July 2003
BID LIST
New Curb & Gutter Machines
Emphasize Versatility
by Kirk Landers, V.P./Editorial Director

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Manufacturers listed in this feature responded to a special mailing by Better Roads and do not necessarily represent the entire market for this product. 

Sophisticated electronics make these machines simpler to own and operate, more productive and, ultimately, more versatile.

Gomaco
Sophisticated controls boost production, quality

Gomaco’s award-winning G21 digital controller is now available as an option on the company’s GT-3600 curb-and-gutter machine. The operating system increases the machine’s troubleshooting capabilities, dramatically increases its program memory for future expansion, and is easier to understand than other systems, according to the company.

The G21 package on the GT-3600 provides five modes of controlling the machine’s three tracks, helping the operator negotiate jobsite conditions and loading for transport. The crab steering selection enhances a quick approach and coordination to the stringline. The machine can also reverse-steer on-line to within 0.125-inch tolerance for a quick start. Tight radius software and the ability to toggle steering control from the lead sensor enhance performance in radius paving.

Every circuit on the GT-3600 is electronic-over-hydraulic for precise, controlled response. Smart hydraulic steering cylinders interface with the G21 system to allow push-button steering setup.

Software for the slope transition system provides automatic grade elevation correction, automatic steering correction, and eliminates stringline adjustment. The system can also interface with stringless technology, 3-D control systems, and laser technology.

Power Curbers
Versatile machine adds sophistication

Power Curber’s 5700-B forms curb, barrier/parapet, and other applications such as sidewalks, bike paths, irrigation ditches, and concrete foundations by using a different mold for each application. The machine is now equipped with a Network Control System that uses the company’s patented Slope Compensation; the system provides speed control during tight radius work and top-of-curb accuracy.

Its fully enclosed auger conveyor features increased mixing power to produce more consistent concrete faster. Its concrete carrying capacity is 18 cubic feet, with both the auger and the mold-carrying material. This allows the machine to pour around radii and cul-de-sacs with a minimum of movement of the ready-mix truck, according to Power Curbers.

Power Curbers’ hydraulic Quick-Connect Mold Mount System is now available on the 5700-B. The company says this attachment lets an operator change molds in minutes rather than requiring a crew for a half-hour or more using manual methods. The Quick-Connect handles all new and modified Power Curber curb-and-gutter and barrier molds, and it can accommodate sidewalk molds by adding turnbuckles for stability.

Messinger
Keeping slipformers simple and compact

Originally founded in 1990 to provide used and reconditioned pavers, Messinger launched its first factory-built curb-and-gutter machine in 1997 with the introduction of the Curb Fox 2000, a simple, versatile, and inexpensive machine.

In 2000, the company expanded its offerings with the introduction of the Curb Fox 3000, a compact unit with the automatic controls of a big machine.

Messinger’s Curb Fox 3000 paves curb sections up to 18-inches high, and curb-and-gutter sections up to 33-inches wide. It uses the same type of automatic controls and components as large highway pavers, according to Messinger, including proportional control of steering, grade, and slope functions. The unit can slipform sections on subgrade, on pavement, adjacent to pavement, and with or without steel reinforcement. Messinger says the machine has the lowest price of any automatic curb-and-gutter machine on the market.

Metal Forms
Curb-and-gutter forms in steel or plastic

For curb repair and jobs too small or space restricted for slipform machines, Metal Forms produces curb-and-gutter forms in a choice of steel or polyethylene to bring speed and precision to a manual installation.

Marketed as PolyMeta Forms, the polyethylene product line resists moisture, rinses clean with a garden hose, and can be reused 150 times or more, according to company literature. The forms are said to be 50% lighter than wood and set up and take down in about half the time thanks to an integral fastening system and the fact that concrete doesn’t adhere to polyethylene. The line includes designs for both straight and radius forming, and provides top spacers, division plates, and overhead hangers for curb-and-gutter work.

Huron
New series track-mounted machine

Huron has introduced a B-series version of its Easi-Pour 880. Billed as a fast-working, compact production machine, the Easi-Pour 880-B features a 140-horsepower Deere diesel as standard equipment, an improved high-torque trimmer, an easy-to-understand electrical system, and a two-yard concrete hopper. 

The 24,000-pound machine can pave at speeds up to 80 feet per minute, and has a top travel speed of 170 feet per minute.

Huron says the 880-B can pour curb and gutter, sidewalks, barrier up to 42-inches high, and slabs up to 8-feet wide.

Reprinted from Better Roads July 2003 issue