Brush Sweepers That Offer Powerful Pick-Up

There is a purpose for every type of street sweeper and every type of street sweeper has a purpose. While vacuum and regenerative air sweepers are generally more efficient than mechanical broom sweepers at removing fine sediment, mechanical broom sweepers can handle almost any street sweeping application with above par efficiency.

Street sweeping is an effective practice for reducing total suspended solids and associated pollutant runoff from urban streets. Recent studies have found that street sweeping programs using equipment based on new technologies can significantly reduce pollutant runoff from urban streets, with potential reductions of up to 80 percent in annual total suspended solids and resulting pollutants.

“In my opinion, you just can’t beat the cleaning performance of a broom. Especially when it comes to sweeping clean a wide variety and sizes of debris commonly found on construction sites, in city gutters and along county/state highways,” John Paraschuk, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Stewart-Amos Sweeper Company, says. He believes brooms sweep up larger, bulkier debris that routinely clog their regenerative and straight vacuum counterparts. He adds, “Broom sweepers are also quieter to operate and offer high dump debris disposal as standard equipment.” Brooms also do not rely on high air volume to pick-up debris. Meaning their internal components are not subject to the same sand blasting effects that slowly and methodically wear away regenerative or vacuum alternatives.

Stewart-Amos manufactures five different mechanical broom models in three different hopper capacity sizes. All five sweeper body models are designed the same and constructed of the same heavy duty components. This means the highly maneuverable Starfire S-4 with its four cubic yard hopper is just as effective as the largest manufactured broom sweeper”—the Starfire S-6 with its six cubic yard hopper—and mounted on a conventional 33,000 lb. chassis.

Paraschak, says, “All five models provide the same high levels of consistent sweeping performance—day after day, week after week. Physical size and hopper capacity are the only performance specifications that set them apart.”

In addition, Paraschak believes nothing compares to the Starfire S-4 when it comes to effectively sweeping narrow city streets or cul-de-sacs. Mounted on a short wheel based, non-CDL chassis the S-4 can go where larger conventional chassis mounted units simply can’t. This makes the rugged S-4 a favorite of contractors and municipalities.

The Broom Bear by Elgin is one of the most rugged and efficient mechanical sweepers on the market today. Whatever your company’s sweeping needs are—heavy construction debris or light street maintenance—the Broom Bear is ready to take on the challenge. Due to its smart design, the Broom Bear gives a greater water and hopper capacity, requiring fewer scheduled stops.

Placed on a commercial chassis with fully dualized controls and a single engine design, the Broom Bear is easy to operate—even transporting at highway speeds—and easy to maintain, giving flexibility and quality that allows for maximum uptime and profitability.

The Schwarze model M6000 street sweeper is a heavy duty, chassis-mounted broom sweeper with a five cubic yard capacity. Available in both single-engine (M6000SE) and dual-engine (M6000TE) configurations mounted on a variety of conventional and cabover chassis, it is designed for maximum flexibility.

In addition, all variations of the M6000 have an extremely rugged, simplistic design, making this model ideal for use in a wealth of road sweeping applications. By offering both single- and twin-engine configurations, as well as conventional and cabover mounting, end-users are assured of having the correct machine for their exact application. The M6000’s innovative design features makes sweeping easier and more reliable, which saves the owner both time and money.

According to Schwarze’s website, the company’s engineering team started with a “clean sheet approach” to the hydraulic design and coupled that with a durable body design that has resulted in a reliable machine set to operate with superior performance in any sweeping situation.

But no matter how well suited a mechanical broom sweeper is for a job, keeping it in tip-top shape is vital. To enhance the performance of any of your mechanical broom sweepers, be sure to operate them at optimal speeds of six to eight miles per hour, as well as ensure that brushes are properly adjusted, and that the appropriate rotation rates and sweeping patterns are used. The rotation rates are the rate of speed that the mechanical broom sweeper must spin its brooms for optimal sweeping performance and if incorrect, can cause premature wear and tear on your sweepers.

The overall maintenance requirements for mechanical sweepers are greater than those for vacuum-assisted and regenerative air sweepers since mechanical sweepers contain more moving parts that require periodic replacement. Therefore, maintenance is crucial. So whether your purchasing the Elgin Broom Bear, Schwarze’s M6000 or any one of Stewart-Amos’ five peak performing Starfire mechanical broom sweeper models, stay on top of your sweeper’s maintenance to get the most bank for your buck.

Story by Megan McClure