Planers Offer Many Choices for Milling Pavement Efficiently

High-flow planer

A Bobcat® planer is the perfect attachment for efficiently milling asphalt or concrete. It has top-of-the-line features that enable the operator to work productively. Avariety of models allow you to handle just about any type of planing job that requires the maneuverability of a skid-steer, compact track or all-wheel steer loader.

Four different types of planers are available:

Standard flow. Featuring a 14-in. cutting width, this value-loaded tool is designed for milling potholes and other defects in parking lots and roadways and works on standard flow machines.

High-flow. Available in 18-, 24- and 40-in. models, it offers more versatility and productivity for jobs ranging from repairing asphalt and concrete to cleaning up where larger milling machines can’t maneuver.

Danny Loller, Mesquite, Tex., streets division manager, says the city’s 40-in. high-flow planer is doing a good job.

Surface. Aspecially-designed 16-in. drum removes paint stripes and thermoplastics on parking lots, highways, streets and airports leaving behind a very fine surface finish.

Curb. Mill slip-formed curbs to produce a smooth approach from the road to a new driveway. You can work in the street without straddling curbs and gutters. Choose from 2.5-to 15-in. drum widths.

Most models offer the convenience of on-the-go, finger-tip depth control and side shift, an oscillating planer housing for cutting at an angle and matching uneven surfaces, and easy access for replacing cutting bits. Other features common to most models include replaceable ski wear pads, rear frame wheels for support, and a removable end plate for easy drum changes and planing flush to walls. An optional water kit helps control dust.

Easier Times for Municipal Street Department

A40-in. high-flow planer is making life easier for street maintenance crews in Mesquite, Tex.

Surface planer

Clay soils underneath the streets expand and contract with changes in temperature and moisture, pushing up areas of asphalt pavement or causing concrete expansion joints to rupture. This can make the ride rough for motorists and create ponds of storm water runoff.

Repairing these areas with a concrete saw would require cutting out the damaged section and patching it. In the case of an expansion joint, that means shutting down a traffic lane until the concrete cures. There’s also a chance that an asphalt patch would end up a little higher than the surrounding pavement.

The planer attachment offers an alternative, explains Danny Loller, streets division manager for the city. “It allows us to grind high spots flush with the existing street surface and eliminates the need for patching.”

Curb planer

With the planer attachment, the operator can raise one side of the planer housing and adjust the depth skis. Sometimes the crew uses this feature on overlay jobs to match uneven pavement surfaces. That can also eliminate the need to remove and replace sections of pavement.

The street crews also use the planer to repair areas where freeze thaw action has caused concrete to chip. Typically, this shallow surface damage means a thin asphalt patch. “With the planer we can remove the chipped concrete section to a depth of about half an inch or so to get a deeper asphalt fill which is more apt to stay,” Loller says.

For details on how a cost-effective Bobcat planer can boost your efficiency, visit your local Bobcat dealer today.