Asphalt pavers are a big investment for your company and their performance helps determine the entire success of a job.
“The paver is the most critical part of an asphalt paving jobsite,” Brodie Hutchins, vice president dealer development at Wirtgen Americas says. “Everything revolves around that paver. If it goes down, the plant goes down, the rollers go down, the trucks and mills go down, you have fines that can happen, etc. You need to do everything you can to make sure that paver does not break down.”
Here are 5 tips to keep your paver properly maintained.
1. Complete Daily Walk Arounds
A machine walk around should be conducted each morning, looking for loose fasteners, damaged components, oil leaks, etc. The machine is in an environment where the components are in high heat, working with highly abrasive material and will wear out. Make sure you inspect for any damaged or overly worn parts.
2. Ensure Screed is Ready to Pave
Operators should complete a visual check of the screed to make sure it’s level prior to paving.This involves making sure the screed is flat and extension leveling per manufacturer specifications is complete prior to paving. If the screed is not level, it’s going to impact the quality of the mat you’re laying. Making sure the main screed is flat and the extensions are level will help you avoid poor joint quality or an invert or crown in the mat.
3. Clean the Machine Each Day
Cleaning your paver at the end of each day is imperative in order to maintain a reliable and long lasting piece of equipment. Failure to remove all excess asphalt from your paver will result in premature failure and excessive wear of vital components of your machine's operation and will eventually lead to downtime. If you don’t clean the old asphalt out, the heat of the new asphalt the next day will loosen up cold chunks causing conveyor chains to jump or even worse break. Once that happens, you could be down for hours.
4. Complete Off-Season Maintenance
Right now is the slow season for many of us throughout the country, making it an ideal time to complete those maintenance tasks that may have been put off during the busy summer season.
At the end of each season you should thoroughly clean the paver removing all covers and guards to gain access to all the fines and hard to reach areas that you cannot get to during your daily cleaning routine.
Flush and change hydraulic and coolant systems, gear boxes and other fluids. Inspect the machine frame, conveyors and screed. Adjust all as needed. Screed plates and auger flights may need to be replaced, pending wear patterns.
Manufacturers also suggest contractors check augers, auger drive chains, conveyor chains and conveyor drive chains for wear and tension. Also inspect your drive tracks, idler rollers and drive system for wear and operation. The engine and hydraulic coolers should also be inspected and cleaned.
Basically, if you’re not confident that something is going to last the whole next season once you put it back to work, you should replace it now.
5. Work with Dealers Regularly
If you let them, your dealer can play a big part in making sure your machines will keep running smoothly all year. Most manufacturers will provide dealers with a maintenance and inspection program that can be deployed during the off season.
Many manufacturers also offer the incentive to have paving specialists come out during the off season and help customers’ complete thorough inspections. They help find potential problems contractors might not know to look for but that manufacturers see every day because they designed and built the equipment.
Once these specialists identify problems, many manufacturers offer discounts and incentives for having the parts replaced before the season begins.
