How to Choose a Cone Crusher: Cavity, Capacity & Circuit Selection
The cone crusher is where a crushing plant earns or loses money. The jaw crusher only makes a coarse product; the cone decides the shape, the fines content and the cost per ton of the material you actually sell. Choose the wrong cavity or the wrong circuit, and you will fight low output, high recirculating loads and expensive liners for the life of the plant.
This guide covers the six decisions that matter for secondary and tertiary cone selection: duty, feed size, capacity, cavity, hydraulic type and circuit. It finishes with a worked 250 t/h basalt example and a checklist you can hand to an operator.
Step 1 - Define the duty: secondary, tertiary or fine crushing
A cone crusher is almost never a primary machine. Its job is to take the 0-150 mm or 0-200 mm discharge from the jaw and turn it into a saleable fraction.
- Secondary duty takes 150-250 mm feed and produces 0-60 or 0-40 mm. Reduction ratio 3:1 to 4:1. This is the most common duty and the most forgiving on liner choice.
- Tertiary duty takes 40-100 mm feed and produces 0-20 or 0-10 mm with good cubicity. Reduction ratio 4:1 to 6:1, higher power per ton, faster liner wear.
- Fine / sand duty takes 10-40 mm and produces manufactured sand. This is the hardest duty: consider a short-head cone or a VSI instead, and expect the highest wear cost per ton.
Write down the duty, the feed size and the target product before you look at any model number.
Step 2 - Check the feed size against the cone’s opening
A cone crusher will accept feed up to about 80% of the cavity opening at the top of the crushing chamber. Feed that is too coarse will bridge, reduce throughput and cause uneven liner wear.
| Duty | Typical feed | Target product | Reduction ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Secondary | 150-250 mm | 0-60 / 0-40 mm | 3:1 - 4:1 |
| Tertiary | 40-100 mm | 0-20 / 0-10 mm | 4:1 - 6:1 |
| Fine / sand | 10-40 mm | 0-5 mm | 5:1 - 8:1 |
If the jaw discharge is 300 mm and you need 0-40 mm, you need either a bigger secondary chamber or a three-stage circuit (jaw, secondary cone, tertiary cone). Trying to do it in one cone stage always costs more in liners and downtime than adding a screen deck.
Step 3 - Size the capacity honestly
Cone capacity depends on three things that are easy to underestimate: the closed side setting (CSS), the cavity type and the feed grading.
- Quoted capacities assume continuous, well-graded, choke-fed material. Slabby or wet feed can cut output by 20-30%.
- Always add 10-15% margin over the required plant output so the crusher is not the bottleneck.
- Motor power and capacity must be matched: a small chamber on a big motor simply stalls, a large chamber on a small motor never reaches its rated output.
Typical single-cylinder and multi-cylinder cone capacities:
| Class | Models | Max feed (mm) | Capacity (t/h) | Motor (kW) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HP multi-cylinder | HP200 / HP300 | 205 / 240 | 90-250 / 150-400 | 132 / 220 |
| HP multi-cylinder | HP400 / HP500 | 300 / 350 | 250-650 / 400-1000 | 315 / 400 |
| GP single-cylinder | GP200 / GP300 | 200 / 250 | 100-250 / 150-400 | 132 / 220 |
| CH/CS single-cylinder | CH430 / CH660 | 210 / 275 | 90-250 / 200-600 | 160 / 315 |
| PY spring cone | PYB1200 / PYB1750 | 145 / 215 | 110-168 / 280-480 | 110 / 160 |
| Symons short head | 4-1/4 ft / 5-1/2 ft | 100 / 130 | 90-200 / 150-350 | 160 / 250 |
Capacities are for the mid-size cavity at a mid-range CSS; always confirm with the manufacturer against your actual feed.
Step 4 - Choose the cavity, not just the model
The cavity is the shape of the crushing chamber formed by the mantle and the concave. It sets the relationship between capacity, product size and power.
- Coarse cavity (C): highest throughput, coarsest product. Use for secondary duty with 150-250 mm feed.
- Medium cavity (M): the general-purpose choice; good balance of capacity and shape.
- Fine cavity (F): finer product, lower throughput, higher power draw per ton.
- Extra-fine / short head (BF): for tertiary duty and sand production; smallest feed, highest wear cost.
One trap: a customer asks for 0-20 mm, so the plant is ordered with an extra-fine cavity, and then the feed turns out to be 200 mm. The chamber is choked, output collapses and liners wear out in weeks. Match the cavity to the feed you actually have, then add a screen deck if you need a finer product.
Step 5 - Decide between single-cylinder and multi-cylinder
Both designs crush by the same principle, but they differ in how the main shaft is supported and how the CSS is adjusted.
- Multi-cylinder (HP type): hydraulic cylinders around the frame release tramp iron and adjust the CSS. Strong in hard-rock secondary duty, high power density, excellent for basalt and granite.
- Single-cylinder (GP / CH / CS type): the main shaft is supported top and bottom, adjustment through the bottom cylinder. Very good for high-reduction tertiary duty and for plants that need precise CSS control.
- Spring cone (PY type): simplest and cheapest to run, overload protection by springs. Still the right answer for small and medium plants in Africa and Southeast Asia with limited maintenance capability.
Automation matters more than the labels: a cone with automatic CSS compensation and a power-draw based control loop will hold product size all day, while a manually adjusted machine drifts with liner wear.
Step 6 - Design the circuit around the crusher
A cone crusher is only as good as the screen and conveyor feeding it. Design rules that avoid most problems:
- Screen area about 1.2-1.5 times the cone’s rated capacity, so the screen never limits the loop.
- Plan for a recirculating load of 20-30%; size conveyors for it.
- Use a closed circuit for anything below 40 mm, and an open circuit only for coarse secondary duty.
- Keep the crusher choke fed - a full chamber produces a better shape and more consistent power draw than trickle feeding.
- Fit a metal detector or a tramp-iron release ahead of the cone; one excavator tooth can cost a week of production.
A typical three-stage hard-rock flow: jaw (0-150 mm) - screen - secondary cone (0-60 mm) - screen - tertiary cone (0-20 mm) - final screens (0-5, 5-10, 10-20 mm). Put a bypass around the tertiary crusher for when the market only wants 0-40 mm.
Worked example: 250 t/h basalt quarry upgrade in Nigeria
The quarry was producing 150 t/h with a single jaw and screen, and the customer could not sell enough 20 mm aggregate.
- Primary: existing PE-750x1060 jaw crusher, CSS 110 mm, delivering 0-180 mm.
- Secondary: HP400 multi-cylinder cone, coarse cavity, CSS 30 mm, 315 kW - about 250-300 t/h of 0-50 mm in closed circuit.
- Tertiary: GP300 single-cylinder cone, medium cavity, CSS 12 mm, 220 kW - 0-20 mm at about 200 t/h; oversize returns to the cone.
- Screening: 3YK2160 triple-deck for the tertiary loop, 2YK2460 for final sizing.
- Wear parts: Mn18Cr2 mantle and concave sets, 30% spare V-belts, one spare set of liners in the warehouse.
- Result: 250 t/h finished product, 0-20 mm fraction share up from 35% to 62%, liner life 3 months on basalt.
See the full project write-up: Nigeria 250 t/h basalt quarry upgrade. For a granite example with a different circuit, see the Saudi Arabia 200 t/h granite plant.
Commissioning and maintenance checklist
- Check the dust seal and the water or grease supply before first start - cone bearings die from dust, not from load.
- Verify the CSS reading against a lead-ball test, then record the value in the logbook every shift.
- Watch the power draw: a slow rise means the chamber is wearing; a sudden spike means uncrushable material or a blocked cavity.
- Inspect the mantle and concave profile monthly; replace when the feed opening has grown 15-20% beyond the setting.
- Keep a spare set of liners on site. Liner change is 1-2 days; waiting for a shipment is 4-6 weeks.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Sizing the cone on the plant’s target output instead of on the screen and circuit around it.
- Choosing an extra-fine cavity for a feed that is too coarse.
- Forgetting the recirculating load when sizing conveyors, then spilling material at the transfer points.
- Running the crusher in trickle feed “to save power” - it produces worse shape and more fines.
- Buying liners on price alone; the profile and the alloy decide wear cost per ton.
Get a cone crusher recommendation
Send your feed size, target product sizes, required t/h and the material type. Our engineers will reply within 24 hours with a recommended model and cavity, a circuit diagram, budget price and lead time. You can also compare the HP series, GP series and PY series cone crushers, or read jaw crusher vs cone crusher first.