The prior known apparatus for handling bulk material as located at a storage site have included several versions of well known stacker-reclaimer apparatus as illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,472,357; 3,509,985; 4,363,396; and 4,629,060. These apparatus have reclaimer conveyors which move out along the top side of the reclaimer boom, articulate around a sprocket or wheel at the distal end of the reclaimer boom, move back toward the machine pushing reclaimed bulk material, e.g. wood chips, between the chain attachments, e.g. rakes, articulate around a sprocket or wheel in the knuckle area, move up an inclined deck pushing the wood chips between the rakes, articulate once more around a drive or head sprocket, move over the top side of the incline conveyor with the chips falling over the top of the incline conveyor chute and back to the original position along the top of the reclaimer conveyor with each chain, typically two per machine, forming a continuous loop.
The previously described conveyor portion of the stacker-reclaimer apparatus exhibits difficulty in maintaining reliable and trouble free alignment of a reclaim conveyor chains between the reclaim boom and incline sections of the conveyor.
In cold climates, icy or lumpy aggregated material being moved by the plurality of rakes around the knuckle or pivot point of the reclaimer boom and up the incline jammed or damages the plurality of rakes. Jams can also occur with aggregated material between the plurality of rakes and the incline conveyor deck.