Road construction is considered to be one of the most challenging jobs in the construction sector. One may find it hard to believe that in order to construct a road right from its start to its end it takes several months and at times years. Different types of heavy equipment are used for road construction but the one that is termed to be the most crucial is the Cold Planer Milling Machine. So when we are talking about milling, it ideally involves removing the upper surface of the road so that it can be refilled with stuff that helps to make the road smooth. Not just removing the upper surface, if required it can be used for a full depth removal. There are many companies who produces milling machines but if we check the performance of companies that has fared exceptionally in the last many years we will have just one name. i.e. CAT PM620.
The Cat PM620 is installed with automatic plunge-cut which makes sure that the starting cuts are precise and repeatable and also diminishes the wear and tear on the machine. It also has an automatic load control system which make it all the more perfect. The engine it has is a powerful CAT C18 ACERT which has a gross power of 630 hp. The total operating speed of the machine is 100 m/minute and the maximum travel speed is 6 km per hour (3.7 mph). The operating weight of the machine is approximately 33,330 kg (73480 lbs.) and it includes other features like coolant, lubricants, full fuel and water tank and 75 kg operator (165 lbs).
Talking about the most intrinsic feature of the machine – the cutting system; the milling width of the machine is 2010 mm and the number of bits is 178. The maximum cutting depth that it can go is 13 inch which is remarkable as per the industry standards. The rotor speed is around 118 rpm and the minimum left and right cutting radius is approximately 2 meters. Moving to the tank capacity, the capacity of the fuel tank is 1108 liters (292 gal.) and the diesel exhaust fluid tank of 47 liters (12 gal.). The cooling system of the machine is around 85 liters (22 gal.). The engine oil, hydraulic oil and water tank is around 65 liter (17 gal.), 113 liter (29 gal.) and 3400 liter (894 gal.) respectively. It makes it better than any other machine in the same genre and this is why it is the ultimate choice of many road developers.
To operate this machine is no rocket science as an operator with relatively less years of experience can also quickly master it. The electrical system in the machine is color coded and numbered so that the user does not have a hard time in understanding which button means what to him and can quickly get adjusted to the system. It is installed with a very small device known as “Electronic Control Module” which monitors the engine and the various other systems of the machine and alerts the operator in case there is any kind of performance related issue. It also helps the operator with troubleshooting messages so that issues that are miniscule can be taken care at the very first instance.