Skip to main content

Simex’s new VSE 40 screening bucket in action

This video shows Simex’s new VSE 40 screening bucket being put to work by two of the company’s Italian customers. The attachment is said by the firm to be unlike similar models on the market as it allows the user to change the output size of the material without having to perform complicated mechanical procedures. Thanks to an original patented solution, the VSE screening bucket lets the operator modify via hydraulic control the distance between the screening elements, and thus the output size between 0-15m
June 16, 2014 Read time: 3 mins
This video shows 1141 SIMEX’s new VSE 40 screening bucket being put to work by two of the company’s Italian customers. The attachment is said by the firm to be unlike similar models on the market as it allows the user to change the output size of the material without having to perform complicated mechanical procedures. Thanks to an original patented solution, the VSE screening bucket lets the operator modify via hydraulic control the distance between the screening elements, and thus the output size between 0-15mm and 0-45mm, directly from the cabin.

The first half of the video shows the VSE 40 attached to a crawler excavator at Natale Quarries (NQ) in Vigevano in Pavia, Lombardy. NQ has for many years focused on the production of topsoil to be utilised as a substrate for a wide set of applications, such as football fields, public spaces, parks and gardens, as well as the farming of high quality vegetables. Depending on the purpose, the soil is mixed with peat or compost to guarantee the characteristics best suitable for its use.  For these purposes, the material has to be sized very finely, 0-6 mm, and consequently requires a type of screening that can eliminate the river aggregate typical of the zone, as well as small branches and roots. The output size can be achieved naturally by using large screens, but only after several steps and a long processing time. Additionally, when the soil is particularly wet, the process requires the constant cleaning and maintenance of the screening elements, increasing production costs.  

For over three months, NQ is said to have been successfully utilising a VSE 40 screening bucket with excellent productivity and quality results.  According to the moisture level of the material, the bucket is said to have allowed for production of 35-40m³/hour (high moisture level) and even exceeded 50m³ of dry material. The VSE 40 is said to also enable the soil to be screened in situ, thereby avoiding transport from the quarry where it is taken to the screening plant which may be located several kilometres away, achieving great savings in costs and production time. The SIMEX attachment also immediately produces a 0-15mm sized material. This achieves the dual goal of eliminating at least one step in the screening system and avoids the necessary but costly maintenance cycles entailed in screening operations.

In the city of Mirandola in Emilia-Romagna, where the second half of the video was shot, rubble from building sites has been treated after demolition works linked to the May 2012 earthquake. Another VSE 40 was used to screen the rubble with an output size of 0-25mm and 0-45mm. The resulting material will be included in the recycled mix, which is ideal for roadbeds and filling material.  In this case, too, the equipment is said to have guaranteed excellent levels of quality and produced a material that otherwise would have required a much longer and expensive operation.

Showcased at the recent 323 Samoter-160 Asphaltica 2014 show in Verona, Italy, the VSE 40 screening bucket is said by SIMEX to have been under continuous development and subjected to rigorous customer testing since being unveiled at 688 Bauma 2013.

A number of other VSE 40 screening buckets are said by the Italian company to be in the process of being assembled for other customers, while SIMEX also recently confirmed they are planning to introduce a smaller version of the VSE 40 at a later date.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Breaking at the face
    July 16, 2012
    Italian customer Marocca Group is using an Indeco HP18000 hydraulic breaker (the heaviest hydraulic breaker on the market at present) for primary demolition at a limestone quarry in Anagni, close to capital Rome. The 40ha quarry produces high grade limestone in 21 different sizes to meet an array of construction needs, and the bespoke fully automated crushing and screening plant is able to process over 500m³/hour of rock. By using the HP18000 in a primary winning application, Marocca Group has also been abl
  • Ammann Mobile Asphalt Plant Built for NA Market
    March 6, 2023
    A new version of the Ammann ACM Prime Asphalt-Mixing Plant has been specially designed for the North American market – and is primarily built in the U.S.
  • Multiple asphalt plants supply major highway construction
    July 12, 2012
    One company has produced eight asphalt plants for a major project, and others are introducing new models as Patrick Smith reports Algeria's US$11.2 billion East-West Highway development, the world's largest current highway construction project, forms part of the larger Trans-Maghreb Motorway project, and is scheduled for completion in 2010. It will run for 1,216km, ensuring the link between Annaba in the north-east and Tlemcen in the north-west, passing directly through 24 provinces and linking Algeria to T