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Demolishing and breaking

Concrete crusher

Close-up of the toothed jaws of a concrete crusher above a pile of crushed concrete, in front of buildings.
The toothed jaws of a concrete crusher, above the concrete rubble.
They burst the concrete; the bars are left for the shear.
Photo:
Bernard Spragg, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons, resized, brand removed.

Two jaws squeeze the concrete until it bursts, and leave the reinforcement bare.
Without a blow, without vibration:
the noise and the shaking disappear with the percussion.

Other names for this tool: concrete grab, demolition jaw, concrete pulveriser, demolition crusher, crushing grab, concrete crusher.

The essentials
Family
Demolishing and breaking
Classes (t)
1 to 140 t
Coupler
All, by plate
Power source
Hydraulic — flow and pressure: we calculate it with you for your machine
Principle
Squeezing, without percussion

Compare with the breaker →

01 Use

What it is for

On the left, the jaws burst the concrete, the reinforcement comes out cleaned, ready for sorting. On the right, with the breaker, concrete and scrap fall mixed together in a single heap. Computer-generated image.
the jaws burst the concrete, the reinforcement comes out cleaned, ready for sorting with the breaker, concrete and scrap fall mixed together in a single heap
Left: the jaws burst the concrete, the reinforcement comes out cleaned, ready for sorting.
Right: with the breaker, concrete and scrap fall mixed together in a single heap.
What sets it apart:
the concrete comes away in plates, the reinforcement does not break — it comes out cleaned.
Computer-generated image.
The jaws close, the concrete bursts, the rebar appears.
No impact, no vibration: the crusher bites, it does not strike.
Synthetic video.
The two jaws of a crusher closed on a block of reinforced concrete: the concrete bursts, and the ribbed reinforcing bars come out twisted.
It does not cut the concrete, it bursts it:
the reinforcement stays, and it is a shear that takes it afterwards.
Synthetic image.

A ram closes two curved jaws on the element to be demolished.
The concrete, which resists that kind of force badly, cracks and comes away in plates.
The reinforcement, for its part, does not break:
it comes out cleaned, ready to be cut and sorted.

It is the tool of selective demolition:
you take the concrete out of a wall, a column or a slab while leaving in place what you want to keep, and you separate the materials as you go instead of sorting a heap afterwards.

Its real field is the sensitive site. No percussion means no wave transmitted to the structure or to the ground, and a noise level with no relation to that of a breaker.
On a party wall, near an occupied building, on a structure part of which must stay standing, it is often the only acceptable tool — regardless of its output.

02 Key technical data

On which machine?

A concrete crusher fits excavators from 1 to 140 t, on all couplers via a mounting plate.
On a micro-excavator up to 2 t, it weighs from 190 to 310 kg; from 2 to 5 t, from 190 to 550 kg.
On an excavator from 5 to 10 t: from 300 to 1 100 kg.
On an excavator from 10 to 20 t: from 550 to 2 400 kg.
Above 20 t: from 1 500 to 11 000 kg.

What the tool does

It works concrete by clamping, without percussion.
Some recorded lengths: 1 130, 1 420, 1 700 and 3 540 mm.
Depending on the model: interchangeable cutting blades and teeth, bolt-on teeth replaceable without welding, pressure intensifier, to be checked with you.
It is also available with two rams, or in a rotating version through 360°, to be checked with you.
The jaw opening: we calculate it with you for your machine.

What is needed on the hydraulic side

It connects to an auxiliary hydraulic circuit.
The recorded pressure ranges from 200 to 350 bar depending on the excavator class.
On a mini-excavator and a 5 to 10 t excavator, the flow ranges from 50 to 70 l/min.
For the other classes, the flow: we calculate it with you for your machine.

Figures taken from 43 models on the market.
Your study sets the exact value for your machine.

How to read these values →

03 Your study

Have your machine checked.

Give us your excavator model, the thickness and the reinforcement of what has to be demolished, and the working height.
Say whether the site imposes the absence of vibration:
that does not only change the tool, it changes the method.

What we need to answer you
  • Your machine Its make and its tonnage.
  • The auxiliary circuit Its flow in l/min, its pressure in bar, single- or double-acting.
  • The coupler in place Its system and its class.
  • The work The use, and the material.

Without these details, the study still begins: we will ask you for them.

Send my photos

or describe your need

Book an appointment with the specialist

Or call 01 84 16 55 49 · our lines are open 7 days a week, from 7h to 22h.

Written study within 3 working days, once the file is complete.

Concrete crusher crushing a reinforced concrete wall, reinforcing bars laid bare
The concrete bursts, the bars stay — cleaned, ready to be cut and sorted.
No blow, no vibration transmitted to what stays standing.
Synthetic image.
Long-reach demolition excavator, concrete crusher on the end, attacking the top of a concrete wall, rubble at its foot; a glass office block in the background.
Demolishing a building:
the crusher gnaws at the concrete wall from the top.
The concrete falls in pieces; the reinforcement is left for sorting.
Photo:
MHM55, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons, resized.
04 Choice

What determines the choice

  • 01 — The opening of the jaws It fixes the maximum thickness the tool can take.
    A wall thicker than the opening cannot be crushed:
    it has to be attacked from the edge, which completely changes the method and the time.
  • 02 — The closing force, related to the reinforcement Lightly reinforced concrete gives way easily.
    Heavily reinforced concrete, or a prestressed beam, call for much more.
    It is the reinforcement, more than the thickness, that decides the size of tool.
  • 03 — Hydraulic rotation Without rotation, the orientation of the grip depends entirely on the position of the machine.
    With rotation, you present the jaws in the right line without moving — at the price of a second hydraulic function to feed.
  • 04 — The wear parts Teeth, blades and tips work in direct contact with the concrete and the steel.
    Whether they are bolt-on and replaceable changes what happens to the tool when they are worn.

Crusher, shear or sorting grab:
they are not the same tool. The crusher bursts the concrete and frees the bars.
The shear cuts the metal.
The sorting grab grips and moves.
Many demolition sites need all three — hence the value of a quick coupler, more than of a versatile tool that would do all three badly.

05 Check

What is checked before ordering

  • The auxiliary line, and a second if the tool turns The squeezing calls for one function; the rotation calls for another.
    A machine fitted with only one line will not be able to do both. See the 7 criteria.
  • The weight at the end of the arm, at height Demolition is often done with the arm raised and extended, which is the worst case.
    It is that position, not the tool set on the ground, that determines the class of machine.
  • The protection of the cab Working under a structure you are demolishing exposes the operator to falling material.
    The suitable protection is a matter for the machine:
    it is a question to put to the maker of the excavator, not to the supplier of the tool.
  • The interface Coupler type and size, or pin dimensions.
    The tool is supplied with the matching plate — see the couplers.
In the same family
After the demolition
On the interface
To go further
A question about an attachment? 01 84 16 55 49 Send my photos