H.Ripley & Co is one of the UK’s leading scrap metal processors and exporters. A highly respected fourth-generation family business, they have five sites located at Hailsham, Hastings and Newhaven in East Sussex, as well as two at Ashford in Kent.
The company has successfully expanded over the decades, delivering a highly professional, innovative and customer-focused approach. The regional depots receive scrap metal and materials from a wide variety of sources, including householders and multi-national companies. This is then processed to a high level before being shipped to some of the world’s largest metal refiners including the UK, Germany, Italy, Spain, France, India and the Far East.
Their sister company, Ripley Auto Spares Limited, delivers a class leading service dealing with end of life cars and vans. They salvage much of the usable parts before carefully stripping and recycling the remainder of the vehicles.
Already using coasters to carry bulk loads of material, from their facility at Newhaven to various ports around the UK for onward shipping, the company wanted to expand this service, cutting out the middleman and shipping direct to processors around the world.
“We looked across the South East coastline for potential sites, capable of taking deepwater vessels,” director Simon Ripley commented. “Our search eventually found a suitable site on the banks of the Thames, at Gravesend, which was part of the Thames Tideway project. We agreed a deal with the owners in early 2023 and quickly started delivering processed scrap to the site later that year. We already had contacts with many of the processing plants in Europe and North Africa, who were happy to take our smaller quantities of material. They were very receptive when we informed them of our expansion plans, and following detailed discussions, we secured deals to supply sites in Turkey, Egypt and Morocco with high quality scrap metals. This was the beginning of our London Scrap Terminal, a new venture supporting the rest of the Ripley businesses. l”
The quick turnaround from setting up at Gravesend, to getting the first vessel loaded and dispatched, was testament to the company’s organisation and the respect they enjoy within the industry.
Already operating a large fleet of material handlers, the company required something a little larger than their standard 30-40 tonne machine already in use. “We have been using Sennebogen material handlers for several years and have found them to be extremely durable and an ideal machine for our works,” Simon comments. “Whilst we spoke to other manufacturers, our relationship with the Sennebogen brand goes back a very long way.”
The UK’s Sennebogen dealer is Avonmouth based Molson Group, and it was Brian Albiston, their very experienced Material Handling and Port Salesman, who put together a package for the new venture. “We have been dealing with Brian for almost as long as we’ve been purchasing Sennebogen,” Simon added. “He has a wealth of industry knowledge and is an absolute professional when it comes to providing a comprehensive package designed to suit our requirements.”
Whilst the 30-40 tonne material handlers were ideal for the day to day operations at their recycling centres, the new London Scrap Terminal required something a little larger. The team were already experienced in efficiently loading 4-4500 tonne coasters, however the vessels coming into their new terminal would be more than four times this capacity. This meant that the material needed to be handled efficiently and safely to ensure a quick turnaround. To achieve this, Brian suggested that a pair of Sennebogen 865E Hybrid Material Handlers would be the ideal solution for the terminal.
With an operating weight of around 110 tonnes, depending on the exact specification, the 865E can be configured with a range of undercarriage, boom, stick and cab options. This allows it to be tailored to work across a range of applications and materials.
Powered by a huge 6-cylinder Cummins X12 StageV diesel engine, which develops 261kW, the Sennebogen is extremely efficient in operation and provides the two 475 litre hydraulic pumps with ample power to push hydraulic fluid around the huge machine. Sennebogen’s hybrid system uses a nitrogen accumulator to store energy generated when lowering the boom, to reduce the load on the engine and cut fuel consumption when raising it again.
The Sennebogen 865E Hybrid sits on a large, heavy duty MP80 two-axle undercarriage, with four independently controlled outriggers designed to keep the machine stable whilst throwing material into the hold of the visiting vessels. The undercarriage sits on four large 26.5-25 single tyres, covered with sturdy chequer plate mudguards, to provide protection from any falling material. With a length of over 7.8m and, with the outriggers on the ground, a width of over 6.7m, the Sennebogen sits centrally on the narrow pier to load the vessels. “We would have liked to have three material handlers loading simultaneously,” Simon comments. “But as we have to load the material up on each end of the pier, we would be unable to access a centrally located machine.”
The huge upper structure conceals the Cummins and provides very efficient soundproofing to the machine, resulting in a very quiet operating environment. The large upper structure also makes for safe and simple access to the engine, cooling system and hydraulic system when maintenance work is undertaken. The two Sennebogen 865Es have been supplied with an E270 cab elevation which carries a standard Maxcab. The Maxcab rises from the lowest position a further 3m into the air offering an impressive sight line for the operator of almost 7m off the ground. Inside the cab the operator is well catered for with a comfortable working environment. The usual Bluetooth and USB connections, air conditioning and heated, suspended seat are all fitted in the large, spacious cab. Hydraulic servo joysticks offer precision control for the operator when picking material off the quayside. A full suite of LED working lights gives the operator a clear view of the working area during the darker days. To ensure the constant stability of the material handler, Sennebogen installed a load movement indicator which monitors the weight in the attachment and the position of the boom and stick. The system will shut the machine down instantly should it detect the machine is moving away from its safe working zone.
There is a huge choice of material handling equipment for potential Sennebogen 865E purchasers to choose from. For this application, Simon has chosen the B24 Port handling equipment which allows each machine to reach almost to the furthest extent of the holds on each vessel. “We load the material across the hold as close to a level as we can with the Sennebogen,” says Simon. “We then lower a loader into the hold to trim the material to ensure we reach our maximum capacity each and every time.” At the end of the 12m grab stick sits a Sennebogen manufactured five-tine, orange peel grab with a capacity of 3m3.
Pre-loading the pier with 2000 tonnes of carefully selected material gives the material handlers a good start on each vessel, whilst a fleet of trucks steadily ferry material from the holding area to the pier. “We are very careful to select the right quality of material,” continues Simon. “Offering a higher quality material means we receive a higher financial return and also means the end processor will return to us as opposed to going elsewhere for a slightly inferior quality which costs more to process.”
Since the terminal opened at the end of October 2023, the company has successfully dispatched almost one vessel per month. Steadily transporting the pre-processed, clean material from the holding area, the trucks tip out around 30 tonnes of material at a time. Each Sennebogen is attended by a wheeled loader which assists in keeping the piles tidy and ensures the material handler obtains a full grab of metal each and every time.
“We have been a Sennebogen customer for many years and find their products to be reliable and efficient,” commented Simon. “Our first machine successfully turned over 20,000 hours giving us a good insight into the reliability of the brand. Whilst the intervening years have seen us try other manufacturer’s products, we have always gone back to Sennebogen. Both Brian and the Molson team have provided us with excellent service throughout our years of dealing with them. We need reliability when it comes to loading the ships, and the combination of Sennebogen and Molson Group gives us just that.”
