A new tracked paver acquired in April has given an Akron-area commercial/residential asphalt paving company improved flexibility, speed and productivity of construction over any of its previous pavers.
Perrin Asphalt Company Inc. of Akron owns four asphalt pavers, but the maneuverability and power of its new 880 RTB paver from Vögele America Inc. has the owners and staff buzzing.
"It's a great asset to our company," said Tim Perrin. "The operators like it, it lays a nice mat, and it's the perfect size for our application, because it can do the bigger stuff, too. It does the small and the large jobs equally well."
The track system is designed to work in tight spots, which is important for Perrin's jobs in parking lots studded with loading docks, air conditioner and dumpster pads, parking pylons and utility poles.
"We're twisting and turning and backing up and moving from job to job to job," Tim said. "We're moving up to five times a day, while the bigger guys set down in the highway and pave mile upon mile. We back up more than we move forward, it seems, and that's why this machine has worked out so well, due to its maneuverability and the less hand work that is required."
Upping Job Productivity
"Its maneuverability, speed and overall productivity works well for us," said Scott Perrin, manager of paving and milling crews. "It's an all-around good machine. The amount of material you can put down with the speed of the paver, and the smoothness of the mat from the track system, ups our job productivity."
The tracks are extremely important for successful parking lot jobs, Scott said. "On parking lots the tracks don't tear up the base as much, or rip up base courses of asphalt," he said. "The result is a smoother ride and a smoother asphalt mat."
As an 8-ft. (2.4 m) commercial class paver, "the size of the 880 RTB is perfect for what we do," Scott said. "It's a parking-lot-paver-man's dream-come-true."
But the paver also figures into Perrin Asphalt's residential and driveway work.
"We use it on driveways," Scott said. "It's maneuverable enough to use on a driveway, but strong enough to push a lot of material through for bigger jobs, such as driveways and parking lot roadways."
He credits the size of the 190-cu. ft. (5.4 cu m) hopper for accelerating the speed of projects.
"Its hopper is a little bit bigger than other pavers, and you can empty out a truck a little bit quicker," Scott said. "There's nothing I don't like about it."
In addition, Perrin uses the 880 RTB for small county roads and for housing development roadways.
"We've used it for everything we've got, since we got it, every day," Scott said.
Shifting To New Brand
Its performance notwithstanding, the 880 RTB was the first Vögele America product that Perrin had owned, and Scott was concerned about shifting to an untried brand.
"I was nervous," he said. "I wasn't sure what we would find. We had bought mostly one brand, and I was afraid to stray. We hemmed and hawed about it, but we all decided to give it a shot. But we're very happy with our decision."
Perrin's distributor is The McLean Company of Ohio.
Perrin Asphalt was founded by the Perrins' father, Charlie Perrin, in 1963. The firm started doing seal coats and asphalt patching, but since has grown to some 50 employees and operates throughout northeastern Ohio.
In addition to its 880 RTB, the firm also owns a Hamm HD 13 double-drum vibratory roller and a Wirtgen W1200 F/T.
(This story appears courtesy of Wirtgen Technology.)
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