I'm aware of numerous manufacturers of portable (wheeled) crushing and screening plants in the US and Canada, such as Dakota Fabricating, R D Olson, Greyhawke Design, Masaba, TCI and Elrus, along with OEM's such as Eagle, Telsmith and KPI-JCI. I'd be really interested in anyone's opinion on what they think are the best plants on the market and what they like about them.
I have personal experience with KPI/JCI . Very good product, unbeatable product support. I worked for the dealership in northern Illinois. American made, in house. Quality control is under constant scrutiny. They put their number on the side of the plant. They will answer the phone. Nights ,weekends and holidays. These guys have traveled all over the world supporting their equipment. I don't know of any other company as deeply invested as them.
Funnily enough, I once worked for their distributer here in Australia, but we never did much with the portable plants. Their equipment is indeed well made, with good service back up.
Whether on a track frame or a purpose built trailer chassis, KPI is out front in my honest opinion. Being partnered with Astec and JCI doesn't hurt either. It's an all round package from consultation and spec'ing to final set up and start-up. Some folks think they know what they want until options are shown. A guy could walk in with the mindset of," I want a HSI" and find he may be better suited with a cone or jaw or even a VSI . From crushing and screening to washing, classifying conveying and stacking, the KPI/JCI-ASTEC family has something to serve the need. I will say also, I've had some experience with Sandvik cones and portable screen plants. Their cones are pretty simple, very reliable and tolerate limited supervision. Their ASRI system can be integrated to just about any of their cones during a mantle and bowl change.
KPI-JCI certainly do have a huge range of differant plants. I agree, the Sandvik Hydracone is definitley a rugged machine which won't give much trouble as long as the lube system is properly maintained, and is relatively easy to rebuild when the need arises.