Vibrating Grizzly Feeders are devices that sit under a hopper that is filled with bulk product. The feeder is driven by an out of balance electric motor. The motor is controlled by a soft start speed controller, which controls the speed of the motor from zero to full rpm. When the motor is at rest the product remains static on the feeder trough. Once the motor starts it causes the feeder trough to vibrate causing the product on the trough to move away from the hopper in a controlled manner along the trough to crusher being fed. In order for Vibrating Grizzly Feeders to work at maximum efficiency, they need to be matched with the right application, and be properly maintained. Properly maintained feeders make for cost effective and efficient operation. Feeders are designed to do specific jobs. If they are not used with the right application then this will cause them to break or malfunction, which could cost your company a lot of money. When the right feeder is used and proper maintenance procedures are followed, grizzly feeders can last for years. When things go wrong it is usually because the feeder is not the right one for the job and it is either too short or not sufficiently wide or heavy duty.

Though may not seem, length is an important factor in feeder’s operational efficiency. The length of feeder, if sufficient enough, allows for the material to be dumped onto the flat surface of the pan and not on the grizzly bars, which decreases the risk of material getting wedged between them and causing damage. Longer feeders also allow material to stratify, hence decreasing the bed depth before material reaches the bars. This results in better efficiency and quick removal of fine material that doesn’t require primary crushing.

Width is selected based on various factors such as feed rate, size of material to be fed, and the size of the crusher being fed.

The decision for a feeder to be heavy duty or not, is often based on the dumping method i.e. truck dump or loader dump. Truck dump usually involves very rough dumping of big sized feed from 30-40 feet directly onto the pan of the feeder. Such an impact can seriously damage the unit unless the unit is sufficiently heavy duty, reinforced with thicker steel plates on the sides and pan. Heavy and long springs with long displacement would be used to soften the impact without coils getting collided. On the other hand, loader dump involves softer dumping with smaller top-size feed which places a far less impact upon the feeder. Thus, the feeder doesn’t require heavy duty design.