Caterpillar’s PC306 With Water has been a a real cost saver and productivity booster for NSW contractor, Whitleah Asphalt.
Whitleah Asphalt is a fully equipped and diverse asphalt paving and civil-construction company serving clients throughout the central coast and Hunter regions of NSW.
The company handles a wide range of projects, including asphalt resurfacing, road construction and maintenance, footpaths, profiling, in-situ stabilisation, driveways, carparks, and sports courts. A local-government procurement-approved contractor, the company’s clientele includes government and local councils and members of the commercial and residential sectors.
Company owner Matt Whitleah has decades of experience in all aspects of asphalt application and maintenance, and when it came time to start his own company in 2021, his preferred equipment manufacturer was clear: Caterpillar.
Matt’s decision to fit his latest Cat skid steer with Caterpillar’s PC306 With Water cold planer put his operators on the road to success.
Features
Designed for small paving jobs in residential and commercial applications, Caterpillar’s PC306 With Water is primarily used to restore asphalt and concrete surfaces. It’s ideal for milling imperfections prior to resurfacing, removing deteriorated pavement, removing traffic-lane stripes and jobs where the use of dedicated planers is limited.
A self-leveling design automatically levels the attachment when it’s placed on the ground, giving consistent depth control without operator adjustments and offering excellent spoil retention, while two wear-resistant skid plates remain parallel to the ground for optimum stability. A hydraulic side shift permits planing close to curbs, walls and other obstructions, while a hydraulically controlled, independent left/right depth control allows maximum drum depths to be adjusted independently on each skid.
Gauges are easily viewable from the cab. A Max Pro pressure gauge provides operator feedback to adjust speed for maximum productivity in changing material loads, and a gauge – also visible from the cab – displays planer performance in real-time conditions.
A direct-drive system features a hydraulic radial-piston motor to ensure maximum cutting rate and drum torque for optimum production performance and efficiency, while a float enables planers to follow the contour of the surface. Spring tilt and hydraulic tilt enable planers to oscillate for angled cuts, and all-purpose conical bits are standard. Optional concrete bits, heavy-duty concrete bits, and heavy-duty asphalt bits are also available, while tools to change out the bits are included.
For best performance
Cat’s fast-cut asphalt drums require less power for cutting due to increased spacing between cutting lines on the drum. These drums improve productivity in asphalt applications, and are now standard on all models, while multi-purpose and optional-width drums are also available.
Serrated steps allow for safe and easy access in and out of the cab, and a new centre step enables even easier access and shorter step lengths for the operator.
A coupler frame-mounted water tank with a 160-litre (42-gallon) capacity and a tanklevel sight gauge can be combined with cab-mounted water tank for additional capacity and run time – a sprinkler kit is included if the cold planer is ordered with a water tank installed.
Efficient
“Back in 2021 I started with one machine,” recalled Matt. “We’ve grown to now have seven machines, and our most recent purchase is the 279D3 compact track loader with the Cat PC306 With Water cold planer attachment.”
“This machine with this attachment we use every day of the week,” said the Wyong-based contractor. “It speeds up our asphalt work and keeps the boys happy,”he explained.
“The new Smart Creep mode makes our lives a lot easier,” continued Matt. “It opens up to inexperienced operators still being able to cut professional lines and makes hiring a lot easier. The guys don’t have to be topnotch, gun operators to be able to cut like a pro.”
“Cat’s had creep control on cold planers for many years now,” said Nina Zeidan, Attachment Product Specialist at Westrac NSW, “and it’s made cold planing very simple and very smooth. It prevents the cutting out of the drum, which causes ridges.
“Creep control has been a fantastic tool, but Caterpillar’s PC306 With Water has taken it to the next level, with valving and software which basically monitors the pressure of the drum. It can be set to run at the highest speed, and if it hits harder material making it likely to stall, it’ll back off a bit to get through the hard cutting and come back to optimum speed when the implement pressure comes back down.”
“If it does stall out,” Nina continued, “it can be set it to auto-reverse, and the operator has to do nothing. They just keep the joystick full on. The machine auto reverses, the drum restarts, and it keeps going.”
Independent shoes allow cutting against curbs or gutters and prevent ridges in the side-by-side cutting, and Matt really likes the water tank being built into the cold planer rather than the roof. It saves both time and effort, and means less hazardous lifting and climbing for staff.
“It eliminates a lot of risk when filling the water tank, which needs to be done a couple of times a day,” he explained.
Finally, the PC306 carries Cat’s two-year parts-and-labour warranty.
That completes a very tidy and professional cold-planing package for Whitleah Asphalt.
For more on the PC306 With Water and 279D3 compact track loader, contact a Cat dealer or visit cat.com.