Caterpillar has added options to its line of mid-sized asphalt compactors and made available VisionLink technology for integration on its PM600 and PM800 cold planers.
CB7, CB8, and CB10 Asphalt Compactor Options
A dual split-drum option on the front drum of Cat 7-, 8- and 10-ton compactors allow the machines quicker turning speeds as well as a tighter turning radius without tearing the asphalt mat, according to the company.
“It’s a feature that customers of ours appreciate when they have to make a lot of tight turns,” Cary Bryant, senior service engineer, told trade press at World of Asphalt. “Whether that’s because they’re constrained by traffic, or they’re in a downtown area and need a tight turning radius to get the machine turned around on a hot asphalt mat and not damage the surface.”
Another new option, the cut-off wheel, provides improved edge management by ensuring a stable vertical face for joint matching on the next paving pass. Three bevel edge options provide sloped profiles for smoother transitions on and off the paved surface.
“When the machine compacts an unconfined edge, it’s got a wheel down that’s got a 45-degree bevel to it which marries up to the edge of the drum,” said Cary. “And as it rolls along it will prevent material from smashing out and put a 45-degree angle on the edge of the asphalt mat. It will make the mat last a little longer and prevent decaying along the edge.”
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The 7-, 8-, and 10-ton compactors are the first from Cat to be equipped with Cat Compact mapping, which is displayed on a touch screen for operators to visualize the coverage area while recording data. The system utilizes infrared temperature sensors and GPS mapping to keep the operator informed of a series of machine performance metrics.
“The three features available to track with intelligent compaction are pass count, temperature, and compaction meter value,” said Cary. “What compaction meter value can give you is an indication of is if you did those same things repeatedly—number of passes within a certain temperature range—you can see if you are achieving a similar stiffness in the mat or with the subgrade of the mat.
“One of the ways that’s valuable is if you warrant your asphalt, but you’re not the contractor that did the dirt work underneath the asphalt,” he said. “One of the things you can find with the compaction meter value is a soft spot in the subgrade so you have the ability to go back to the general contractor and say, ‘Hey, I can’t in good conscience warrant my asphalt work here because I have the data that tells me the subgrade was insufficient to support the loads that will be imparted on this mat.’”
Compactors also have available climate control functions and a heated seat to assist with operator retention, according to the company.
VisionLink Productivity for Cold Planers
VisionLink Productivity is now available for Cat PM620, PM622, PM820, PM822, and PM825 cold planers. The platform gathers and summarizes machine data and job site data.
VisionLink Productivity handles cold planer machine data such as time spent waiting for trucks, cutting and travel at the job site, distance cut, fuel burn, location, and cycle mapping. This gives contractors insights into job site productivity and equipment utilization.
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“One feature to highlight is the daily run chart,” Jameson Smeija, senior sales consultant, told the press. “If a customer isn’t happy with their cutting performance versus their wait time, they can see an overview of how the machine sequenced through all its different cycles from throughout the day to try and determine if the execution is productive and where they want it to be."
As a cloud-based platform, VisionLink Productivity gathers data from all equipment at the job site, regardless of the brand, and can be accessed anywhere via a mobile tablet or desktop device.
Reports are available in PDF, Excel and CVS formats and can be scheduled for email inbox delivery.
