Customer Solutions
Major Wire has clearly proven that its innovative and technically superior approach to screen media has led to highly advanced, performance-driven choices—choices that deliver a return on investment far superior to that of traditional average quality products sold on price and delivery.
Here are just a few customers that have experienced and benefited from the difference.
Flex-Mat® 3 Keeps Production At Full Force, Even In A Downpour
Sundre, Alberta, Canada
Application: Screening over 30 different product sizes, from 1/16-inch (1.6-mm) fine sand to 12-inch (305-mm) screened rock.
In a battle against the weather, Sundre Contracting was experiencing extreme media blinding and pegging from clay material and a rainy climate which often required them to shut operations down to clean and dry the screens. During a particularly rainy month, they estimated these shutdowns cost the company around 100 hours of production time and 2,000-2,400 tons per day.
After experimenting with a few other screen media options, they took the recommendation of Major Wire Authorized Dealer Matt Armstrong, with ELRUS Aggregate Systems, and installed Major Wire’s Flex-Mat 3 Tensioned Series D screen media. The operation instantly shifted from not being able to produce at all in marginally rainy weather to full operation through heavy downpours.
Sundre now uses Flex-Mat 3 Tensioned screen media on at least five of their six screen decks in a variety of positions. “Flex-Mat 3 helps us screen and wash all products more efficiently and saves us thousands in lost production each year.”
Using Flex-Mat 3 has provided unexpected savings in other areas throughout their operation. Overall annual water usage has been reduced because the vibrating wire technology virtually eliminates blinding and pegging. Since the wash plant deck is used less frequently, this has also resulted in the settling pond needing cleaned and drained less throughout the year.
Jason Harder, Manager of Operations
Producer Doubles Production, Stops Needless Maintenance
Western United States
Application: Screening crushed aggregate for commercial and private sectors using five panels of 5/8” (15.9-mm) opening Flex-Mat® 3 Tensioned screen media on a top deck of the 6’ x 20’ (1.8-m x 6.1-m) Cedarapids screen.
This long-running operation was using 5/8” (15.9-mm) traditional woven wire and experiencing blinding and serious pegging issues that were slowing production. Only able to produce 60 tons per hour, the operation’s cone crusher was being fed improperly which was causing an oil leak that required frequent brief maintenance shut downs. These slow production rates also forced the plant to run continuously, leaving very little time for more comprehensive routine maintenance. Flex-Mat 3 has eliminated the operation’s blinding and pegging issues to help double its production rates to 120 tons per hour, increasing the feed to the plant and thus feeding the cone properly to eliminate the oil leak issue. It is now able to shut down for necessary routine maintenance every Friday. All of these production and efficiency improvements have led to a revenue increase of approximately $873,000 per year.
Flex-Mat® 3 Pays For Itself In Less Than 1 Day
Australia
Application: Screening manganese ore material (containing approximately 50 percent manganese) on a 16’ x 6’ (4.9-m x 1.8-m) single-deck scalping screen using 2-1/2” (63-mm) opening Flex-Mat® 3 Tensioned screen media.
This manganese mining operation previously suffered from severe pegging of its traditional woven wire screen media from near-size particles. It was shutting down daily, and often multiple times a day, to clean the media in order to continue production. First, the operation switched to rubber screen media to stop the pegging, but it caused a significant reduction in open area that resulted in lost production of the valuable ore. The operation then switched to Flex-Mat 3 and has since increased its production by 140 tons per hour compared to woven wire, and even more over the rubber screen media. Recirculation of oversized material to the crusher has been nearly eliminated and the operation has gone 2+ years since installation without stopping to clean the screen media. At the time of this calculation, the Major Wire Authorized Dealer estimated that the price of manganese in Australia was nearly AUD$1,000 per ton. The mined material is approximately 50 percent manganese, which means the Flex-Mat 3 screen media paid for itself in less than one day with the increase in production it provided.
Mineral Producer Chooses Modular, Saves Thousands At The Dock
The Americas
Application: Screening a mineral on four 10’ x 24’ (3.1-m x 7.3-m) single-deck screens using Flex-Mat® 3 D Modular stainless steel screen media with a combination of 5/16”, 3/8”, 7/16” and 1/2” (7.9-mm, 9.5-mm, 11.1-mm and 12.7-mm) openings on each deck.
Capable of producing millions of tons of minerals per year, this operation was having trouble screening material to spec with traditional polyurethane panels. As soon as the top surface of the polyurethane was worn, the polyurethane started passing material larger than specified. To avoid this, the operation changed its polyurethane screen media every 2 to 3 months. Flex-Mat 3 Modular, on the other hand, passes in-spec material for up to 50% of the wire’s life, meaning the producer only replaces it every 8 to 10 months, significantly increasing mineral production. In addition, the polyurethane was experiencing severe pegging and had to be washed regularly. Flex-Mat 3 Modular’s advanced vibrating wire technology has completely eliminated this pegging challenge. The producer has reduced its downtime spent cleaning and replacing screen media and is now able to load the ship faster, saving thousands in shipping costs previously spent keeping the ship docked while it was being filled.
“The First Product That Did What It Said It Would”
Mississippi
Application: Screening recycled asphalt pavement and concrete on the bottom deck of a 4’ x 14’ (1.2-m x 4.3-m) double-deck Cedarapids screen box using ½” (12.7-mm) opening Flex-Mat® 3 Tensioned screen media.
The 100-ton-per-hour operation was experiencing blinding and pegging of its ½" (12.7-mm) woven wire due to the sticky nature of the recycled asphalt. It was being forced to shut down for 30 minutes every two hours to clean the screens that were blinding up to 6" (152 mm) deep. Losing two hours of production time a day was costing the operation more than 4,000 tons of potential sellable material every month. The operation first tried stainless steel slotted screen media, but it passed oversize product, resulting in out-of-spec stockpiles. So, it turned to Flex-Mat 3. Since purchasing Flex-Mat 3, the operation has screened up to 40,000 tons of recycled asphalt and concrete over the original panels and is still using them.
“We had been offered a job in Missouri requiring that we screen asphalt in the winter, which is a nightmare because the wet asphalt sticks so badly. I saw an advertisement for Flex-Mat 3 in a quarry magazine so I decided to give it a chance. In spite of my skepticism, Flex-Mat 3 was the first product that did what it said it would. We are able to produce spec RAP and clean out fines from crushed concrete no matter how wet it is. We can even screen in a complete downpour. Flex-Mat 3 is pretty amazing. Major Wire and Flex-Mat 3 will definitely be a part of Southern Crushing’s future.”
Tim Lipsmeyer, Owner
Flexibility of Flex-Mat® 3 Eliminates Unneeded Screening Plant
Midwestern United States
Application: Screening concrete stone on a 6’ x 20’ (1.8-m x 6.1-m) triple-deck finishing screen to produce up to 500,000 tons per year of #57’s, #8’s, #9’s and Agg-Meal. The operation is using 1/2” (12.7-mm) Flex-Mat® 3 D Tensioned screen media on the top deck, a combination of 0.138” and 0.197” (3.5-mm and 5.0-mm) Flex-Mat 3 S on the middle deck and both 0.093” and 0.087” (2.4-mm and 2.2-mm) Flex-Mat 3 S on the bottom deck.
This up to 250-ton-per-hour operation was running woven wire and a competitive self-cleaning screen media on the top deck, resulting in end-product contamination with elongations and fines. In addition, the existing screen media did not align with the screen box bucker bars, decreasing potential throughput. These problems forced the operation to employ an additional screening plant to split production of the four products between two screen boxes. After a Screening Plant Audit, Flex-Mat 3 D eliminated the slivers and elongations that were contaminating the middle deck’s product while Flex-Mat 3 S increased production of the #8’s, ensuring that the fines fell through to the bottom deck. By using the smaller Flex-Mat 3 S opening on the bottom deck, the operation was able to screen out the fines at the beginning and let the minus 0.093” (2.4-mm) material fall through to produce clean aglime. Flex-Mat 3 allowed the operation to shut down the additional screening plant and produce all four materials from a single screen box.
Flex-Mat® 3 On All Decks Spikes Production 200 TPH
Midwestern United States
Application: Screening concrete stone on a 10’ x 24’ (3.1-m x 7.3-m) finishing screen 
using Flex-Mat® 3 Tensioned on all three decks with 1” (25.4-mm) opening on the top deck, 7/16” (11.1-mm) opening on the middle deck and 1/8” (3.2-mm) opening on the bottom deck.
This 2-million-tons-per-year, 900-tons-per-hour limestone operation was having difficulties getting its properly sized product to fall through to the 2nd deck fast enough, causing frequent load recirculation. The woven wire used was also wearing rapidly due to high friction. So, the local Major Wire Authorized Dealer made two recommendations. First, since a chips issue had been solved a few years ago by adding Flex-Mat 3 to the bottom deck, the dealer suggested using Flex-Mat 3 on all three decks. Another suggestion was to reverse the screen rotation to go uphill. With these two changes, the bed depth has gone from up to 6” (152 mm) above down to 2” (50.8 mm) above the tension rails. By the time the material gets half way down the screen, the less than 1” (25.4-mm) material has fallen through to the 2nd deck, eliminating the need for recirculation. The result is minimized downtime spent cleaning and replacing screens and an increase in production by up to 200 tons per hour.
Hinkle Contracting Fixes Production With Flex-Mat® 3 Modular
Stanton, KY
Application: Screening clay-embedded limestone using 1/4”
(6.4-mm) Flex-Mat® 3 Modular screen media on the bottom deck of a scalping screen and a combination of 1/4” and 3/16” (6.4-mm and 4.8-mm) Flex-Mat 3 Modular panels on the bottom deck of a finishing screen.
“At one point, we were stopping every two hours to clean our screen media, which could take up to 30 minutes to clean and start up again. The material is especially tough to screen. I could immediately see that [Flex-Mat 3 Modular panels] increased the open area over the synthetic screen media, same as if we were using wire. The ‘crown’ in the center creates the tension needed to give the panel firmer movement. Flex-Mat 3 Modular provided a common-sense solution for us because it opens up the screening area, opens the throughput, eliminates our blinding problem and cleans the material better.”
Donnie Spencer, Manager
Morrissey Aggregates Increases Wet Material Production By 100%
Fernie, BC
Application: Screening raw aggregate high in moisture content 
and clay with Flex-Mat® 3 Tensioned screen media in a portable dual crusher process including a Pioneer jaw crusher and an LJ Roller Cone 2 finishing crusher.
“It was a fairly major investment for a smaller company like ours, but it has saved us money in the long term, and more importantly, we have been able to achieve higher production volumes and sell our product to more companies. We have had one screen on our jaw for almost three years and we have put 400,000 tons of material over top of it. We see a significant increase in production most days compared to what we would do with our old screens, but on a wet day, it’s a 100% increase because we would have been shut down and parked in the past due to everything clogging up.”
Skeet Podrasky, Owner
Limestone Quarry Solves Pegging To Meet Superpave Spec
Midwestern United States
Application: Screening limestone on a 6’ x 20’ (1.8-m x 6.1-m) triple-deck finishing 
screen using 120 panels of 3/16” (4.8-mm) Flex-Mat® 3 D Modular screen media on the middle deck to produce -1/4” x +3/16” (-6.4-mm x +4.8-mm) chips for Superpave projects.
With production rates of 200 tons per hour, the original polyurethane middle deck was more than 30% pegged, causing it to blind over and retain fine material in the asphalt chip. The end product was dirty, out of spec and unusable for Superpave. Now, with Flex-Mat 3’s self-cleaning vibrating wire technology, the operation is producing clean material that passes gradation testing for Superpave in one pass. The operation now receives up to 40% more material throughput and produces thousands of tons of salable material each month that was previously stockpiled as waste.
Hinkle Contracting Beats Rainy Weather With Flex-Mat® 3 Tensioned
Somerset, KY
Application: Screening Class I sand and lime products for concrete 
block, ready-mix concrete and asphalt on 8’ x 24’ (2.4-m x 7.3-m) twin secondary screens using 1/2” (12.7-mm) Flex-Mat® 3 Tensioned screen media on the middle deck. Also using an 8’ x 20’ (2.4-m x 6.1-m) finish screen with 1/4” and 3/16” (6.4-mm and 4.8-mm) Flex-Mat 3 Tensioned screen media, split between the top and middle decks and 3/32” and 5/64” (2.4-mm and 2.0-mm) openings on the bottom deck.
“Now we don’t have to enclose the screens, and unless we’re having a downpour, we can still process in the rain. Flex-Mat 3 was part of that decision to not enclose the screens. Without it, we’d be right back to enclosed buildings to try and keep out the weather. If we don’t meet state specs, we might as well just give the material away. We’re now meeting state specs with everything. That’s money in the bank.”
Greg Bryant, Quality Control Technician
Granite Operation Finally Able To Screen Area’s #1 Product
Eastern United States
Application: Screening heavy, abrasive granite on an 8’ x 20’ (2.4-m x 6.1-m) 
triple-deck sizing screen using 32 panels of 3/16” (4.8-mm) Flex-Mat® 3 D Modular screen media on four feet of the bottom deck’s discharge end to produce +3/16” x -3/8” (+4.8-mm x -9.5-mm) stone.
The 1-million-tons-per-year operation needed to produce 60,000 tons of spec material in six weeks to fulfill the requirements for a state paving job. It was experiencing severe plugging, dishing and wear on the polyurethane bottom deck and the screen media could not remove the crusher fines from the cone, resulting in production of unusable material. By switching to Flex-Mat 3’s independently vibrating wire technology, the operation eliminated plugging and blinding on the discharge end and produced the clean in-spec material needed quickly for the state paving job. Adding to the success, now the operation can produce clean -3/8” (-9.5-mm) material, which is the #1 selling product in the area.
Limestone Quarry Prevents Rescreening, Increases Wire Wear Life
Midwestern United States
Application: Screening limestone on a 6’ x 16’ (1.8-m x 4.9-m) triple-deck finishing 
screen using 12 panels of 3/16” (4.8-mm) Flex-Mat® 3 D Modular screen media on the discharge end of the screen to produce -1/2” x +3/16” (-12.7-mm x +4.8-mm) chips.
The polyurethane modular panels could not remove enough fine material from the chip product for it to pass specification. The producer was rescreening the material, essentially doubling screening costs, yet the product still was too dirty to pass spec. With a simple change to Flex-Mat 3’s individually vibrating wire technology with self-cleaning action, the 200-ton-per-hour operation was able to make and sell clean in-spec material in one pass. In addition, all 12 panels performed for more than two years without significant wire diameter wear.
Base Rock Minerals – Bonne Terre, MO
Application: Screening stone for ready-mix concrete and asphalt chips on a 8’ x 20’ (2.4-m x 6.1-m) Simplicity three-deck screen using 2” or 1-1/8” (50.8-mm or 28.6-mm) Flex-Mat® 3 D on the top deck, 15/16” or 7/8” (23.8-mm or 22.2-mm) Flex-Mat 3 D on the middle deck and 3/8” or 3/16” (9.5-mm or 4.8-mm) Flex-Mat 3 D on the bottom deck—depending on the products being made.
“We originally installed Flex-Mat 3 and some polyurethane side-by-side to test it. The polyurethane did okay, but it had fewer openings. The Flex-Mat 3 stopped the blinding for us and it cleaned up our product. We can crush in heavy rain, unless the rain stops our belts, and our equipment isn’t covered. The Flex-Mat 3 makes all the difference in the world. We’re definitely able to feed more material to the screen. Before, we were running the entire plant at about 400 tons per hour. Today, we’re running at 550 tons per hour. For a compression crushing operation, Flex-Mat 3 is definitely the answer.”
Kerry Bauman, Quarry Manager
Naceville Materials – Sellersville, PA
Application: Screening wet argillite base rock on a 7’ x 16’ (2.1-m x 4.9-m) Allis-Chalmers dual-deck inclined screen using Flex-Mat® 3 D modular panels.
“Where the other polyurethane panels were blinded, the Flex-Mat 3 modular panels ran clean. There was no wear that I could see on these panels after 50,000 tons. We definitely solved the blinding problem with the Flex-Mat 3 panels. It seems to be the best product out there for blinding on flat-deck screens. In fact, the Flex-Mat technology as a whole seems to be the best way to go.”
Albert Grove, Quarry Foreman
Screens Once Blinded, Now Fine Free
Northeastern United States
Application: Screening asphalt, concrete and ready-mix products on five screen boxes, including an 8’ x 16’ (2.4-m x 4.9-m) Deister triple-deck screen, three 8’ x 20’ (2.4-m x 6.1-m) Deister triple-deck screens and one 8’ x 20’ (2.4-m x 6.1-m) Midwestern triple-deck wash screen. Used 1/2” (12.7-mm) Flex-Mat® 3 D on the middle decks in three of its screen boxes.
The screen media was blinding and carrying over too much of the minus 200 material that should have been removed in earlier stages, so the finished product was not meeting necessary specifications. Since installing Flex-Mat 3, screens that once had to be cleaned daily now only have to be cleaned once every two weeks. Because the blinding stopped, fines weren’t carried over, resulting in a much cleaner product. The operation is now getting more than a 100 percent return on its investment.
Concrete Operation Cuts Cost While Increasing Safety
Southeastern Canada
Application: Screening concrete stone with clay content and concrete sand with 1-3/4” (44.5-mm) Double-Weave™ woven wire in a 5’ x 14’ (1.5-m x 4.3-m) Tyler double-deck primary screen. Also used 5/16” (7.9-mm) Flex-Mat® 3 D on the middle deck and 1/8” (3.2-mm) Flex-Mat 3 S on the bottom deck in a 5’ x 16’ (1.5-m x 4.9-m) Cedarapids triple-deck wash screen.
The operation is much safer now because fewer screen media changes are required. There aren’t near the amount of problems with blinding or pegging, or with screen media breaking. The operation is saving a lot more than the extra cost of the screen media, which has proven to be a good return on its investment.
Nelson Aggregates – Burlington, Ontario
Application: Secondary screening of crushed limestone with 3/16” (4.8-mm) Flex-Mat® 3 S in a 6’ x 16’ (1.8-m x 4.9-m) Dillon double-deck screening plant.
“It took quite a bit of convincing for me to go with Flex-Mat 3, but I’m glad we did. It makes quite a bit of difference on downtime. We’ve noticed a lot better screening ability now, since we’ve put these screens in, than we had with the regular stainless steel one. We’ll put some in our other secondary plant, as well.”
Chester McComb, Plant Superintendent
Nelson Aggregates – Burlington, Ontario
“They’re as clean as a whistle. Putting the exact same material over them, you can see the inch-and-a-half long slot screen totally blinded over and the Flex-Mat® 3 screen totally clean. Since the startup here, we were having to shut down about every two hours to clean the high-frequency screen, so I’ve ordered Flex-Mat 3 for it as well, just based on the performance of the Flex-Mat 3 in the other screen deck. It’s just amazing. I never would have thought, never would have believed.”
Ward Woolsey, Plant Superintendent
Espanola Transit Mix – Espanola, NM
Application: Screening sprayed river rock on five 6’ x 20’ (1.8-m x 6.1-m) triple-deck screens using 1/8” (3.2-mm) Flex-Mat® 3 D.
“Flex-Mat 3 has solved my two greatest concerns: reduce the blinding and increase the wear life. Our woven wire bottom screens used to blind over in less than an hour, and we had to use chains to keep them clean. We don’t have to use chains anymore to keep our bottom screens clean. Since Flex-Mat 3 cleans itself, our blinding problems have been eliminated.”
Ruben Velazco, VSI Foreman
Umpqua River Navigation – Reedsport, OR
Application: Screening dredged sand for concrete using Flex-Mat® 3 Tensioned for fine screening applications.
“Our woven wire screens would frequently blind and clog because we run wet feed material over our screening plant. Flex-Mat 3 has solved our blinding and clogging problems and lasts 4 times longer.”
Ron Lewis, Operations Manager
DJL Construction – St. Bruno, Quebec
Application: Screening crystallized shale, using Flex-Mat® 3 D with a 13/32" (10-mm) opening on the second deck and Flex-Mat 3 S with a 5/32" (4-mm) opening on the third deck on a Link Belt 5’ x 16’ (1.5-m x 4.9-m) screen.
“We used to shut our screen down every two hours to clean out the blinded and pegged materials. With Flex-Mat 3 cloth, we never shut down. Plus, we get a much cleaner finished product with very little dust in it.”
Norman Scully, Plant Manager
Hanson Building Materials – Ringgold, GA
Application: Screening limestone using 1/2” (12.7-mm) Flex-Mat® 3 D on the bottom deck of a 6’ x 20’ (1.8-m x 6.1-m) double-deck screen.
“When we first looked at the Flex-Mat 3 screen cloth, we told our rep, ‘This stuff will never last.’ After running the first set for six months, we then told him, ‘We should have had this stuff in here a long time ago.”
