How to Choose a Mobile Jaw Crusher: Capacity, Feed Size and Transport

Mobile jaw crushers are the workhorse of primary crushing on demolition, quarry and recycling sites, because they accept large, abrasive feed and reduce it in a single pass. Choosing the right size is mostly a question of matching three specifications to the reality of your site — and of understanding which one limits the others.

1. Maximum feed size comes first

A jaw crusher can only accept material that physically fits between its jaws. If the largest lump on site is a 700 mm concrete block, the feed opening has to be wider than that, and in practice a little wider than the nominal figure once you allow for slabby material that enters on the diagonal.

Sizing the inlet for the biggest lump you will occasionally see, rather than the average one, is the usual mistake: it drives you to a heavier machine, a larger engine and a bigger transport permit for no daily benefit. The pragmatic approach is to either accept a pre-breaking step (a hydraulic breaker or a larger excavator bucket) or to size the jaw for the 90th-percentile lump.

When oversized material does reach the chamber, a hydraulic jaw adjustment and an unblocking system decide how quickly you are running again. Machines such as the UJC106 tracked mobile jaw crusher pair a 700×1060 mm feed opening with a 630 mm maximum feed size, which covers most reinforced-concrete and quarry run material without a pre-break.

2. Capacity, and what actually limits it

Rated capacity is always quoted for a favourable material at a stated discharge setting. Real output depends on four things:

Material — granite and basalt crush slower than limestone or concrete rubble.
Discharge setting — closing the CSS to make a smaller product reduces throughput.
Feed grading — a well-graded feed with fines runs faster than a single-size feed.
Feeding method — an excavator that cannot keep the hopper full will limit production before the crusher does.

A machine rated 150–300 t/h (like the UJC106) is normally specified where the target is 150–200 t/h in hard rock, or 250 t/h plus in concrete and limestone. If your target sits at the top of a machine's range for hard rock, the next size up usually pays for itself in fuel and wear parts.

3. Transport weight, dimensions and permits

A tracked crusher is only “mobile” if it can be moved when you want to move it. Check three figures before you buy: the operating weight, the transport length and the transport width. A unit weighing under about 45 tonnes on steel tracks generally travels on a standard low-bed trailer without special permits in many markets, while larger machines need escorts and route surveys.

The UJC106, for example, weighs 43,268 kg and measures 14.5 × 3.0 × 3.8 m in working position — one load, no dismantling. Where access is tighter, trailer-mounted units such as the UTC503 trailer jaw crusher trade some output for a much simpler move between small sites.

4. Power: diesel generator or mains

Tracked jaw crushers are normally diesel-hydraulic or diesel-electric, with the on-board generator also driving the conveyors and any optional magnet. No site power supply is needed, which matters on demolition sites and remote quarries. Where electricity is available and the plant will stay in one place for months, an electric-drive version can cut running costs — but it removes the repositioning advantage that made you choose a tracked machine.

5. What to add to the jaw crusher

A jaw crusher on its own produces a single, coarse product. Most sites pair it with:

a mobile scalping screener to take out fines and lift the crusher's effective throughput;
a 2- or 3-deck screener to produce graded products;
a tracked stacker conveyor to build stockpiles without a wheel loader;
an overband magnet where rebar is present, so steel does not end up in the stockpile.

For demolition feed with heavy rebar, an impact crusher is often the better primary machine, because the breaking action tolerates reinforcement better than a jaw.

Key takeaways

Size the feed opening for the lump you actually see, not the worst case.
Treat rated capacity as a ceiling: hard rock and tight settings reduce it by 30–50%.
Check transport weight and width against the roads you will really use.
Budget for the screening and stockpiling equipment from the start — that is where product value is created.

If you send us your material, target product sizes and site access constraints, we will recommend a specific machine and a complete line. Request a quotation or browse the full mobile crusher range.

How to Choose a Mobile Jaw Crusher