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Rammer hammer helps break up rock in Malaysia

A Rammer 5011 rock breaker has been successfully used to break extremely hard granite on a Kuala Lumpur development. The excavation and site preparation for a development project in Taman Connaught, Cheras, in Kaula Lumpur’s south-eastern suburbs was recently undertaken by local civil engineering contractor, Crescendo Infra Sdn Bhd on behalf of a local developer. In order to deal with the extremely hard granite that was found in the locale, it was initially planned to bring in a blasting contractor to help
January 19, 2016 Read time: 4 mins
The variable output of the Rammer breaker has been of major benefit for the project in Malaysia
A Rammer 5011 rock breaker has been successfully used to break extremely hard granite on a Kuala Lumpur development

The excavation and site preparation for a development project in Taman Connaught, Cheras, in Kaula Lumpur’s south-eastern suburbs was recently undertaken by local civil engineering contractor, Crescendo Infra Sdn Bhd on behalf of a local developer.

In order to deal with the extremely hard granite that was found in the locale, it was initially planned to bring in a blasting contractor to help prepare the ground works on the project. This proved to be impractical due to the potential impact on surrounding residences and other buildings and was prohibited by the local authorities.

This meant the only alternative was to bring in rock breakers to undertake the required work. In order to break up the granite prior to construction, Crescendo Infra trialled a number of different breakers which were supplied by a variety of suppliers. The mainly Japanese and Korean brands were all mounted on 30tonne and 40tonne excavators, but these struggled to cope with the hard granite. Desperate measures required an intelligent solution.

Instead, the company approached Power Ram, Malaysia’s 5076 Rammer breakers and attachments dealer. In order to undertake Crescendo Infra’s primary rock breaking, Power Ram brought in one of the latest Rammer breaker developments. Power Ram Director Ky Kok explained. “We brought in a Rammer 5011 breaker mounted on a 45tonne class 2394 Volvo E460 excavator. This breaker features a long-stroke setting delivering a lower blow frequency, and is specifically designed for optimum breaking of very hard materials, and would be suitable for this project.”

Ky continued, “The granite on this job was so hard that we needed to pre-drill it before we could start breaking the rock. Even so, at first our penetration rates were quite slow, but as we proceeded with the job, they started to improve. By the end, we were achieving rates of 11-16m3 every eight hours.” He added, “It took us two and a half months to move around 1,040m3 of this very hard granite.”

The Rammer 5011 breaker has an operating weight of 4750 kg and is designed for carriers in the 43-80tonne class. Other key features that proved useful include Rammer’s leading flexible operating principle. This means that stroke length and idle blow protection can be easily adjusted to allow the hammer to be better matched to the specific application at hand. Improved hydraulic efficiency delivers greatly increased impact energy and higher blow frequency, giving an unmatched power-to-weight ratio. In addition, Rammer’s VIDAT (vibration dampening tie rods) system helped to boost reliability and cut downtime, while an advanced sealing system and enhanced lubrication helped reduce operating costs

The 5011’s ability to vary stroke length allows it to be purpose-matched to individual applications and materials through the use of two simple working mode selectors located on the breaker itself. This was useful for dealing with the granite application in Kuala Lumpar. The long-stroke setting of the 5011 uses a lower blow frequency for optimum breaking of  hard materials, such as granite ( and reinforced concrete foundations ), while its short-stroke setting delivers higher blow frequency, making it ideal for softer materials, such as limestone.

At the same time, an idle blow protection system allowed Crescendo Infra’s operator to adjust the working mode to provide protection against idle strokes. Further extending the working life of the 5011, it came fitted as standard with Rammer’s Ramlube II system, which uses a cartridge mounted on the hammer to automatically deliver optimum levels of lubrication for greater wear protection and longer service life. The unit is installed to the hammer's housing with a mounting plate and no external electric cables or hydraulic hoses are needed.

The new 5011 used by Crescendo Infra also comes with Rammer’s Ramdata II service indicator as standard. This allows operators and service personnel to get information about the service interval status, service history and accumulated working history of their hammer. All of these features more than proved their worth allowing Crescendo Infra to successfully deal with the exceptional hard granite found.

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