A material reducer for coal, lignite, ore, stone, rock, oil shale and the like which employs rotary hammers, bars or the like not only to crush the material but also to propel the crushed material upwardly along a confined or partially confined path which discharges for example onto an output conveyor or directly to a screen or other processing equipment. The feed-in or input end of the crusher can be at a level sufficiently low to be supplied by the newer more mobile loading units such as front-end loaders, over-the-head loaders, and others. The center of gravity can also be substantially lowered, providing more stability without the normal cumbersome frame and support structure. Crushers constructed in accordance with the invention can be made far lighter and more mobile than existing mobile crushers with the same capacity, and therefore provide a practical way of eliminating the use of trucks, with their attendant noise, dust and pollution, to haul uncrushed minerals from the bottom of a mine or quarry to a stationary crusher at the surface.