The pughead is considerably longer than other pugmills. Image: Precisionscreen
Precisionscreen’s Scorpion Pugmill is an Australian-made machine designed to make operators’ lives easier.
Australia’s scorpions usually make a name for themselves in burrows, but Precisionscreen’s Scorpion Pugmill is making its name in the nation’s aggregate industry.
When asked why the company’s Scorpion Pugmill has been successful, Precisionscreen chief executive Jonny McMurtry said there was one main reason it stood out.
“It’s versatility; it can blend a variety of additives to quarry materials such as cement, activated carbon, gypsum and lime,” he said.
“There’s been a lot of interest in that sort of work across the past year for that type of stabilising and blending work.”
The Scorpion PLC Pugmill features a CAT 7.1 six-cylinder engine as well as a 10.5 cubic metre hopper, which feeds onto an independent conveyor belt separate from the hopper belt.
The Australian-designed and manufactured additive bin, complete with a rotary valve at the bottom, can accurately dose in many materials, including cement, gypsum and lime.
“The CAT 7.1 six-cylinder engine means we offer a much higher kilowatt and hydraulic power than the imported units,” McMurtry said.
One current job taking place early 2024 sees the Scorpion Pugmill being used in Bulimba blending activated carbon as part of ground stabilisation work at an old Navy base.
Precisionscreen is working with the customer to adapt the Scorpion Pugmill to match its requirements, adding a vibrating screen to help remove oversize and ensure material consistency. Jobs like this show the adaptability of the pugmill, with one of the important elements being the versatility is the Pughead.
The pughead is considerably longer than other pugmills and a huge benefit of this version is it’s discharge height for pugged material, having a 3.5m drop height. The extra height enables trucks to be loaded directly from the pughead which helps on-site efficiency and productivity.It also ensures operators avoid segregation on the belt and makes it easy to clean the main belt.
“Our Pughead is around about a metre longer than most applications or imported mobile machines, which gets a much better blend of material,” McMurtry said.
“The longer pughead allows more blending time and the material that comes out of the pughead is better mixed.”
Precisionscreen has built the Scorpion Pugmill with the operator at the forefront of it’s design and manufacturing. There is a PLC control system that allows the operator to select different product mixes with ease.
The PLC system has a new display screen which stores and saves instructions and documents for the operators such as machine and engine manuals, calibration procedures and other helpful documents to ensure the best use of the pugmill.
The Scorpion PLC Pugmill features a CAT 7.1 six-cylinder engine. Image: Precisionscreen
McMurtry said the operator has complete control of material flow by using the remote control start and stop function, which enhances the discharge process.
“The independent conveyor belt makes it easier to control and regulate the product mix,” he said.
“The PLC system and the scales can read the volume on the main conveyor belt and dose in as low as 0.5 per cent right through to 10-20 per cent if it is needed.
“The operator can pre-save different products into the PLC system to match what they need on any given day.”
Many pugmills can have a flat-bottomed floor, which can make some spots hard to inspect, clean and maintain for operators. Precisionscreen’s Clam Shell door design changes that, using a hydraulically opening doordesign for the pughead. The clam-shell doors open up and enable the operator to hose the equipment down from ground level with the on-board wash down hose.
The additive bin, which is popular for many applications, is collapsible to make it easier to transport the pugmill from site to site.
“The Precisionscreen PLC Pugmill has been designed, built and modified over the years to ensure it is a single-operator machine,” McMurtry said.
“That operator will be able to set the controls and working parameters for the machine and operate it by themselves.”
For customers handling large volumes of additives or binders to feed into their pugmill, Precisionscreen offers the Horizontal Cement Transfer Silo (HTS-50) The HTS-50 works alongside the Scorpion Pugmill to handle bulk material in a semi-mobile manner. It has a 50-tonne storage capacity and acts as a filler silo for the pugmill.
McMurtry said the HTS-50 allows for continuous mixing without the need to stop and manually re-fill the silo.
“We’ve had a lot of customers looking for bulk storage solutions and looking to consistently feed in cement or fly ash, for example, into their pugmill system,” McMurtry said.
“If they’re dealing with big batches on a daily basis, it is a cost-effective solution for bulk storage and ensuring the operation is seamless.”
Precisionscreen offers full support across its machinery, including the pugmill, which is Australian-made, and stocks spare parts and wear parts at its Brisbane factory. The company also maintains a team of technicians from Brisbane to Victoria and the Northern Territory to provide after-sales support to customers.
For more information, visit precisionscreen.com.au
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