Tax Benefits Expiring-First Year Expensing Election

Author: urcadmin | Published: Jan 19th, 2010 | Category: Equipment

Section 179 of the Internal Revenue Code has provided for first year expensing of equipment for many years. In 2003 the amount allowed was drastically increased and in 2008 and 2009 under stimulus legislation passed by Congress the regulations have allowed up to $250,000 per year of new equipment purchases to be directly expensed for federal income tax purposes. This of course has allowed businesses to purchase new equipment and save the tax on this “instant depreciation” in a single year instead of the normal life of the equipment.

The resulting cash flow boost means that a lot of the cost is recovered in tax abatement immediately. It isn’t too late to get some of these benefits on your equipment additions.

As of the end of 2009, barring any legislation to change it, the first year writeoff will drop to $134,000. That is not as good as 2008 and 2009, but is considerably better than the $25,000 that is scheduled to come into play in 2011. When you calculate the interest savings on the earlier receipt of the tax benefit, it makes lots of sense to buy your equipment while you can take advantage of the higher expensing limits.

The election applies to new and used equipment. If you are in the market for recycling equipment, contact Unlimited Resources Corporation right away. Not only will we give you the best value for your dollar, your Uncle Sam will help defray the cost of it in tax savings.

If you didn’t buy that needed equipment last year, don’t put it off too long or you will be faced with multiple year depreciation for most of your large equipment purchases.

A Portable Tire Shredder – Like New

Author: urcadmin | Published: Sep 17th, 2009 | Category: News

A customer recently asked us to get them a portable tire shredder for a tire pile cleanup. We knew of one for sale that we actually converted from a stationary to a portable machine about seven years ago. That machine had shred literally millions of tires, probably close to ten million. Many of the components were worn out and running on fumes.

We bought the machine and brought it into our shop. Over the course of 30 days we made many repairs to the machine. These included:

Steam cleaned the entire machine 3 times to remove 7 years accumulation of oil and dirt
repairs to the pans on most of the conveyors
replacement of the head and tail pulleys
had two complete sets of new knives built
installed a new pinion gear
installed one new main shredder shaft
installed a transfer switch to allow the machine to be switched over from the generator to run on available three phase power
built a new infeed conveyor
replaced conveyor belts
replaced the takeups on the conveyors
ordered and installed new rails and cleaning fingers in the shredder box
new seals and seal protectors
new keys for both main shafts
installed new pinion bearing
installed a new bearing on the main shaft we replaced
replaced both end plate bearings
rebuilt the infeed hopper
new sheaves and belts for the rotary classifier
rewired as necessary
complete paint job
replaced some gear boxes

The refurbishment to this machine was a six figure cost, but the result is a portable tire shredder that is very like new, with the functionality of a new machine. And for much less than the cost of new machine.

Painting for Protection and Beauty

Author: urcadmin | Published: Sep 8th, 2009 | Category: Equipment

Nothing adds to the value of your waste recycling equipment like a good paint job. People spend thousands of dollars to paint their equipment. Why? First, all things metal are subject to oxidation (rust). Paint seals the surface and stops oxidation. Second, a good paint job says something about you and the pride you take in your equipment, or even your lifestyle.

Here at Unlimited Resources Corporation we take pride in our rebuilding. Out goal is to deliver a machine that has all the functionality of a new machine. That pride extends to our painting of that equipment.

Some dealers just slap a coat of paint on to hide the “uglies” and the things that need repair, hoping the customer won’t look beyond the paint job.

Here at Unlimited Resources Corporation we don’t do that. The paint job is an extension of the care we take in rebuilding a machine back to like new functionality. We know dealers who can paint a tub grinder or tire shredder in half a day. They simply knock the 2×4-size material off and start at one end with a paint gun. We’ve actually seen machines with all the gauges painted over. That makes it nice to check the engine temp or the oil pressure. We’ve seen machines where you could scoop a handful of dirt off a crook or cranny and see the original faded paint or rust underneath the dirt.

That is simply not a paint job as far as we are concerned. We start by cleaning the machine thoroughly. Usually this starts with high-pressure steam cleaning followed by wire brushing or scraping. It is not unusual for two men to spend an entire day doing the rough cleanup on a machine. Next we tape the hoses and other objects that should not be painted. We also cover the gauges with grease or paper to keep them clean and clear. A typical large machine may take several days to tape and prepare.

Once the machine is clean and everything that should not be painted is covered up, we use high quality paint such as Caterpillar or Rustoleum to primer the machine and then put the final coat(s) on in the color of the customer’s choice. Once the paint is dry we clean off the protective grease and all the paper and masking tape.

It is a lot of work and can cost several thousand dollars for a large machine in supplies, paint and labor. Is it worth it? We think so. The customer gets a machine that will not only perform well but also will look good and retain its value for many years. And after all, when you spend five or six figures on a machine, isn’t that what you want?

Converting a Primary Tire Shredder into a 1 and ½ Inch Chip System

Author: urcadmin | Published: Aug 17th, 2009 | Category: News

We are often asked to do repairs on various machines. We typically don’t do repairs because refurbishing our own equipment takes a great deal of our time and space.

Recently a customer who bought a Granutech/Saturn 62×40 high torque tire shredder from us several years ago came to us with a request to refurbish their machine and convert it to a 1½ inch chip system. It was originally a primary shred machine so several modifications were required.

As part of the refurbishing, we removed the existing knives and sent them off to be rebuilt to use for spares. We put a new custom built and hardened set of knives into the machine. We also built a split chamber in-feed hopper for this machine so that it could regrind chips into a smaller product.

A rebuilt rotary disc screen classifier was added to the system to sort off the proper sized chips. We built three new conveyors with legs and miscellaneous hoppers to recycle the cut chips back into the machine for further processing.

Our electrician built all the electrical controls necessary to start and control the new operation with appropriate enclosures. Finally, the finished product was thoroughly tested and then cleaned and painted before redelivery to the customer.

This entire process took about six weeks, primarily due to the time needed to build new knives and rebuild the old knives.

The end result: a machine that would only produce a primary chip was converted into a reliable 1½ inch nominal chip machine, complete with new knives, new paint, and complete inspection and testing of shafts and hydraulic systems. This tire shredder is now ready for many more years of economical production.

Horizontal Grinder – The Wood Workhorse

Author: urcadmin | Published: Aug 7th, 2009 | Category: Equipment

Unlimited Resources Corporation handles multiple brands of good used horizontal grinders including Morbark, Peterson Pacific, Vermeer, CMI, Maxigrind, CBI and Guendler.

Horizontal grinders have become more popular in recent years despite their relative high cost. Compared to tub grinders, the other popular wood grinding machines, horizontal grinders are safer to operate because they don’t throw as much material out of the grinding chamber.

Another selling point for horizontal grinders is that they can handle longer material than a tub grinder. A thirty foot long tree is not practical to put through a tub grinder unless it is cut into shorter pieces. A horizontal grinder handles this easily. The operator simply puts the entire tree onto the belt feed and the machine will slowly move the tree into the grinding chamber as the end is chewed away.

Offsetting their higher cost, horizontal grinders can handle just about anything a tub grinder can handle as well as lots of other things. This makes them a very versatile grinder for land clearing and many other applications.

To talk to an experienced sales rep about your horizontal grinder needs, call Unlimited Resources Corporation for assistance in finding a machine that fits your application and your pocketbook.

Disposing of an Environmental Hazard: Tire Shredders

Author: urcadmin | Published: Jul 27th, 2009 | Category: Equipment

Tire shredders are among our best selling machines at Unlimited Resources Corporation. We have refurbished so many and sold so many that we know a lot about them. And there is a reason they are so in demand.

The United States averages about one worn out passenger tire annually for every person in our population. That is a lot of tires and old tires never go away. In their original form they will still look about the same in 50 years. And all of that time they are potential pest and fire hazards. As a result states everywhere want them cleaned up once and for all.

Tires ground into two inch chips can be used as boiler fuel. Ground smaller they can be used as playground material, running track cover, and other uses. Ground even smaller to crumb rubber they can be mixed with plastics or other rubber to make all kinds of moldable products, or mixed with asphalt to make a more durable road surface.

No matter how small they are going to be ground, the first thing that must be done is that they must be shred. This is where the tire shredder comes in. Tire shredders come in all sizes, from smaller, low horsepower machines that will only shred passenger car tires, all the way up to machines with hundreds of horsepower that can grind hundreds of over the road truck tires per hour.

Costs range from less than $100,000 to well over half a million dollars. Tire shredders must be made of quite durable materials because shredding tires requires so much stress on the machines. At Unlimited Resources Corporation when we refurbish machines we look at gears, seals, bearings, knives and all other wear parts to be sure the machines we sell can do the job. Since the vast majority of a machine is fixed metal cabinet, by replacing all the movable parts we can insure that our customers get machines with something very close to the performance and durability of a new machine. And since tire shredding technology changes slowly if at all, last year’s machine is just as good as next year’s machine.

For a good used tire shredder, call Unlimited Resources Corporation and let one of our techs help you determine your needs and match those needs with a machine that will do what you need it to do. And call us for other tire recycling equipment such as tire cutters, debeaders, or magnets.

Building that Perfect Tire Recycling Equipment System – Canada

Author: urcadmin | Published: Jul 21st, 2009 | Category: Equipment, News

Unlimited Resources Corporation designs a lot of complete tire recycling equipment systems. We recently built a system to take the two inch chips from an existing tire shredding operation on down to ¼ inch mulch. This system took over two months to build and involved a large number of components. Some of these components were items we had in stock from plant dismantling or other purchases. Some were machines that we completely rebuilt so as to be like new. And many of the material movement components were constructed in our shop.

The front end of the system was a Granutech/Saturn Model 80 grizzly. We tore this machine down to the bare bones and rebuilt it. We sent the rotor away to have it balanced. At 18,000 pounds for the rotor alone, very specialized equipment was required and we used an electrical shop in Illinois to dynamically balance it. Of course upon reassembly we put in all new bearings and seals. We also modified the existing rotor design to a brand new star design hard faced to make it run cooler and increase its operating life.

The grizzly was set up to take a two inch chip coming out of their tire shredder down to half inch or so. The next grinder in line was a custom built knife hog. We had this machine in stock but it was not in working order when we got it. We tore it all the way down and put all new seals and bearings in it. We also had knives made specifically for this machine by a knife builder. The machine has the capacity to take material that is less than one inch and take it on down to about ¼ inch by means of screens in the hog. We completely rebuilt this machine to be like new.

Transporting the material into, out of and between the various stages required lots of conveyors. We used four custom built flat or pan conveyors that were built in our shop from all new components. We purchased six new auger conveyors for use in this system to move material vertically. We modified a rebuilt vibratory screen conveyor with a stainless steel section to allow its use with a magnet to separate steel out of the product. A drag chain paddle conveyor we had in stock completed the product conveyance part of the system.

Our electrician built two complete control panels for the system complete with soft starts to control the machines. Two brand new self cleaning cross belt magnets were installed to capture the metal freed from the tire chips.

To handle the mismatch in the speed with which the various machines could process material, and to insure a continuous supply when a machine has to go down for maintenance, we built two huge surge bins in our shop capable of handling several hours of intermediate production.

A major consideration for the dust and fiber liberated as tire chips are reduced to ¼ is a complete air processing system to capture the light material. We built lots of duct work in our shop based on the building specs given us by the client. To move the material we installed several blowers we had in stock and several cyclones with airlocks we had in stock. A Forsberg was added into the line to remove most of the fluff from tire fibers. The final part of the filtration system was dust collectors with airlocks to trap the material removed from the line.

All the equipment was carefully prepared and then primed and painted in a color of the client’s choosing. We set the system up in our shop and our electricians wired everything so it functions as a unit. For example, if the second machine in the line needs to be shut down, it is important that the system recognize that the infeed conveyors to that machine need to automatically shut down so as to not pour material into a non-operating machine. The surge bins would take over at that point capturing material from the prior processing until the second machine is operational again.

Five truckloads were required to haul all the equipment to its final destination in Canada. Once the equipment was on site, two of our men took one of our service trucks to that site and set all the equipment in place, supervised the final electrical work, and installed all the duct work including roof penetrations, etc. Actual installation of the entire system with testing on site required four working days. This is very good service after the sale.

All the design drawings for this system were prepared by Unlimited Resources Corporation and this is a typical service for clients who need to build systems but don’t know what is required other than desired product.

If you are starting any type of tire recycling project, call us at 800-423-9062 and let our experts help you plan and build your system.

Maintaining Your Tire Shredder – Knife Change

Author: urcadmin | Published: Jul 20th, 2009 | Category: Technical Articles

The instructions that follow are specific to the Granutech Saturn 62×40HT shredder. However, many of the principles are the same for most shear shredders.

General Instructions for Changing of Knives in a 62×40HT Granutech Saturn Shredder and for keeping your knives tight:

Remove caps (bearing covers) from the endplate
Remove keys from the adjusting nuts (will have allen set screws)
Loosen knife adj. bolts on the 2 nuts located on the shafts. ( Do not remove these bolts completely because they tend to mushroom on the ends and may damage their threads).
Now remove the 2 nuts and outer spacers (Be sure that you make note which nut goes with which shaft. It is best to keep the nuts, bearings and all other components separated from the opposing shaft for easier reassembly)
Remove endplate (6) bolts. You may need to use 2 of these bolts in the endplate where the threaded holes are to help push the endplate off.
Now remove the endplate using the 2 bolts. You will have to use pinch bars or large wedges to assist in the removal. Bearings may come off with the endplate or stay on shafts as it is removed. Remove bearings.
You will need to cover the threads of the shafts to protect them from damage. Generally we put a layer of duct tape on upside down (sticky side up) then wrap a few layers of tape (sticky side down) over this to give needed protection.
After endplate and bearings are removed, there should be an inner bearing spacer on each shaft. These will have slots cut into them that fit over the shaft keys and have about a 1” recessed lip. The seals also ride upon these inner spacers. Next remove the 2 endplate seal protectors (1 per shaft). These look like knives with no hooks.
Everything should now be removed from the end of the shredder except the knives. Note there maybe some filler spacers on 1 or both of the shafts. These will be possibly thin shims that are used to take up space. Set these pieces aside for later reassembly use.
Remove the top rails that run down along the sides of the shredder. These rails hold the cleaning fingers in the machine. Now only loosen the bottom rail bolts. You do not have to remove them completely.
Remove knives, spacers and cleaning fingers. Note: When you get to the last knife and corresponding spacer make note which shaft has the knife and which shaft has the spacer. This is very important because when you reinstall your newly rebuilt knives and spacers you will need to start the 1^st knife on the same shaft that the knife is currently on. This sets up the needed tolerance for the rest of the knives and spacers.
Inspect the area around the shafts where they go into the gear box. This is a good time to change the seals if you notice a major oil leak. I say major oil leak because almost every machine may begin to leak a little around 1 of the shafts. This will generally get worse before it gets better but it is your call.
Clean the shafts, keys, railways etc. Remove any burrs on the shafts or keys that may have occurred during disassembly.
Begin reassembly of knives, spacers and cleaning fingers. Typically the rebuilder will already have the knives and spacers sorted and numbered for you.. Ex: knife 1L spacer 1R Spacer 2L knife 2R etc., etc. Be sure to put the 1^st knife on the shaft you noted from earlier and its matching spacer on its correct shaft. Also typically each knife and spacer will have the thickness identified on it. We usually have our spacers made .005 bigger than the knives. For example a spacer 1.950” thick would have a matching knife 1.945”. Some people make the spacer tolerance a little more, but we find .005 makes the knives last a little longer. It is good to double check that the numbers (1L, 1R) match the thickness of the knife and spacer tolerance rule (.005).
Follow the assembly pattern of knife on one shaft, & spacer with cleaning finger on other shaft. Keep the knives and spacers as tight (close together) as possible. We do not put our cleaning finger shims in the machine until all the knives and spacers are installed.
Now that all knives, spacers and cleaning fingers are installed. Install the endplate seal protectors. There needs to be approx. ¼” of the keys showing from the end of both shafts after these are installed. You may have to use some different thicknesses of shim spacers to get this needed measurement. You may have some of these left over (See step #9) or may have to have some made for you. This may require you to install and remove the seal protectors a few times using different shims to get the desired ¼”
Next slide the inner bearing spacers onto the shafts. Be sure to align the notched areas with the keys. These should slide up and onto the ¼” area that was left when installing the previous endplate seal protectors. This is what allows your knives to be tightened when operating the machine.
Now you may reinstall your endplate and the (6) bolts. Do not install the dowel pins at this time. Be careful of the seals as they slide over the inner bearing spacers. Do not tighten endplate. Leave approx. 1” of clearance between it and the end of the shredder box.
The cleaning fingers need to be centered or slightly off centered toward the endplate side of the shredder on their respective spacer (Note: this is done this way because when the endplate is fully tightened the fingers will tend to move toward the gearbox side). Now, take the shims that were previously used with them and start filling in the gaps between the fingers starting next to the gear box and work your way out to the endplate. You need to try to keep as much of the slack out of them as possible as you work your way out. This is a time consuming part of the install. You may have to have some new shims cut at different thicknesses. The key is keep your fingers centered so they don’t rub on one of the adj. knives and cause unnecessary wear on the knife and finger.
After all the shims are installed in the fingers centered onto spacers, you need to put the top rails back in the shredder. Note you may have to hold the fingers back against the box in order for the rails fit properly down on the fingers. Do not tighten bolts completely at this time.
Referring back to step #18 we left approx 1” clearance for the endplate. You will need to have approx. ¼” of shim out past the end of the shredder box. The reason being is when you tighten the endplate it will push against this shim and put pressure upon your fingers This helps hold the fingers in place.
Fully tighten endplate bolts. Then tighten the top rail bolts. Double check fingers to make sure they are not touching any of the knives. Make sure the fingers are tight and do not move around easily. If there is a problem then do steps #21 and #22 over.
When everything is correct, then tighten the bottom rail bolts.
Remove tape protection from end of shaft threads. Grease & reinstall the bearings onto the shafts.
Put outer bearing spacers on and install the nuts. You need to tighten nuts then loosen nut until key aligns with keyway then reinstall key.
Now install the dowel pins into the endplate.
For the break-in period for your new knives you will need to tighten the knife adjustment bolts to 40 ft.lbs. of torque on each shaft. Run the shredder for approx. 30 minutes then retorque the bolts again at 40 ft.lbs.
Run the shredder for a day or so checking the knife adj. bolts every 2-3 hours and torque to 40 ft.lbs.
After a day’s use then tighten the adj. bolts to 60 ft.lbs. Keep checking the adj. bolts every 2-3 hours. This needs to continue until the knives get seated. You will know this when the adj. bolts will not tighten any further.
Then the adjustment bolts should be checked a minimum of 1 time per week. This will keep your knives tight, insure a good cut, and keep from placing too much lateral load on your shafts. Loose knives and dull knives will eventually cause your shafts to crack so it is important to keep those knives tight and to rebuild when needed.

If you have questions about this procedure or about your tire shredder, contact Unlimited Resources Corporation at 1-800-423-9062.

Tub Grinders – Wood Waste Solutions

Author: urcadmin | Published: Jul 16th, 2009 | Category: Equipment

Unlimited Resources Corporation has been refurbishing and selling tub grinders for more than a decade. Tub grinders were originally fairly small, low power machines used for grinding hay. Over time people noticed that tub grinders could be used to reduce all kinds of wood waste to smaller particles. Mulch is a common product of tub grinders. This may be colored by a coloring unit to create a very attractive consumer mulch such as you can find at your local farm or garden store.

Tub grinders are ideal for large volume grinding of wood waste. Pallets, yard waste, construction and demolition debris, land clearing timber, leaves, and most other types of wood waste are all candidates for reduction in a tub grinder. One condition that should be taken into account is that the waste stream being ground should do not contain concrete, metal, or other hard to break down items that would damage the mill.

In recent years tub grinders with 15 foot tubs and 1000 HP engines have become common. These high production machines can cost in excess of half a million dollars new. But their baby brothers, the eight foot, ten foot, twelve foot and so on do the same thing for smaller volumes and smaller input material. The landscaper who just wants to clean up small trees or stumps or yard waste may be able to get by with a machine that costs less than $50,000.

A good used machine such as the fully refurbished machines from Unlimited Resources Corporation can offer all the functionality of new machines at a fraction of the cost of a new tub grinder. Unlimited Resources Corporation sells Morbark, WHO, Vermeer, Diamond Z as well as other brands of good used or refurbished tub grinders.

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