ForConstructionPros.com

"Application will drive the buying decision," he says. "How much material, how deep, and how much time it will take to get the job done all come into play. A wrong machine for the application may be too small or too big; it may hit too hard or not hard enough. The roller also needs to match the other equipment - the truck, trailer, and paving machine - in your equipment lineup."

Hamm America's midsize roller lineup includes a 2 ½-ton, 47-inch drum roller; a 4-ton, 51-inch drum roller; a 4 ½-ton, 54-inch drum roller; and a 7 ½-ton 59-inch drum roller. At the upper end, says Monical, contractors can compact faster and deeper, but with the larger drum size they will lose the ability to pave alleyways and bike paths and lack the maneuverability necessary to work around light poles and other small objects.

"Ideally, contractors moving from small driveway rollers would like the advantage afforded the smaller size but still have the ability to do larger paving jobs," Monical adds. "They would like the bells and whistles of even larger machines, too, in a midsize roller, including high frequency, a nice comfortable platform, warning devices, and so forth."

Trending
"Trends today in the midsize roller market are mainly for better ergonomics for the operator, more comfort, lower noise and vibration, and better visibility," explains Wacker Sales Engineering Manager Mark Conrardy.

"Companies are trying to put 'big roller' features into the smaller machines. One of the keys is for operators of the bigger machines to have good visibility and see the contact point where the drum and pavement meet. You don't want the operators to have to stretch or lean out to see the work they're doing. On larger jobs especially, fatigue can become an issue."