Verstegen is a respected manufacturer of rope operated mechanical grabs for the dry bulk industry. Stevedoring companies, port authorities as well as steel works and power plants use the company’s grabs to handle all kinds of bulk materials.
More than 10,000 Verstegen grabs are in operation in more than 100 countries worldwide.
DEDICATION TO GRABS
Verstegen specializes in designing and building grabs. Its employees work continuously to develop and build the most efficient and cost-effective grabs.
Besides the standardized grab product range, Verstegen also develops unique solutions for specific situations and customer needs.
VERSTEGEN’S PHILOSOPHY
For fast and efficient unloading, a grab is one of the most important tools. In order to get high unloading rates, the grab must be extremely reliable with a high productive capacity. Furthermore each grab should be custom built for the material it has to handle and the unloading situation in which it has to operate.
HIGH CAPACITIES AND LOW DEAD WEIGHTS
In order to obtain the highest productive capacity, a grab should have the highest possible volume without unnecessary dead weight. This is only possible with a good and well-proven design and the use of the best possible materials. To increase strength and minimize wear, each Verstegen grab is provided with shells completely made of high tensile wear resistant steel. The friction in the articulation points is absolute minimal because of an excellent bearing system.
A DIFFERENT GRAB FOR EACH BULK MATERIAL
Each material has its own specific properties and a grab must be adjusted to these properties. A grab that will work perfectly in coal, can have great difficulties whilst handling iron ore. Through extensive experience and expertise, Verstegen has developed a number of grab models, especially designed for common bulk materials (coal, iron ore, agribulk, fertilizer, phosphates, ..).
Besides grabs for above materials, the company has special solutions available for other bulk materials with specific properties. The range of Verstegen grabs includes:
CLAMSHELL GRABS
Optimally designed for common bulk materials. Clamshell grabs are used for normal free-flowing bulk materials. Verstegen has developed a range of grabs that are optimally designed for common bulk materials. For other materials with specific properties, the company has developed a number of special solutions.
Optimized clamshell grabs: over the years Verstegen developed a wide of range of clamshell grabs. In order to offer the most suitable grabs, the company requires information about the materials to be handled, the crane on which the grabs has to operate and the customer’s unloading situation.
High productivity: the purpose of a grab is to handle large volumes of bulk material in a fast and efficient way. A good design, in combination with the use of high-tensile wear-resistant steel, as well as an excellent bearing system, make it possible to design and build very strong grabs with relatively low dead weights and high productive capacities.
Reliable and durable: in order to improve the strength and extend the lifetime, the shells of all Verstegen grabs are completely made of wear-resistant steel with a hardness of 450HB.
ORANGE PEEL GRABS
For difficult to handle materials, like iron scrap, stones and rocks, or pig iron Verstegen orange peel grabs are an ideal solution. The specific shell model depends on the material which has to be handled.
Scrap handling: most orange peel grabs are used for handling iron scrap. But scrap comes in all kinds of forms and shapes. A grab suitable for shredded scrap will not automatically perform well in heavy melting scrap. Therefore Verstegen has developed different types of grab model. Besides the number of shells, the shape of the shells and also the spaces between the shells can vary in order to optimize the grab for each specific application.
Radiation detection system: the grabs can be equipped with a radiation detection system (RadComm). The system scans on a continuous basis, so the material is scanned on the surface before the grab even picks up the load. The remote console will alert the operator when radioactive material is detected. The controller is mounted inside the crane operator’s cab.
Pig iron or stones: for handling materials like pig iron and stones extra heavy orange peel grabs are required. To ensure a good penetration and good filling, the grabs have high dead weight. The spaces between the shells are relatively small to minimize the risk of material loss.
Other materials: sometimes orange peel grabs can also be used for other materials, like biomass or handling large lumps of materials. Also for under water operations orange peel grabs can be used.
TRIMMING GRABS
For heavy and coarse materials, Verstegen trimming grabs are the most efficient solution. Trimming grabs are in operation for handling coarse materials like stones, ferro-chrome, pig iron, DRI and HBI.
Wide opening and horizontal closing path: trimming grabs are special grabs with a very wide opening and large footprint which is extremely efficient during cleaning-up operations. Because the shells have a ‘horizontal closing path’ the bulk material is ‘scraped together’, instead of taking a bite out of the material. This makes it possible to ensure a good filling of the grab without having to penetrate the material. A special application for trimming grabs is dredging operations. The horizontal closing path makes it possible to work in layers and create an even surface.
Specific materials: because of the extreme large opening of the shells, trimming grabs have a very large ‘footprint’, which also offers advantages during cleaning up operations. Trimming grabs are normally used for materials like pig iron (pyramid shaped), furnace slag, HBI, stones and ore lumps and other coarse materials (up to ±300mm).
SINGLE-ROPE GRABS
A special grab in the extensive range of Verstegen grabs, is the single-rope grab, especially designed for cranes with one single drum.
Ready for operation: single-rope grabs are normally used when port cranes are not available and shipboard cranes must be used. Most of these ship cranes are single drum cranes that cannot operate two- or four-rope grabs. In these cases, Verstegen single-rope grabs can be a good solution. The grabs can be connected to any crane. The only thing the user has to do is to hook the grab on a crane with sufficient lift capacity and the grab is ready for operation.
Three opening systems: most of Verstegen’s single rope grabs are provided with a mechanical hook system to secure the closing of the grab. To open the grab, this mechanism must be uncoupled. Besides the completely mechanical grabs with a touch-and-go opening system, there is a manual opening system (by pulling a tagline) and a remote control opening system.
DREDGING GRABS
Verstegen has a long history in building grabs for underwater operations. Different grab models are available for different operations.
Dredging and digging grabs: for underwater operations, Verstegen offers grabs for maintenance dredging (mainly silt and mud) and special grabs for digging operations (clay and hard ground layers). The grabs are available in two- and four-rope versions.
Smooth shells: the inner side of the shells are smooth without any abrupt transitions. This minimizes resistance during digging into the bottom and also makes it easier to unload sticky materials, like clay and mud.
Different types of cutting edges (shell lips): the grab’s lower lips can be delivered with contact lips without teeth. For hard layers and difficult-to-penetrate materials, Verstegen recommends lips with teeth. There are bottom lips with removable or exchangeable teeth and lips with permanent teeth (cut from the bottom lips). Permanent teeth (cut into the bottom lips) are very suitable for extreme hard layers.