Customer case

Hardox® round bars improve efficiency and service life for skeleton buckets in demolition, recycling, landscaping and other industries

July 29, 2020 6 min read

Case details

Product Hardox® Round bar

Country Germany

Company HS Schoch

Industry Yellow goods and construction

Brand program Hardox^® In My Body

The German company HS Schoch now equips the majority of its skeleton buckets with Hardox® round steel bars. SSAB is the manufacturer of the well-known Hardox® wear plate, a through-hardened and tempered steel for high-strength, wear-resistant applications. SSAB has now extended its range of Hardox® steels with Hardox® round bars in a wide range of dimensions.

Compared to steel plates with a flame-cut sieve surface, these new round steel bars offer impressive benefits in skeleton buckets. Hardox® round steel bars are hard to the core and remain fully hardened even after the completed machining process.

Hardox® round bars are cut only to the length needed to manufacture the skeleton bucket. The heat input is minimized, leaving the steel’s hard and tough properties intact.

All Hardox® round bars are marked with SSAB Hardox® imprint.

Case details

Product Hardox® Round bar

Country Germany

Company HS Schoch

Industry Yellow goods and construction

Brand program Hardox^® In My Body

Suitable for productive pre-sorting

Depending on the customer’s requirements and intended application, the round steel bars can be welded to the bucket or even integrated with turned Hardox® round bars into the frame. This ensures the highest level of wear resistance to the entire bucket construction, even in heavy-duty applications.

End users report that thanks to the shape of the round bars in the skeleton buckets, the material can roll on the bars. This reduces the abrasion effects on the bucket. Less material is getting stuck in skeleton buckets with round steel bars, improving the sorting efficiency.

Buckets equipped with round steel bars can be used for pre-sorting in the demolition and recycling industries as well as in landscaping and agriculture. HS Schoch supplies buckets for excavators ranging from 1.5 to 75 tonnes.

‘‘Any company that uses an excavator and needs to presort material can benefit from a skeleton or sieve bucket with round steel bars. They can also be used in agricultural machinery, for sorting beets and potatoes for example,” explains Marcel Schoch, Managing Director of HS Schoch, based on his experience of customer requirements.

L-shaped skeleton bucket with 60 mm (2.362 in.) round bars that are able to move freely and are not welded in.

Easy to adapt for different applications

The design parameters of a skeleton bucket, such as the diameter of the round steel bars and the distance between the rods, depend on where the bucket will be used and the weight of the excavator to which they are attached. HS Schoch can advise and support its customers thanks to wide-ranging experience in construction solutions throughout Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. The company develops, produces, and renews attachments such as buckets, shovels, and lifting claws. The range includes mini buckets, deep hole buckets, tilt buckets, and skeleton and sieve buckets, as well as quick-change equipment including wear protection linings and special constructions.

Transverse rods made from 40 or 60 mm (1.575 or 2.362 in.) Hardox® 400 round bars have high sieving and sorting performance and increased efficiency due to reduced material clogging the bucket.

Hardox® round steel bars can also be used as material for bolts for construction machinery. The high hardness level of Hardox® steel ensures a longer service life, while the tensile strength offers reduced risk of premature failure.

A solution for machine components

Hardox® round bars also offer an interesting solution for bolts since the material is fully hardened, not only at surface level. Hardox® steel can be worked with surprising ease for the manufacture of screws, threaded bolts, threaded rods, and other fixtures. The high hardness level of Hardox® steel ensures a longer service life of the part, while the tensile strength offers reduced risk of premature failure. For this reason, Hardox® round steel bars also make an ideal material for machine components in both stationary and mobile production equipment.

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Hardox® multi-functional steel bars deliver same high quality as Hardox® wear plate

Hardox® round steel bars offer a versatile solution for many different applications, thanks to their high hardness and yield strength. Due to a low carbon equivalent, the bars have high toughness and are easy to weld. The unique combination of properties and the ability to shape and machine Hardox® round bars allow end customers to enjoy the same high quality that Hardox® wear plate is known for. Round steel bars are currently available with diameters ranging from 40–100 mm (1.575–3.937 in.) and lengths up to 5,000 mm (196.85 in.). Other dimensions are also available and under development (AR 400 and AR 500). AR 500 round bars are available in diameters of 20–160 mm (0.786–6.298 in.).