350/500mm patch Planing with CAT’s new C series Skid Steer’s
Mention the use of Skid Steer Loaders in the same breath as ‘Planing patch works’ to most road surfacing companies and heads will shake alongside deep intakes of breath. The history of skid steers in such applications has been fraught with difficulties and challenges in the last 15 years.
However, with ever more stringent requirements for safety in the form of HAVS, noise pollution and dust control, demands on cost effectiveness and pressure to get the job done quickly to minimise traffic disruption, CAT development engineers saw the challenge and set to work! The result has been the new ‘C’ series Skid Steer Loaders that not only meet and exceed all required safety standards but now have industry leading specifications for machine power, touch control systems and operator comfort to make these new machines a real alternative in this planing application.
When Finnpave Sales Specialist, Dave Coney sat down with Aggregate Industries some 24 months ago he listened carefully to their concerns, past experiences and future business requirements. We were confident we had the solution for them in the ‘C’ series range and committed to demonstrate this to them.
10 months later we had completed 4 demonstration days on live sites including Woolwich Borough Council and sites in Bedford. During these demonstration days Finnpave provided machines, work tools, experienced demonstration operators and full technical and sales support. As a result of these comprehensive demonstrations AI agreed to purchase a 262C XPS machine which they have now been operating for 6 months.
As part of the project we agreed regular reviews and to obtain the customers feedback. We recently asked Jamie Thornton, Contracts Manager, Aggregate Industries how he and his team have found the machine………
“When I was first introduced to the CAT ‘C’ series skid steer I had my reservations about its capabilities and if it would be suitable for our patching operations. The people that have designed this skid steer have spent time and effort with the operator in mind to ensure it has all safety devices attached to protect the driver and persons operating in and around the skid steer are safe at all times. The interior of the unit is designed with the operative in mind to maximise dust suppression, finger tip control for ease of use, sitting is very comfortable and you have good all round vision”
“The attachments we use are brilliant! You wouldn't be able to tell the difference between a 350/ 500mm planed surface by a Planer Machine and the CAT skid steer. It keeps its levels perfectly. The sweeper attachment supports the planing attachments just as well, one pass and the area is clean and ready to work on just like a sweeper and the bucket attachment is just like a 2CX bucket. It takes minutes to change over the attachments from the planing unit to the sweeper or bucket units which saves time and it is easy to transport around from site to site”
“These 3 attachments with the Cat skid steer have changed the way we approach and carry out our hand lay patching works. It has increased volumes and outputs but most importantly has cut down time the workforce spend on the jack hammer guns which reduces the exposure time to HAVS and manual handling issues that we used to have”
“All in all the Cat skid steer is a very capable piece of equipment for our needs and we also have the option of buying other attachments to go with the machine such as back actor and forklift”
With such an opportunity to improve the safety, efficiency and profitability of your road maintenance operations with the high performance CAT ‘C’ series skid steer why not get in touch with the specialist team at Finnpave for more detail. Contact us today, were ready to help…