Guidetti PMG Pre-Shredders

PMG pre-shredders are the first machine in a recycling line. They open up cable, non-ferrous metals, composites and mixed industrial waste so the granulators, mills and separators behind them receive a feed they can actually process. Engineered Recycling Systems supplies, integrates, installs and services the full Guidetti PMG range from Atlanta.

Why a pre-shredder earns its place

A granulator fed oversized material jams, wears fast and produces an inconsistent fragment. Fed a sized feed it runs at its rated throughput and its knives last. Most of the economic case for a pre-shredder is not its own output — it is what it saves the machines behind it.

That is why the stage is usually added to an existing line rather than designed in from the start. A plant discovers the problem by living with it.

Electromechanical or hydraulic

The range splits in two. The PMG 400 and PMG 600 are electromechanical, suited to intermittent work and tight buildings.

The hydraulic machines — PMG 900 H, PMG 1200 H and PMG 1600 — hold torque at low speed instead of tripping. Armored and bundled cable, dense non-ferrous scrap, composite housings and reinforced waste all point hydraulic.

The choice follows from the material, not from preference. General cable, plastics and light metals run well on an electromechanical drive and cost less to buy and to run.

Choosing a size

Start with the building, then the material, then the rate. A machine too large for the space is as much a problem as one too small for the duty, and on compact installations the handling either side usually decides the real throughput rather than the machine itself.

Guidetti publishes a capacity range for the series rather than a figure per model, because production depends on installed power, screen size and what is being fed. Clean cable and mixed contaminated scrap will not run at the same rate through the same rotor.

The number worth planning around is the sustained rate on the plant's own material. That comes from a trial, not from a brochure.

Single-shaft, low speed

The PMG series is single-shaft. Material is fed manually or by conveyor into the cutting chamber, where the rotor fragments it at low speed against the screen.

Low speed keeps dust and noise down and gives a uniform particle size. On a machine sitting inside a working building, both matter as much as the rate.

What runs through them

Copper and aluminum cable of most constructions, including production offcuts and installer drops. Non-ferrous metals, rubber, plastics, paper and composite scrap. E-waste and electronic scrap too bulky to feed a precision machine directly.

The common factor is size and resistance rather than material type. If it is too big, too tough or too tangled for the next machine, it goes through a pre-shredder first.

What sits behind them

A pre-shredder is stage one and never the whole answer. Behind it sit Sincro granulation lines for cable, dry separation tables for the density split, and hammer mills where final sizing is needed.

A magnetic pulley or overband separator takes ferrous contamination out inline before it reaches any of them, and magnetic separation covers the heavier duty.

Built into a line, not sold as a box

ERS integrates PMG machines with conveyors, granulators, air separation and dust extraction so the stages balance. A pre-shredder that outruns the granulation behind it does not raise output — it moves the bottleneck somewhere harder to see.

Where a manufacturer generates its own cable scrap, in-house wire scrap recovery built around a machine this size keeps the copper value in the business rather than selling it at scrap price.

Maintenance

Easy-access panels and a rotary valve system keep material moving and make inspection straightforward. Sealed bearings, reinforced housings and an operator-level control interface suit continuous duty with minimal supervision. The machines are CE certified.

Blades and screens are consumables. What decides their real cost is how long the line stands still while they are changed, which is why access is designed in rather than worked around.

How a project starts

With the material and the space. ERS looks at what arrives, in what volume, what has to be recovered, and the room available. Material can be run at the ERS test facility in Atlanta before anything is specified.

Every machine ERS supplies is installed, commissioned and supported by ERS, with spare parts and service from Atlanta. The PMG range sits within the wider ERS metals processing lineup.

Talk to ERS about what you are feeding and what the next machine needs to see.