- Conveying
Most dealers know the TeleStacker Conveyor as a stockpiling machine, and for 30 years it’s been a workhorse in that application. However, some of the most interesting uses are ones that don’t look anything like traditional stockpiling.
These applications tend to surface when end users are trying to solve complex material handling challenges. They usually involve tight footprints, precise placement goals, or constantly evolving site layouts.
Lafe Grimm, the long-time chief engineer for TeleStacker Conveyors and now director of engineering at Superior, is among those who sees nontraditional opportunities for the TeleStacker Conveyor in many other markets.
“We've adapted the machine to quite a few other applications through the years,” he says. “Most of the time, it's the combination of the conveyor's mobility and variable length that opens the door to these alternative uses.”
From Lafe, here are five applications where the TeleStacker Conveyor has excelled in opportunities beyond stockpiling.
1. Filling Bunkers & Bins
With pits and quarries getting pushed farther from high-demand areas, distribution yards within metro areas are becoming increasingly common.
Material arrives by truck, rail, or barge — often in a wide range of sizes and specs — and is stockpiled in bunkers or bins for redistribution locally.
The TeleStacker Conveyor is an efficient performer at these sites, which are typically confined to tight footprints within a city.
“We often develop custom automation in these applications,” Grimm says. “The operator selects the material type, the conveyor moves to the correct bunker, and fills within the designated area.”
2. Barge & Ship Loading
The TeleStacker Conveyor is an ideal partner in these applications because it can load entire vessels without having to be moved. That eliminates a tremendous amount of historical downtime.
To date, Superior and its dealers have supplied conveyors — some highly customized, others straight from dealer stock — to almost 200 deepwater and river terminal port projects.
"They can be outfitted with a wide range of marine-ready options," says Grimm. "These include features like dust collection, drip pans, belt covers, and full walkways, along with corrosion-resistant finishes, marine-grade hardware, and custom chutes."
In applications where wind, salt spray, or tighter regulations come into play, additional controls and containment solutions help keep material on the belt and protect surrounding waters.
3. Precision Placement of Material
Grimm points to one project where an environmental contractor was tasked with lining a contaminated section of river. Using a barge-mounted TeleStacker Conveyor and GPS guidance, they laid down material for a job that otherwise would have required an assortment of equipment.
The conveyor allowed the crew to place material over a wide area from a single barge position, reducing the time and cost of frequent repositioning. That matters because every move takes time: from pulling anchors and resetting spuds to re-aligning for the next pass.
“We’ve seen TeleStacker Conveyors lining ponds, backfilling construction sites, and placing layers of material down for dam construction,” Grimm says. “It’s the same idea, placing material precisely where it needs to go."
4. Acting as a Transfer Conveyor
In long, narrow sites where space is limited, building stockpiles often requires constant repositioning. To reduce that, some end users have used TeleStacker Conveyors as part of the feed process, which allows the conveyor to remain in place.
“When a site doesn’t have room for a radial stockpile, it ends up getting built in stages,” Grimm says. “The challenge is that repositioning conveyors is labor intensive, usually involving disconnection, rewiring, and moving equipment to keep the system aligned.
A TeleStacker Conveyor can simplify that process, because retracting or extending the stinger is much faster than relocating individual conveyors.
5. Transloading: Barge to Land
Superior’s custom capabilities help dealers deliver solutions for end users with highly specific site needs.
For example, a McCourt Equipment customer asked engineers to design a special solution that loaded trucks directly from a barge.
“We designed and built them a custom TeleStacker Conveyor specifically for a barge footprint,” Grimm says. “That required a custom overcarriage design that reduced the axle length so the unit could fit while still keeping its reach and stability."
In this application, a crane loads material into a custom hopper at the tail end, and the conveyor swings and telescopes to place it onto shore-based stockpiles or directly into trucks.