Customer case

Demolition excavators from Kocurek reach above and beyond with Strenx® steel

May 24, 2021 6 min read

Case details

Product Strenx® 700 E/F

Country United Kingdom

Company Kocurek

Industry Yellow goods and construction

Brand Program My Inner Strenx^®

Long and high reach yet super strong excavator booms from Kocurek Excavators excavator booms in England stand the test of time on the toughest teardown projects with Strenx® 700 E steel plate.

Case details

Product Strenx® 700 E/F

Country United Kingdom

Company Kocurek

Industry Yellow goods and construction

Brand Program My Inner Strenx^®

Reaching new heights in demolition equipment

High-reach excavators for demolition are becoming more popular across the world, especially where space is tight, access is limited or for tall structures. Demolition excavators need to be built to take the strains and stresses of demolition while meeting safety and other regulations. Contractors and equipment manufacturers are looking to balance the trinity of height, reach and heavy-duty performance as excavator arms get longer.

Strenx^® performance steel helps Kocurek Excavators build demolition excavators that withstand the extreme forces needed when tearing down buildings piece by piece with excavator boom arms up to 70 meters (230 ft.) high.

“We’re always pushing the limits of what we are achieving with the excavators,” says David Kocurek, founder and director of Kocurek Excavators. “We need to make the arms as high as possible, as our customers constantly want to go higher. That’s why it is so important that the steel has good fatigue resistance. So, we try to save weight by using a thinner material. Naturally we need to maintain strength, so we specify Strenx^® 700 steel to maintain the strength while reducing the thickness of the plate.”

Demolition excavators that dig for more

By determinedly pushing the boundaries of what’s possible, the England-based family business has become industry leaders in the manufacture of demolition excavators and equipment. Kocurek supplies to major OEMs as well as end users all over the world, from the U.S. to Africa, Asia and Australia.

“It’s very satisfying to have customers traveling from Australia to order equipment from us, and we are sending equipment to all corners of the globe,” Kocurek says.

The company’s product range includes long-reach excavators, material handling excavators (grab machines), high-reach excavators and teledippers, all designed in its development department. The company is still growing, as is the physical size of its products. This is where Strenx^® 700 gives them a competitive edge.

Long steel plate for building long and strong

For the manufacturing process, long steel plates are required for the long reach and high reach equipment. SSAB can supply Kocurek Excavators with larger plate sizes so the product can be put together with fewer joins.

“When you’re building something very long, the fewer joins the better. One of the key points where SSAB has helped us is with Strenx^® 700 E plate that we can use effectively and efficiently for our design, and that are suitable as well as durable for the equipment,” says Rebecca Kelly, David Kocurek’s niece who works at the company.

Demolition excavators from Kocurek have got to stand the test of time while taking a real pounding day in and day out. After all, this is what their customers are paying for.
“People expect something to last if they are putting out a lot of money, so for us Strenx^® steel is the obvious option. It is a quality product going into our high-quality demolition equipment.”

Saves time and gets high technical results in the workshop

Kocurek has been using steel from SSAB in his products for decades and has gained many benefits. One is the good workability of Strenx^® performance steel. The steel has extremely consistent properties and comes with Strenx^® guarantees for tight thickness and flatness tolerances as well as bending guarantees.

“The key benefit for our company is that we can achieve the high technical results required from the product while welding under normal conditions. I think that is the most important thing for me,” Kocurek says.

Another benefit is that Strenx^® 700 E is delivered blasted and primed, without any scale or rust on it.
“With the primer, we have been able to weld straight on to the plates without any prior cleaning. That’s an added benefit with SSAB’s plates, and it has saved us a lot of time over the years. And we have never received a faulty steel plate from SSAB.”

“People expect something to last if they are putting out a lot of money, so for us Strenx® steel is the obvious option. It is a quality product going into our quality excavator arm.”

Rebecca Kelly, After Sales at Kocurek

Certified to high quality standards under My Inner Strenx®

Rebecca Kelly, who works in after sales at Kocurek Excavators, knows just how crucial it is to use quality material in the kind of equipment they manufacture.

“We are very privileged to have been able to join the My Inner Strenx^® program. It is reassurance to our customers that we are using the best quality materials, as well as the best quality processes and practices. The My Inner Strenx^® logo makes it simple and straightforward – you look at a product and you know it’s approved,” Kelly says.

As members of My Inner Strenx^®, they can assure customers that their demolition excavator arms have been certified to meet the strictest quality control standards and highest published guarantees for high-performance steel. When end users see the My Inner Strenx^® sign of quality sticker on a Kocurek product, they know it’s made with superior steel and quality-controlled production techniques for their demanding applications.

Customer benefits

Extends the reach of its excavator arms without adding extra weight.
Maintains excavator strength while reducing the steel plate thickness.
Tight tolerances and guaranteed properties of Strenx^® 700 E give highly consistent workshop performance.
Less welding time, fewer consumables and fewer joins used because of the thinner and longer plate.

Strenx^® performance steel used in Kocurek’s excavators

Strenx^® 700 steel is used in the arms of the demolition excavators.

Strenx^® High-performance steel

Strenx^® performance steel can make your products stronger, lighter, safer, more competitive and more sustainable. We call it performance steel, because it adds performance beyond ordinary structural steel

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