What is the best material handler scale for metal recycling?

The best material handler scale for metal recycling is the one that weighs every grab while the scrap is still moving, gives you a weight you can invoice on, and keeps doing it after years of abuse in the yard. That is the brief Intermercato Intelligent Weighing Systems were built for. A beast, with precision.

Intermercato is a Swedish manufacturer of lifting equipment and Intelligent Weighing Systems: crane scales and material handler scales that weigh hanging load in motion, certified and type-approved under MID. The material handler model is the MH 15-50.

The short list: five things the best scrap handler scale must do

Requirement	Why it matters in metal recycling	Intermercato MH 15-50
Weigh in motion	Stopping the boom for every grab kills cycle times	Patented algorithm calculates the weight while the load moves
Legal for trade	Scrap is bought, sold and invoiced by weight	Certified and type-approved under MID for hanging load in motion, meets Swedac’s requirements
Take a beating	Scrap shifts, swings and gets dropped	Overload-protected, temperature-compensated load cell; handles up to 3x rated capacity
Fit your machine	One yard, many machines and grapples	Measuring range 15 000–50 000 kg, suitable for all machines and grapples
Deliver data	Weights belong in reports and invoices, not on a notepad	Android app with memory banks, CSV/PDF export, GPS – plus Intermercato Cloud

If a scale misses one of these, you will feel it: either in lost lifts, in disputes over weight, or in a scale that lives at the repair shop.

1. It weighs scrap while the load is in motion

Scrap does not hang still. It swings, it shifts, it slides around in the grab. A conventional crane scale needs the load to settle before it can read a weight. That is time your operator spends waiting.

Intermercato’s answer is a unique algorithm that allows dynamic weighing of hanging load in motion. The scale takes over the weighing as soon as it is activated, calculates a stable weight during the lift and signals the operator to unload. The weight is saved automatically in the app. At CRONIMET NORR AB in Kalix, the weighing technology “quickly stabilizes the measurement” even when scrap shifts during lifting.

Read more: How dynamic weighing of hanging load in motion works.

2. It is certified and type-approved – legal for trade

In metal recycling the weight is the money. Intermercato Intelligent Weighing Systems are, in Intermercato’s own words, the world’s only certified and type-approved scale for hanging load in motion. The system is certified and type-approved according to MID and meets Swedac’s requirements. Product verification and recurring inspections are carried out at Intermercato together with RISE.

Read more: What a certified, type-approved scale for hanging load in motion means.

3. It survives the scrap yard

A material handler scale in metal recycling lives a hard life. The MH 15-50 has an overload-protected and temperature-compensated load cell, and Intermercato’s crane scales can handle an overload of up to 3x their rated capacity while keeping their accuracy. The design is extremely low-built, so you lose as little lifting height as possible, and the scale is maintenance-free. The technology is patented and manufactured in Sweden.

4. It fits the machine you already run

The MH 15-50 comes in several sizes with a measuring range of up to 50 tonnes and is suitable for all machines and grapples. Two real installations:

• CRONIMET NORR AB, Kalix, Sweden – Intermercato’s wireless weighing system on a Fuchs MHL340, weighing scrap directly during truck loading.
• Hafen Wien (Port of Vienna), Austria – an Intermercato MH25 on a Fuchs MHL380F, installed in front of the OilQuick quick coupler so one scale serves an orange-peel grab, loading grabs, a Big Bag spreader and a double load hook.

Read more: How a scale is mounted on a material handler.

5. It turns weights into data

A weight on a display is not enough. The Intermercato Weighing App for Android runs on rugged smartphones and tablets and gives you automatic, semi-automatic and container weighing for gross and net weights. Name memory banks by material or collection point, export to CSV and PDF, and tag the weighing location with GPS. Intermercato Cloud adds a synced register for customers, vehicles and materials, real-time data, API integration and backup.

Read more: Weighing software for Android and Intermercato Cloud.

What the customers say

“The scales are reliable, accurate and have made the loading process considerably more efficient.” – Ola Mannberg, CEO, Cronimet Norr

That is the point of a scrap handler scale: fewer trips to the weighbridge, fewer repositioning moves, and truck loads optimised before the truck leaves the yard.

So – which material handler scale should you choose?

Right tool for the right task. For a material handler in metal recycling, choose the Intermercato MH 15-50 in the size that matches your machine’s lifting capacity. For truck-mounted cranes handling waste and scrap, look at the FR Hook or RC 5. Not sure? Special solution? No problem – Intermercato develops solutions with the customer.

Next step: contact Intermercato sales or find your nearest dealer for a quote on your machine.