AL-Jon Scrap Logger/Baler (investment)

Oky been looking for a while now at these machines Al-jon baler/loggers (very expensive machines),And would like some advice /feedback from any members in regard to knowledge of this type of scrap metal processing machine.

The situation -Been in business for about 2 years now started off in the roll off waste disposal biz then started slowly in the metal recyling biz also we use containers now for customers scrap oilfield/agriculture.We dont buy it right now we just offer the free bin inreturn for the metal scrap.

We process and seperate all metals and ie( #1/#2 hms )( tin/whitegoods) (non ferrous metals)

The Problem As we all know tin /whitegoods do not have the sufficent weight as the HMS steel but there seems to be alot of volume where we are a farming community .So i am starting to look into the scrap tin balers/loggers (AL-jon) seems to be the popular one. This machine used and old goes for about $100 000 ...not crazy as baled tin goes for about $200/ton. If u ask me this seems like a money machine if u can supply it sufficent amount of loses metal . NOTE non baled tin goes for $100 ton problem is yard is 1 hour away from us and cant get sufficient weight in a 30 yard container. But if we could use this machine we could bale/process about $50 000/year in tin/whitegoods



The question When would your scrap recycling business consider a logger/baler????

Dont waste your money on it. how many tons did you want to log a day? Whats the largest high side trailer u own? how many tons can u get in a trailer on average?

Well the baler will be used about 6 times a year every 2 months to process and send to mill. The biggest advantage is the price difference per/ton , also what seems like another advantage is the grapple loader on it to load the material .Otherwise a excavator to load the tin/whitegoods will run about $40 000 and then buy a large height side trailer

-To load a 30 yard container with tin would weight probably 4 tons max fuel is $100 off the top and loading time another 1.5 hrs.......

Originally Posted by VWS

Oky been looking for a while now at these machines Al-jon baler/loggers (very expensive machines),And would like some advice /feedback from any members in regard to knowledge of this type of scrap metal processing machine.

The situation -Been in business for about 2 years now started off in the roll off waste disposal biz then started slowly in the metal recyling biz also we use containers now for customers scrap oilfield/agriculture.We dont buy it right now we just offer the free bin inreturn for the metal scrap.

We process and seperate all metals and ie( #1/#2 hms )( tin/whitegoods) (non ferrous metals)

The Problem As we all know tin /whitegoods do not have the sufficent weight as the HMS steel but there seems to be alot of volume where we are a farming community .So i am starting to look into the scrap tin balers/loggers (AL-jon) seems to be the popular one. This machine used and old goes for about $100 000 ...not crazy as baled tin goes for about $200/ton. If u ask me this seems like a money machine if u can supply it sufficent amount of loses metal . NOTE non baled tin goes for $100 ton problem is yard is 1 hour away from us and cant get sufficient weight in a 30 yard container. But if we could use this machine we could bale/process about $50 000/year in tin/whitegoods

The question When would your scrap recycling business consider a logger/baler????

I think the baler is a good investment, Larry Powell out of Edmonton bought a portable unit in the 80's and thing was on the go constantly crushing and baling fuel drums and white goods.

Oilfield and rural sounds like Manitoba.

Its generally ineffective to put tin in a 30yd. Im surprised the yard pays that much less for non baled tin. Most yards tear apart any bales to see whats inside. Get a logger thats big enough to take cars. .02

Hello VWS, I'm sure you most likely have done the home-work / research, but when you are talking about a Hundred Thousand Dollars, well that's one heck of an investment. I would hold off on such a purchase and possibly consider other options. I know of a small salvage yard right here in Southern WI. that had a custom machine fabricated a few years ago and he paid a total of 42,000.00 some odd dollars. Iv'e seen his machine at work and it's very impressive

Well I wish you luck on whatever you decide.

Rule of thumb -a person needs to process 150+ ton a month to justify a new Al-Jon baler, BTW they are the best on the market, they have been building them for a long time and the service is outstanding. There are many good used balers on the market - contact a Al-jon sales rep they are easy to work with.

Carlogger- based on your name im assuming your well versed in the logging/crushing feild. I've been torn between a crusher and a car baler. What are the pro's and con's between the two? if you dont mind me asking.

The carlogger is a lot more versatile, it has the ability to procees cars as well as misc loose scrap metal. It also allows you to ship material on flatbeds, steel sided trailers, dumps, etc because of the material being in logged form. If you are crushing cars and cars only then a flattener may be the best for you - considerably cheaper.

I don't even understand why they dude wants a bailer. Use a excavator with a bucket or grappler. Beat the crap to death till the crushed or flattened on the ground. Then load container. Rinse and repeat. That's all my local yard does. I have seen them crush cars with the magnet truck, to the grappler, to the excavator with the thumb. Then pick up and load.

Like the op said its weird they want it bailed. Time to find a new place me thinks.

I just use my grapple to load then pick up a smaller counterweight and pack it down as go along, like ozzy stated above. Balers are usefull in my opinion if you have alot of cars to process as well as misc light iron daily.

I'm doing 400+ ton per month and I don't even own a baler/crusher. And you can crush lose tin/white goods with a car crusher as long as you have 2 cars per bale. I agree with everyone else though.. for the amount you will use it you could invest in a cheaper way. As for make, I have only seen an Overbuild and Sierra. Both are very fast and well built.

Four ton in a thirty yard container you need a high side 80 yard trailer and a used material handler just pack it full smash it and repeat every load sbould be 20 ton then if you are spending 100 grand its a better investment in my opinion. Buy a baler/shear/logger a 500 ton sierra will do 60 ton a day of light material. Average bale of 1 1/2 material weighs between 800 and 1200. will shear 50 to 60 tons a day just make sure u clean out the pusher block and box everyday. Your yard is f-ing you to if they take a 100 ton of the price if its loose what a bunch of crap who cares if its loose or baled up it all goes on the conveyor and into the shredder as long as they get there quota shredded an hour why would they take off 100 a ton what a joke. by the way in five years do u still expect to run it six times a year or five days a week. think toward the future not the next day.

The price difference would be local shredder vs shipping it elsewhere to get the better price.

As to the future outlook this machine could be what helps us start buying tin/white goods locally as the big city is over 1 hour away. As that being said everyone small time - medium scrapper knows they can make money taking a load of heavy scrap in to the recyclers, because they payout of driving there burning fuel/time is well worth it, on the other hand one cannot take a pickup load of light scrap an hours drive away so they just take it to the local landfill and pay to dispose of it.

seems like a car flattener would be more versatile and could be had for 1/3 to 1/2 the price?

Or collect a large amount of the tin and rent a unit several times a year to bale it?

yes renting one can be an option...but nothing like owning your own equipment with in reason.

I ran a seirra bailer with a 20' box for a couple years. The thing was amazing. It took around 2 minutes to bail a car, very fast. When the bail came out, it was about the size of a desk. Having a bailer definitly keeps things cleaned up and gives you a lot more yard space. You can also use it for aluminum and stainless.
Having bails also gives you the option to deliver further distances to possibly get better prices, it's easy to get the weight on a trailer. We had light weight aluminum flat beds we shipped on. I can't remember the exact number of bails we put on, but it was one layer (2 side by side) all the way down the trailer and another half layer on top.
I'd definitly consider buying material as well as trading for the container rental, you'll need to keep the machine working as much as possible to cover the overhead.

I actually build appliance bailers and our customers are very happy with them. They will bale anything you cn fit under the lid and smash it down with 145,000psi. You can do a bail in about 5mins. It actually makes the appliances worth hauling because your not hauling a bunch of empty weight.