Manufacturers provide a great deal of guidance for operating their hydraulic breakers, but their great strength, range of crushing materials, working conditions and choice of load-bearing machines enable production without sacrificing the life of attachments as it is scientific.

Any machine made big enough to break up a granite monolith would create difficulties for itself and for anything connected to it. Even when used as designed, they generate severe vibration, dust and heat. The hydraulic system of your excavator or loader is also affected by these conditions.

The instructions in the manual are correct, but the difference between doing a good job and misusing it to accelerate two machines to self-destruct can be only a few inches.

1. Position and Reposition the Breaker

Setting the mole point in the middle of a large concrete or boulder often triggers the classic crusher double whammy — it’s not only inefficient, it’s also harder to machine.

Operators need to be adept at looking for cracks they can exploit, especially near the edges of the objects they are trying to destroy. Place the tool at a 90 degree Angle to the work surface, place some of the weight of the loader against the tool point, and strike it for a short time. If the material breaks, move the tool inward. If the target is not broken, reposition the breaker laterally and try another position closer to the edge. Scoring along the edge gets the job done. With repositioning between short pulses as the slogan, the tool should move frequently.

After banging for 15 to 30 seconds, with no penetration in a place that no longer breaks, you’re trying to drill — not crusher use. It generates a lot of dust and heat (there’s a reason the recommended temperature rating for circuit breaker grease is 500° F). Burrs around the edges of tool points will start to increase. You may also be damaged by a piston strike on the other end of the tool. Risk escalation of serious failures that may damage piston or breaker structures. The recoil transmitted to the carrier boom acts on the pins and bushings, and the carrier’s hydraulic system overworks due to excessive contamination and heat.

Hone your sense of vibration and sound changes as the material breaks, and quickly leave the hydraulic system to minimize air hammer blows.

2. Don’t Fire Blanks

Disconnect the hydraulic system whenever you lift the crusher from the surface to be broken. It’s a little tricky. Hammer operators should hone their sense of changes in vibration and sound as the material breaks and their reaction speed quickly leaves the hydraulic system to minimize empty or dry burning. Some of this is unavoidable, but when the tool is not pressed against the thing to break, hitting the hammer transfers 100% of the piston energy to the tool steel, which transfers it to the bushing and housing of the crusher.

Even if the tool is in contact with the working surface, there is not enough downforce on the crusher. When positioning the crusher, the operator should use the boom to transfer part of the weight of the carrier directly down to the tool until the front end of the machine track begins to lift off the ground. If there is not enough downforce, the crushing hammer may bounce around and most of the force of the piston will reflect off the bracket, potentially damaging the suspension and mechanical arm of the crushing hammer.

Too much downforce, too much lift. When the material breaks, the carrier crash may damage the surrounding area.

3. No Prying

Prying with the tool tip of the breaker may bend or break the tool and may dislocate the tool steel in its bushing. Sometimes the misalignment is permanent, but even if it is only temporary, the potential for costly damage to the circuit breaker is great. If the piston is not in close contact with the head of the tool steel as designed, fracture productivity is reduced and the lateral force of the impact can damage the piston and/or cylinder. This is probably the most expensive repair a circuit breaker needs.

The piston and cylinder are like a hydraulic valve, no matter where they are connected, it is lubricated by a precision mirror-polished surface of hydraulic oil. Controlled shock under extreme forces goes beyond the valve metaphor, and proper alignment is critical when the circuit breaker is in operation.

Even when unintentional lateral pressure is applied to the tool during preloading of feed forces, piston tolerances wear away, which reduces strike power and increases heat in the carrier hydraulic system. Bad habits, such as attaching the sling to the crusher to carry the load or pushing the material with the crusher, may damage the attachment.

Operators need to be adept at looking for cracks they can exploit, especially near the edges of the objects they are trying to destroy.

4. Match Hammer to Carrier

The precision tolerances of crusher pistons make any type of contamination a dangerous enemy. The necessity of cleaning requires care when replacing accessories on site.

When replacing the bucket with a crusher, make sure the hydraulic hoses are properly covered to prevent dirt and dust from entering the fitting. Quick disconnecting connectors are a common cause of accidental hammer failure. With just a few repeated accessory changes, contaminants can accumulate in bare fittings enough to damage the hydraulic seals and valves of circuit breakers and carriers. Check the hydraulic hoses and couplers with accessories replacement, and carry a clean rag to wipe the accessories.

If you share crushing hammers between brackets, make sure all brackets are the right size for the tool and that the hydraulic performance of each potential base machine matches the hammer requirements. It is best to mark the coupler of the breaker with the matching model of the carrier or machine. Work with your equipment supplier to ensure that the crusher is compatible with the transporter’s working weight and hydraulic output and application.

Using a hydraulic crusher that is too small for the bearer may damage the mounting adapter, work tools, or even hammer assembly because the heavier bearer exerts too much force.

An appropriately sized carrier transfers crushing energy to the working surface to effectively break the material. Mounting a bracket with too large crushing hammer will expose the machine to excessive impact energy of crushing hammer, even if it can lift the attachment and remain stable in the work site. The damage to the target material is reduced and the wear of the bearing arm and hydraulic system is accelerated.

Hydraulic hammers are designed to operate within specified hydraulic flow and pressure ranges. The flow rate and pressure relief setup of the carrier are two main problems. The velocity of the hammer determines the speed of the blow. When excessive flow is inserted, the crushing agent will rebound against slow breaking materials. The overspeed impact has a very serious effect on the components and structure of the crusher, and reverberation bounces back into the carrier to wear pins, bushings and control arms, and may fracture the bucket rod or boom.

If the relief setting of the carrier is too low, the circuit breaker will not be able to obtain sufficient operating pressure before the oil flows through the relief valve, resulting in excessive hydraulic heat. Ineffective breaking capacity can also lead to the accumulation of destructive heat in the working steel.

5. Greasing is Part of Operating

Hydraulic breakers require large quantities of high quality grease, usually every two hours but depending on operating conditions. Grease is also important to reduce friction between the working tool and its bushing and to bring dust and debris out of the bushing when the tool melts.

Standard grease will not do. Circuit breaker manufacturers recommend high molybdenum grease with operating temperatures above 500° F. After the oil additive breaks down and allows the grease to wash debris down the tool, molybdenum tends to combine with the bushing and tool steel for long-lasting lubrication.

Some manufacturers recommend using a more viscous chisel paste to retain heat and vibration in the bushing. Some contain copper and graphite particles that roll between steel and bushing like ball bearings to prevent metal-to-metal contact.

The right amount of grease is as important as the right type. The two-hour interval is just a rule of thumb and not enough for the biggest circuit breakers. There should be sufficient grease to keep the tool bush area filled and minimize friction.

The right technique gets the grease in the right place. The bracket should hold the crushing hammer vertically and apply enough downward pressure on the cutting head to push it up against the impact piston. This forces the grease around the tool into the gap between the tool and the bushing. It keeps the oil away from the impact chamber and the piston hits the top of the tool. Grease in the impact chamber may be squeezed into the crushing hammer during impact, thus damaging the seal of the hammer.

Too little grease can cause the bushing to overheat and jam. The shiny markings on the tool are a good indication that the circuit breaker is not properly lubricated. The actual amount of grease required for proper lubrication varies depending on hammer size, wear rate of shank and bushing, condition of tool seal, operator skill, and grease quality. Just as the type of grease varies with model and manufacturer, so does the ideal amount. It is best to consult your equipment supplier on the best way to lubricate the crusher under your operating conditions.

Many manufacturers recommend pumping grease into the circuit breaker bushing until you see grease flowing out of the bottom of the bushing. It ensures that the gap between the bushing and the tool steel is filled and new and old grease is displaced. In dry, dusty environments, grease is applied more frequently if the tool looks dry, drag marks in the bushing or shiny wear points rub against the handle. The idea is to keep the grease running down the tool all the time — it doesn’t flow like oil, but melts easily and picks up dirt and debris.

In many applications, you simply cannot manually provide enough grease to keep 3,000 ft pounds and larger grades of crushing hammers lubricated. This is where the automatic lubrication system comes in. A properly maintained automatic lubrication system will continuously inject grease into the crusher. But don’t let them make you complacent. The operator shall pay attention to signs of a properly lubricated hammer and shall manually check the grease box or the supply line of the carrier for automatic lubrication every two hours.

Wet and underwater applications require more grease because the oil is washed away. Biodegradable lubricants are required for open water applications.

Any time a circuit breaker is used underwater, it must be set up using an underwater kit and an air compressor. Without attachments, water will be sucked into the crusher and contaminate the hydraulic system of the carrier, resulting in component damage.

Operator’s daily breaker inspection

•  Check tool clearance in bushing
•  Inspect tool steel fixing pins for wear
•  Check whether fasteners are loose or damaged
•  Inspect other worn or damaged parts
•  Look carefully for hydraulic leaks

Don’t Over-Hammer

Do not operate the circuit breaker in one place for more than 15 seconds. If the object does not break, stop the hydraulic flow and reposition the tool. Hitting the tool in one position for too long creates stone debris underneath the tool, reducing the impact. It also generates heat and deforms the tip.

Use Proper Feed Force

Use carrier’s boom to press the breaker point to the target. The right feed force will make the front end start to feel light. Too little force will cause the carrier to vibrate excessively. Too much force will lift the front of the vehicle to a height and cause excessive vibration when the target breaks and the vehicle falls.

Don’t Hammer the Cylinder Stops

Do not operate the crushing hammer when the boom cylinder, bucket rod cylinder or bucket cylinder of the hauler is completely retracted or fully extended. The crushing hammer vibration transmitted through the cylinder can seriously affect their stops and may damage the structure of the carrier.