The crusher
A PE250x400 jaw crusher ordered from China after months of comparing options. I wanted a welded assembly that I could repair myself if needed.
CURRENT BUILD / TRACKED JAW CRUSHER
The tracked
jaw crusher.
Bringing a jaw crusher and a Morooka tracked chassis together into one machine.
WHY I’M BUILDING IT
It started
with a mud pit.
The access outside the shed turns into a mud pit in winter. A bit of rain was enough to make getting up there without a four-wheel drive nearly impossible.
The more I drove over it, the worse it got. Eventually I stopped taking the ute up and walked instead. I needed gravel, but having it trucked out was not going to be cheap.
I figured I could put that money towards gravel—or towards a machine to make my own. That way I would have the gravel and still have the machine afterwards.
Broken concrete gave the idea somewhere to start. By the time I wrote the original build article, I had brought home 15 single-axle trailer loads. The plan is to turn material like that into something useful around the property.
THE PLAN
Make the gravel.
Keep the machine.
The platform
An old Yanmar Morooka tracked chassis, repurposed to carry the three-tonne crusher and move it around the property.
The finished goal
Diesel power, a hydraulic crusher drive and a rear conveyor to discharge the crushed material into piles, with a tidy finish that looks factory built.
THE BUILD JOURNAL / UP TO 10 NOVEMBER 2026
How it got here.
Research before the order.
My first thought was to build the crusher itself, until I priced the raw materials. Instead I spent months researching machines on Alibaba and comparing the pros and cons. I settled on the PE250x400: a three-tonne jaw crusher with a welded construction.
An old Morooka comes home.
An excavator undercarriage was more than I wanted to spend. The Morooka came with an engine and most of the parts to get it running, so I made a deal. My cousin helped bring it home on his flat-deck truck. Looking back, I should have inspected it more closely.
The setbacks start.
Once it was in the shed I removed the unwanted parts and started planning the layout. The controls were seized—and then I found the engine would not turn either. Water came out of the intake, and removing the head revealed bores rusted solid.
Three tonnes, finally here.
After a two-month wait, the crusher arrived. Getting it through the mud at home was another job: I used the digger, with a tow-ball hitch welded to its blade, to move the trailer into the shed. The car lift then handled lifting the crusher off.
Designing and making the mount.
With the chassis stripped back, I modelled part of it in 3D CAD and designed a mounting frame. The profiles were cut locally from 16mm plate. I fitted and tack-welded them, leaving room for changes once the replacement engine and hydraulic layout were settled.
Keeping the chassis moving.
One rubber track split before the mounting work was finished. Temporary chains and bolts held the broken sections together for the short moves between shed bays. More cracks appeared, making replacement tracks another major item on the list.
The crusher meets the chassis.
I used the excavator to move the chassis between bays, lifted the crusher with the car lift, then manoeuvred the Morooka underneath it. Seeing the crusher sitting on its mount was a milestone. Turning the worn tracks with that weight aboard was much harder than moving an empty chassis.
Taking it apart to get it right.
The build moved on to the conveyor, but that work also meant lifting the crusher off again and revisiting the mounting arrangement. The latest videos cover the removal and why I am redesigning the mount. It is part of making the complete machine work together, rather than treating each piece on its own.
WHERE THE BUILD STANDS
Taking shape.
Still work to do.
The crusher has been test-fitted, the conveyor work is under way, and the mounting design is being revised.
A suitable replacement engine remains a major part of the plan. I have been considering the Isuzu 4BG1T for the power to move the machine and run the crusher hydraulically; that is a candidate, not a confirmed installation.
Replacement tracks, the final hydraulic arrangement and finishing the complete machine are still ahead. The goal has not changed: a practical mobile crusher that can get to work on the concrete and help sort the access to the shed.
This is a build in progress. The latest confirmed stage is shown in the videos below.
Follow new workshop updates on YouTube ↗UP CLOSE / PHOTOS & VIDEO STILLS
More from
the workshop.
Select a photo to enlarge it. Use the arrows to browse the gallery.
LATEST FROM THE CRUSHER BUILD
Watch the work.
Why I’m Redesigning the Crusher Mount
Watch on YouTube ↗I Had to Remove the Crusher AGAIN! | Tracked Rock Crusher Build — EP5
Watch on YouTube ↗DIY Tracked Jaw Crusher Build — The Big Test Fit | EP4
Watch on YouTube ↗START AT THE BEGINNING