It’s easy to know the role of a rock crusher – the name gives it away. It crushes large rocks into useable sizes while making handling and transporting of them more manageable. But after that, the lines can get fuzzy about which is best for your specific needs.
Different rock crushers focus on various tasks and a variety of applications. They have their own specialties, and understanding what those are will help you figure out which one is your best choice.
When considering which crusher suits your requirements the best, ask yourself where you will use it:
- At a Demo Site. Crushers on a building demolition site compress and recycle materials like concrete, asphalt, and brick. These crushed materials can be reused as a base for new construction projects or as aggregate.
- In a Quarry. These rock crushers break down huge rocks like limestone, granite, and sandstone. These materials can then be used for construction, road base, landscaping, and oil fracking.
- On the Road. You’ve probably driven by dozens of rock crushers while trying to navigate your way through the middle of road construction projects. Material crushed on a road job is reused under or in the new road.
- In the Mine.Mining rock crushers break down materials into smaller pieces for easier removal and downstream processing for taking out essential minerals and metals.
- Sand and Gravel.This is one of the most unique of crushing applications. Round boulders are one of the hardest materials to crush because of compressive strength and also one of the more challenging materials due to the shape.
- A Recycling Yard. These crushers help process materials, including concrete, asphalt, and demolition waste, that can be recycled into something new. This lessens the need for new products and reduces waste. It’s a win-win.
Which one is Right for You?
Just as you wouldn’t buy a five iron to putt a golf ball, you must invest in the proper rock crusher for the job. Let’s review three types of crushers and what they are meant to accomplish.
Jaw Crushers serve many purposes and work in quarries, mines, and recycling sites. They do the job by squeezing rocks between a fixed side and a moving side. A few features that make them successful are their ability to adjust the jaw setting, controlling the crushed rocks’ size, and not having fancy parts to maintain, so upkeep is easy.
Use jaw crushers for:
- Primary crushing tasks, making large rocks into smaller ones for further processing.
- Quarrying and mining duties, where they process many types of rocks and minerals.
- Demolition and recycling jobs are no match for a jaw crusher. It easily reprocesses concrete, asphalt, and other crushable materials.
Impact Crushers use brute force to crush materials. They come in various forms, including horizontal and vertical shaft impactors. They are best for significantly reducing the materials being crushed, producing quality end-product size, working well with many kinds of materials, and are made with easy maintenance and quick repairs in mind.
Use impact crushers for:
- Primary and secondary crushing applications in limestone and softer materials.
- Recycling work involving concrete, asphalt, and demolition surplus.
- Generating well-graded aggregates for all kinds of construction projects.
Cone Crushers are multipurpose machines perfect for secondary and tertiary crushing stages. Staying true to its name, this machine has a cone-shaped crushing surface with an eccentric crushing motion. Cone crushers are versatile because they handle almost anything, from hard and abrasive rocks to softer materials. They create refined end products and are typically made with features that are energy efficient.
Use cone crushers for:
- Jobs after the primary crushing applications.
- Finish sizing aggregates and ores at mining sites.
- Creating first-rate sand and gravel products.
There are many options when it comes to choosing the proper rock crusher for what you need it to do. Where should you begin? Reach out to the experts at Lippmann to steer you in the right direction. Drop us an email, ask a question, or give us a call at 800-648-0486. We are excited to dig into your rock-crushing needs.