The Invention of the TEXAS CRUSHER™ – by Sophie Brees

For over 25 years, Ted Brees, of Dallas, Texas, has been in the roofing business. The materials applied to repair or replace roofs are packaged in 55-gallon steel drums. The challenge for anyone using materials in these drums is the disposal of them.

The cost of removal from the jobsite and manufacturing plants is very costly and time consuming. The averaged cost per drum to be removed can be from $5-10 per drum. Typically these drums are bulky and have to be handled numerous times and then secured for transport. The industry has had electric and hydraulic stationary crushers for years, which are floor mounted. The drums have to be transported from the jobsite to the warehouse or yard where the stationary crusher is located.

One day after visiting with his buddies and crushing beer and soda cans with a wall mounted can-crusher, Brees said "Why donât I make one of these for my 55-gallon drums?" So he did. After making several prototypes, he submitted engineering drawings and applied for a patent with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. After 2 years, the patent was finally approved and the Texas Crusherú was officially protected by US Patent No. 7,069,848. While waiting for the patent, Brees sold several Texas Crushers which have crushed hundreds of drums saving companies thousands of dollars in drum removal costs.

Also during this time, Breesâ mind still kept thinking about other things the crusher could do. One of his old roofing customers at Eastfield College in Mesquite, Texas, saw him at an industrial trade show and asked "Could that thing crush furniture?" Brees replied, "Well Iâm not sure but we could sure try it." So they did and it worked like a charm. Educational institutions throw their broken and damaged furniture (desks, chairs & file cabinets) into dumpsters for disposal. Once the furniture is compacted, the dumpster can be filled with 3-4 more times the furniture, reducing the cost of having the dumpster emptied so often.

Another idea was to use the crusher as a log splitter. Brees designed an attachment that assembles in minutes to the crusher and splits logs into 4 pieces with one crush. Next thing you know weâre in the Wood-Splitting business!