Attachments Crack Open Profit Potential

Implosion may be a more spectacular and dramatic way to bring down an existing structure. But it's not how most contractors complete demolition projects these days. According to the National Demolition Association (NDA), more than 99% of demolition work is handled with specialized equipment.

Oftentimes, excavators equipped with hydraulic attachments - grapples, shears, hammers, pulverizers, etc. - perform the work. Wheel loaders sporting 4-in-1 buckets and skid-steer loaders carrying hammers, buckets, etc. can also see plenty of demolition action.

The move to carriers equipped with specialized attachments has brought a host of benefits. One that directly affects the bottom line is the greater ability to recycle debris. With shears, pulverizers and grapples, you can cut, munch and pick your way to higher profits, since most steel, lumber and even concrete, once separated, can be sold for profit, or at the very least hauled to a recycling center to minimize landfill costs.

Value of recycling
Concrete removed from demolition jobsites can be used on site to fill basements or voids, or crushed into various aggregate mixes for use as roadbed or parking lot base. Lumber - large timbers, in particular - often finds a home in specialty markets, i.e., reincarnated as wood flooring. Bricks can be reused in their original form or crushed and used for secondary purposes.

King Wrecking Co. is currently sorting drop ceiling tiles, although Drew Lammers, president, indicates the market for recycling the product has yet to fully develop. "If you can't separate the debris to recycle it, you're paying for all of it to go to the landfill," he says. "The debris becomes a cost rather than a profit."

King Wrecking began using attachments 10+ years ago. The most useful have proven to be shears, grapples and hammers. "Attachments are a blessing for us," Lammers says. "They make our job easier and help us recycle more material."

Attachments are enabling contractors to more easily keep pace with demands being made by more states for recycling greater percentages of demolition material. And while Ohio has yet to implement any specific mandates, Lammers feels recycling is in his company's best interest. In addition, the Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) projects King Wrecking works on require 50% of the debris to be recycled.

"We're not going to send something to the landfill that's profitable, or even that we can break even on," Lammers says. "Concrete isn't necessarily profitable for me to separate since I don't get paid for it. But at the same time, I'm not paying to dump it."

Lammers isn't alone in his desire to find ways to enhance the recycling process. At Brandenburg Industrial Service Co., recycling is nothing new.

"We have always understood the value of recycling," says John O'Keefe, marketing manager. "But more contractors are being forced to recycle because of the pressures on the environment. There aren't many places anymore where you see stockpiles of junk. It's definitely changed and recycling has increased."

Contractors are now taking the time to sort demolition debris. "At the end of a demolition project you used to have a bunch of wood, brick, concrete, etc. all mixed together, which wasn't of value. Now it's separated and shipped to different places or used for different reasons," O'Keefe points out. He believes this is a win-win situation for both the environment and the contractor.

Recycling can also be a "win" for clients. "When we know there's some steel that's worth something, we take that into consideration when we bid that project," says Lammers. "Ultimately, it can bring down the final cost to the client."

A labor saver
Another advantage to using specialized attachments relates to workers - their numbers and their safety. Mechanizing the demolition process with attachments speeds productivity and minimizes the number of workers needed on the job.