What fraction sizes can a shaft screener produce?

The output fraction is set by disc profile and spacing on the shafts, and it's configurable — the same frame produces a fine soil product with close spacing or a coarse structural fraction with wide spacing. When comparing models, ask how long a configuration change takes in the field; on multi-product sites that changeover time is real money.

Can a shaft screener handle wet or sticky material?

That's precisely its specialty. Mesh and drum screens blind when moist clay or organic feed smears over the openings; a shaft screener's rotating discs continuously tear the feed apart, keep it moving, and clear themselves. Compost producers and soil recyclers choose shaft decks specifically for the wet half of the year when other screens stop.

What excavator or loader carries a shaft screener?

Excavators, wheel loaders and backhoes with adequate auxiliary hydraulic flow — the shafts need steady drive to keep self-cleaning under load. Check the screener's service weight plus a full, wet load against the carrier's lift chart, since screening happens raised over the reject or product pile. VANROCK dealers verify the match against your machine model before quoting.

Hydraulic Attachments — Shaft Screener

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Hydraulic Attachments — 12–45 Ton Excavators

VANROCK
Shaft Screening Bucket

The VANROCK Shaft Screening Bucket series is designed as a versatile machine to meet various needs. Users can realize screening, crushing and mixing by changing the different shafts. The series is used for screening compost and topsoil, sand, separating waste from soil, treatment of contaminated soil, backfill of screened fine soil for pipeline projects, asphalt recycling and more.

Applications

Inert Material RecyclingPipeline and TrenchesExcavations and RemovalsUrban Job SiteRoad Works

SS — Series / 5 Models

Adjustable screening size

Dial in the exact output fraction for every material.

Easy roller replacement

Swap shafts quickly to switch between screening, crushing and mixing.

Wear-resistant steel

Main body made of high-grade wear-resistant steel.

Multiple blade types

Dual functions — screening and crushing — with blade options.

The Series

VANROCK shaft screening bucket series

Five models covering carriers from 12 to 45 tons — screening, crushing and mixing with interchangeable shafts.

Units

VR-SS 600

Excavator26,500–61,700 lb

Carrier

26,500–61,700 lb

Capacity

0.78–1.31 yd³

Shafts

Rated speed

150–240 RPM

Rec. pressure

2,901–4,061 psi

Back pressure

290 psi

Max flow

26–53 GPM

Throat width

31 in

Throat height

37 in

Weight

2,866 lb

Size

54×53×51 in

Engineering

Where the VANROCK shaft screener works

Six applications straight from the catalog.

Treatment of waste, broken bark and broken gypsum board.

Know-how

Shaft screener know-how

How a shaft screener works

A shaft screener replaces the bucket floor with rows of rotating shafts fitted with star-shaped or profiled discs. The shafts convey and agitate the load; fines fall between the discs while oversize travels to the end of the bucket — screening and light shredding in one motion.

Rotating shafts self-clean: sticky, moist and organic material that blinds mesh screens is torn apart and kept moving across the shaft deck.
Disc profile and spacing set the fraction — swap or reconfigure to change output size for different jobs.
The shafts don't just separate — they crumble soft lumps, aerate compost and break crusts as they screen.
Compared to drum-style screeners, shaft decks handle wetter, heavier feed with less blinding.

Choosing the right shaft screener

Feed type decides the shaft configuration; the carrier decides the frame size.

Feed first: compost, wet soil and biomass favor aggressive star discs; soils with stones favor tighter, more robust profiles.
Fraction: pick disc spacing for the finished size you need — and confirm how quickly configurations can be swapped for multi-product sites.
Carrier match: verify service weight plus load against your machine's lift chart, and shaft drive flow against the auxiliary circuit.
Contamination: for feeds with film plastics or fibrous waste, ask about wrap-resistant disc profiles and cleaning access.
Throughput honesty: a shaft screener working steadily at 80% is faster over a shift than one force-fed into stalls.

Where shaft screeners earn their keep

Wherever the material is too wet, sticky or organic for a mesh — the shaft deck keeps producing.

Compost production: screening and aerating in the same pass, even with moist, fibrous feed.
Topsoil and soil recycling: turning excavation spoil into specification soil products on site.
Biomass and bark: fraction control for boiler and substrate products without a static plant.
Waste soil and remediation: separating contaminated fractions with full mobility between sites.

FAQ

Shaft Screening Bucket FAQ

Both screen in the bucket, but they specialize: screening buckets like the G-Screen™ are the all-round choice for soils and mixed feed, while shaft screeners hold the edge in consistently wet, sticky, organic-rich material — compost, biomass, saturated soils — because the rotating disc shafts self-clean instead of blinding. If your feed varies, describe your worst regular material to the dealer; that's the material to buy for.

Can't find the ideal shaft screener for your application?

We provide custom solutions to all our customers and offer shaft screening buckets that you can take advantage of.

VANROCKShaft Screening Bucket