Ohio producer enjoying fruits of new wash plant

By |  January 31, 2022
Arms Sand & Gravel’s Dan Mann is not only impressed with the production output of the wash plant, but the cleanliness of materials. Photo: P&Q Staff

Arms Sand & Gravel’s Dan Mann is not only impressed with the production output of the wash plant, but the cleanliness of materials. Photo: P&Q Staff

But the new plant has answers for the rock.

“That logwasher just tears it off, and it is spotless,” Mann says.

The marketability of Arms’ products, meanwhile, has improved dramatically because of the plant.

“I just sold 300 tons of 57s that I just made that day,” Mann says. “Word got out to my septic tank people, my guys who do walls for foundations. You should see that gravel now. Now, they don’t have to go an hour down the street or two hours to get it.”

Additionally, Arms’ production is up because the plant produces little waste.

“The logwasher washes your stone for you, but instead of just wasting the sand that’s on that stone when you wash it, it sends it back to the SandStorm to pull that sand out,” says Damon Daugherty, a service technician at Maverick. “Everything that comes into this plant – every single material there – produces a product. There is no waste.”

According to Daugherty, Arms’ production has about doubled.

“We have doubled production and the product is clean,” he says. “That helps them sell it. If they make more material that looks like this, it’s easier to sell.”

System at hand

Arms Sand & Gravel’s gravel products are as clean as they’ve ever been.

Arms Sand & Gravel’s gravel products are as clean as they’ve ever been.

The process of producing the sand and gravel starts in one corner of the plant, where 4-in.-minus material is loaded into a hopper. 

Material is then transferred to a 6-ft. x 20-ft. triple-deck wash screen that scalps 2-in. to 4-in. stone, 1.5 in. to 2 in., and 3/16 in. to 1.5 inch, with sand washing out through the bottom of the screen before it’s taken to a pair of cyclones.

The cyclones separate two spec sands. The 2- to 4-in. and 1.5 to 2 in. come off their own belts while the 3/16 in. to 1.5 in. is transported to the logwasher, producing #4 gravel, #57 gravel and #8 gravel. But that’s not all.

“You’re not just washing the sand and the dirt off and then sending that to the pond,” Daugherty says. “It runs through the SandStorm again. The sand goes through two different screen decks to pull your fines and your core sands out into two different cyclones – one for fine sand and one for coarse sand.

What’s next

Although freezing temperatures were expected to force Arms Sand & Gravel to shut the new wash plant down this winter, Mann looks forward to starting it back up this spring and further seeing its capabilities.

“We’ll ramp it right up when I get ‘X’ amount of days warm,” Mann says.

Kevin Yanik

About the Author:

Kevin Yanik is editor-in-chief of Pit & Quarry. He can be reached at 216-706-3724 or kyanik@northcoastmedia.net.

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