What happens when you put an entire house through a mobile shredder? GGL Site Development and a Terex Ecotec TDS 815 found out—and the results offer an intriguing look at the potential of onsite demolition waste processing.
As featured in Deals on Wheels NZ Issue 395 March 2026
Taupō contractors GGL Site Development – Earthmoving Ltd (GGL) may have inadvertently pulled off a New Zealand first – putting a whole residential house through an onsite shredder. Sure, I’ve seen concrete and other demo waste processed onsite before, but these were either done with separate machines, or only certain parts of the building were handled.
So, it could be that we’re witnessing a first – well it’s certainly a first for Deals on Wheels mag, at least. What I am describing here is the handiwork of the Terex Ecotec TDS 815 slow speed shredder – although describing it as ‘slow speed’ is a little inaccurate. The shredding drums may rotate slowly, but the ability to process a whole range of material types quickly and efficiently is impressive to say the least.
The TDS 815 is one of two machines of this model that are available for hire in New Zealand from Mobile Screening & Crushing Ltd (MSC). These, along with a range of high-quality mobile crushing, screening plants, and mobile stacker conveyors for hire, highlight MSC’s strong reputation as a specialist in the recycling and materials processing industries.
What Did The Machine Do?
Okay, so just to be entirely clear, GGL company director Todd Elmiger tells me that the steel I-beams were loaded directly onto a truck instead of being put through the shredder. MSC operations manager Dan Meikle says that while metal demo such as roofing iron, aluminium window frames and rebar are easily handled by the TDS 815, heavy structural steel should not be put through the machine.
“Everything was processed through the machine,” says Todd. “Timber, the roof, walls, concrete… everything – except for the I-beams. We processed the concrete separately, and this was left on site for the next stage of development. It saved a lot of money in disposal costs.”
Slow Speed Shredding
Long established in more progressive countries, slow speed shredders are beginning to gain an audience in New Zealand, thanks to their quiet operating and economical daily running costs. One of the big benefits is that being basically a couple of heavy-duty rotating drums that turn almost anything fed into them into tiny pieces, the footprint of the machine is relatively small. This makes it ideal for those urban sites Kiwis like to redevelop and shoehorn modern housing onto.
ECOTEC TDS 815
The TDS 815 weighs in at 16,500kg, and with a width of 2500mm, length of 8400mm, height of 3050mm, there is no need for a specialist heavy transport operator to be called in every time the machine needs to be moved between sites. There is even a hook loader transport option.
The earlier-mentioned 1500mm twin shredding drums can be adjusted to turn independently, or in unison with each other to give the ideal end result of the feed material. Different types of drums can be fitted to suit varying applications and thanks to a cassette-type system they are relatively easy to interchange or remove for maintenance.
Going along with this are the removable internal ‘aprons’ that are essentially static screens with large apertures to regulate the size of the material being delivered to the output conveyor. The aprons can be swapped out for different sizes depending on the material being processed.
When operating, load sensing hydraulics recognise when the drums are under strain and automatically release pressure momentarily before trying once again. In the case of an object that the sensors recognise could cause damage to the machine, it will automatically pause working and notify the operator to inspect the shredding drums.
Long-Term Interest
For Todd, using the Ecotec TDS 815 on a house demolition job has been the culmination of a long-term interest.
“About 15 years ago, I saw a shredder dealing with large tyres at Mystery Creek Fieldays and thought it would be good to see how it would go on a whole house.
“The advantage of putting a whole house through the shredder was we were able to increase the payload on each truck from around 2.5 to 4 tonnes, as there were no air voids. While the end tonnage to the tip would remain the same, we needed less truck movements, less wages, less road user and fuel burn.”
“The machine works fast, although it can be difficult to notice as it just seems to quietly do its thing. It handled the demo waste no problem at all.”
As for the support and back-up service from MSC, Todd rates them highly.
“I’ve dealt with MSC for a long time and they are good honest people to deal with. Having a yard here in Taupō is also a good central location to access other customers.”
For more information, visit www.mobilescreening.co.nz, call 0800 672 583 or email: [email protected] / [email protected]
