500 Ton Scrap Metal Shear: Two Builds, Two Jobs
Ask for a 500-ton shear and you will get a question back: which 500? The class splits into two genuinely different machines — the high-density square-bale build and the heavy-duty structural build — and the split is not a marketing distinction. They are quoted against different material, different duty and different downstream stages, and a buyer who orders the wrong one gets a machine that works, just not on their feed. This article separates the two builds, maps them to operations, and shows where the Q91-500 sits against the classes above and below it.
For the purchasing framework across the whole range, start with our guide to buying a scrap metal shear from China.
The Published Figures for the Class
| Specification | Q91-500 |
|---|---|
| Rated force | 500 ton |
| Typical output | 45–60 tons per day |
| Continuous cutting | 50 mm plate |
| Occasional cutting | 65 mm plate |
| Duty | Demolition scrap, concrete-adhered sections |
The duty row is the giveaway: this is the demolition class. The 500 is built for feed that arrives dirty, adhered and irregular — the material that defeats machines quoted for cleaner intake — and the boundary rows (50 mm continuous, 65 mm occasional) reflect a force class sized for that punishment rather than for plate-shop precision.
Build One: The High-Density Machine
The first 500 is built around density. Its job is taking material that would otherwise haul as loose scrap and turning it into something that loads to weight — and its natural home is the yard that sells to a specification where density and bale geometry are part of the price. In our range that machine exists as the 500-ton high-density baler, the T-series build with the chamber and bale geometry sized for high-density output.
Buyers who need density and cutting in one operation usually end up running both stages rather than one machine doing both jobs — the shear for the sections that must be cut before anything can be baled, the baler for the light loose fraction behind it. The baler range covers the second stage, and our shear guide covers sizing the first.
Build Two: The Heavy-Duty Structural Machine
The second 500 is a shear through and through: the K-series heavy-duty build, quoted against demolition feed, concrete-adhered sections and structural steel that arrives as it comes down rather than as you wish it arrived. Its differentiators are all in the wear and duty conversation: blade steel grade and configuration for contaminated feed, hold-down force for material that wants to move during the cut, and a frame and hydraulic package specified for the duty you declare.
This is the build that matches the Q91-500’s published duty row, and it is the one most buyers asking for “a 500-ton shear” actually need.
The Demolition Feed Reality
Demolition material punishes lazy charging more than any other feed, and the habits that matter are learnable in a week.
Pull the obvious non-steel at the gate. Concrete-adhered sections should hit the blade clean or not at all — a piece that lands concrete-first wears the edge for no cutting return. One sorting pass at the gate is the highest-return minute in the whole operation.
Orient before you charge. Long pieces should land so the cut falls on steel rather than on attached material, and bundles should be consistent rather than opportunistic. Orientation is a trained habit, and it shows up in the wear bill within the first blade set.
Keep the heaviest bites for the right shift. A 65 mm piece is a bite the 500 takes when the day allows. The yard that treats the occasional rating as the daily assignment gets half the published blade life on the same machine — and the 630-ton guide explains what changes when the heavy material genuinely becomes the diet.
Where the 500 Sits in the Range
| Class | Output band | Continuous / occasional | Fits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q91-400 | 35–55 t/day | 40 mm / 55 mm | Commercial yards, plate and section |
| Q91-500 | 45–60 t/day | 50 mm / 65 mm | Demolition feed, adhered sections |
| Q91-630 | 60–80 t/day | 60 mm / 80 mm | Continuous HMS 1 & 2 |
| Q91-1000 | 100–120 t/day | 100 mm / 130 mm | Mill-grade, heavy plate |
The step from the 400 to the 500 is a material step — from commercial sections to demolition feed — as much as a force step. The step from the 500 to the 630 is the HMS watershed: if your intake is dominated by continuous HMS 1 & 2, the 630 is where the range starts taking that duty seriously, and the quotation will say so if your material list points there.
Specifying the Right 500
Four inputs decide which build and configuration comes back from quotation:
- Material profile. The three heaviest pieces in a normal month, whether concrete adherence is routine or occasional, and whether the feed is structural or plate-led. This decides build, blade steel grade and hold-down specification.
- Duty declaration. Single shift, two shifts or three. A demolition-duty build quoted for two shifts is a different machine than one quoted for one, and the difference is invisible on the price sheet.
- Downstream stage. Whether a baler, shredder or direct sale follows the shear. The pairing decision affects discharge planning and the line configuration we confirm at quotation.
- Site and supply. Voltage, frequency, spare kilowatts, foundation conditions and the route the machine travels into the yard.
Send those four with your inquiry and the written quotation comes back within two business days, factory direct, with the specification sheet your electrician and foundation contractor can work from — and with the honest class recommendation, which is sometimes the class above the one you asked about.
How the Quotation Separates the Two Builds
The fastest way to see the difference between the two 500s is to read what a proper quotation asks you for. A density-led inquiry gets questions about material density, bale geometry and the downstream buyer’s acceptance spec. A demolition-duty inquiry gets questions about the heaviest routine pieces, concrete adherence, hold-down requirements and the shift pattern. The quotation that comes back is built around those answers, and the two documents look nothing alike.
That is the practical test to apply to any factory quoting this class. If the questions are the same regardless of your material, the factory is selling a machine rather than specifying one — and the machine that arrives will be a compromise between two jobs rather than the right tool for yours. The configuration rows that matter — blade steel grade and configuration, hold-down specification, frame and hydraulic duty rating, tank and box geometry — are all decided by the answers you give, which is why the material profile conversation happens before the order rather than after.
It is also why the quotation comes back in writing with the specification sheet attached. Your electrician and foundation contractor work from the same sheet our engineers built from, and the build that ships is the build those documents describe. If your material profile straddles the two builds — and many yards’ does — the quotation will say so and propose the configuration that covers both, rather than quietly picking one.
When One Operation Needs Both Jobs
Plenty of operations need cutting and density in the same yard: heavy sections that must be sheared before anything can be baled, and light loose material that should never see a shear blade at all. The answer is rarely one machine doing both jobs badly. It is a staged line — the shear sized for the heavy fraction, the baler sized for the light one, with the discharge from the first feeding the second.
The pairing works when the stages are sized against each other: the shear’s cut output feeds the baler’s chamber without stockpiling, and the baler’s bale spec is the one your buyer accepts. Work out the handoff between the two stages during the quotation, not after the machines land — drop height, buffer space and the handling between shear and chamber all get signed off against your site plan. Operations that spec the stages as one line are cutting material in the first week; operations that buy them apart spend month one re-engineering the join.
Buyer FAQ
Which 500 do I need — high-density or heavy-duty?
If your feed is demolition material with adhered sections, the heavy-duty structural build. If your operation is density-led with light loose material, the conversation starts with the high-density baler build instead.
What is the 500’s daily capacity?
45 to 60 tons per day, with the position inside the band set by material, loading efficiency and running hours. We size against your actual feed at quotation.
Can it cut concrete-adhered rebar?
Occasional adhered material is what the duty rating covers. Routine adherence should be sorted at the gate — the blade pays for every piece that arrives concrete-first.
500 or 630?
If continuous HMS 1 & 2 is your daily diet rather than your heavy exception, the 630. If demolition feed with occasional heavy sections describes your week, the 500 is the class.
What support comes with the machine?
CE and ISO 9001 certification, factory load testing before shipment, a one-year warranty with extended main-frame coverage available, and spare blades shipped within 48 hours by DHL or FedEx.