Doug von Borstel of Alcoa called upon Paul Wever Construction Equipment (PWCE) in Goodfield, IL, when faced with a safety issue in his aluminum manufacturing plant.

The heated aluminum flowing in the furnaces would form a crust that needed to be broken in order to keep the machines working efficiently. Workers originally had to manually break the crust apart with sledgehammers. The conditions, according to von Borstel were, “harsh, hot, dirty and dangerous. Not a safe working environment.” Alcoa needed a solution to remove the workers from harm.

PWCE was able to modify a John Deere 35ZTS mini-excavator to fill Alcoa’s needs. The special modifications include: a hammer that rotates 270 degrees; quick change safety glass; hydraulic air conditioning system; high track system that doubles the excavator’s speed; kill switch located in the back of the machine; non-conducive metal bushings and wear plates to protect the excavator; and a hydraulic oil cooling system. The PWCE Endbreaker lets an operator sit in air conditioning while effectively breaking up the slag crust. Most importantly, the machine prevents any possibly dangerous situations in the harsh environment. According to von Borstel, “That was the best feature of all.”