renewable energy, pylon routes and substations, civil engineering companies, housing and commercial developers, marine contractors, utility contractors, network rail and the general public. The company has grown its reputation by assisting its clients to ensure their projects are brought in on programme and on budget and by investing in the newest plant, processing equipment and haulage fleets.

Significant Boost

Calum McCrae, Managing Director at A&L McCrae, says the acquisition of the heavy duty, quarry-specification Premiertrak 450 jaw crusher from Blue Scotland has made a big impact at the company’s hard rock Clachan quarry at Cairndow, helping the company to significantly boost its production capacity while reducing fuel consumption.

Before the arrival of the new Premiertrak 450 A&L McCrae managed with a single crushing and screening train shared between the company’s two quarries; the other quarry is located at Barrachander in Taynuilt. However, the company now faces a large volume of material to process over the next five years.

“WE HAVE SEEN A MASSIVE INCREASE IN PRODUCTION SINCE THE ARRIVAL OF THE NEW PREMIERTRAK 450 CRUSHER”

Manufacturer Powerscreen Model Premiertrak 450

Throughput 450 tph (US 504 tph)

Weight 49,125 Kg (Tier 3) 49,162 Kg (Tier 4F) 49,165 Kg (Stage V)

The growing demand necessitates dedicated trains for each site to maintain efficiency and productivity, leading to the recent investment in the Premiertrak 450 jaw crusher, together with a Chieftain 1700X inclined screener.

Designed to handle the toughest rock, this high-performance primary jaw crushing plant boasts several improvements over the Premiertrak 400X, which has long been one of the world’s best-selling jaw crushers. It includes a new hopper design built from 15mm Hardox steel, compared to the 12mm Hardox used in the PT400X. The steeper hydraulic folding hopper sides also increase the capacity to 10.3m³. You won’t find a stronger hopper anywhere else in the market.

Game-Changing Design

The crushing chamber on the Premiertrak 450 has been tilted by 7° to allow better material flow, increasing potential throughput to 450tph. Comments Calum McCrae: “We have seen a massive increase in production since the arrival of the new crusher. The redesigned feeder and angle on the chamber have been game changers.”

The Premiertrak 450's highly efficient direct drive system results in lower fuel consumption. Calum has observed significant cost savings, noting, “This machine offers more tonnes for less fuel, with our tonnes crushed per litre rising significantly.”

So, what prompted the company to invest in the new machine? “We were first introduced to the Premiertrak 450 at the Powerscreen World Dealer Conference in September in Italy. We were invited there by Austin Carey, the Managing Director at Blue Scotland, where we saw the machine working and immediately knew it was the right fit for us, specially designed to meet the rigorous demands of quarry operations,” Calum recalls. It’s been an investment decision that the company hasn’t regretted.

Over the past five years, A&L McCrae has worked closely with Blue Machinery (Scotland), replacing their entire crushing and screening fleet with Powerscreen machines. In addition to this Blue Machinery has supplied A&L McCrae with a Terex Wash Plant, two SEMIX concrete batching plants, and various attachments from Murray Plant (a Blue Scotland Company).

Key Business Partner

Calum adds: “We have a very strong working relationship with both the sales team and the service team at Blue Scotland - it’s probably the best backup service we get from any supplier we deal with. I see Blue Scotland as a key business partner in our growth plans in the years to come.”

There’s little doubt the strong partnership with Blue Machinery (Scotland) has been instrumental in that transition, providing not only world class machinery but also unparalleled support and service.