Roadtec brought to the 2019 World of Asphalt its newly updated RX-700e cold planer, which now has an 800-horsepower Tier 4 Final engine that requires no diesel exhaust fluid.
The new Caterpillar engine on the half-lane cold planer replaces the 755-horsepower Tier 4 Interim engine on the previous model.
Roadtec says the increased power and an efficient design have increased the RX-700e’s production and reliability.
The cutter housing’s angled moldboards reduce wear by preventing material from accumulating around the drum. The planer’s frame is made of A656 Grade 80 steel, making it stronger and lighter.
The company also made the planer easier on the operator with track pads that are bolted on, which makes changing them faster. A 60-degree conveyor, as opposed to the traditional 40-degree conveyor, makes it easier to feed a truck in an adjacent lane or around a tight bend, the company says. A folding secondary conveyor is optional for transporting and loading.
Its automated elevation controls are designed to allow quick, easy changes to slope and grade parameters in real time.
The planer cuts up to 14 inches deep with standard widths of 6 feet 7 inches, 7 feet 2 inches, 8 feet 2 inches and 10 feet 6 inches.
The RX-700e is available in three- or four-track models.
The cold planer also has the company’s Guardian telematics system, which the company reported during a press conference February 13 at World of Asphalt that it continues to upgrade.
Guardian evolution
The upgrades include being able to track the number of hours run on any of the three conveyors on the SB-2500 Shuttle Buggy Material Transfer Vehicle, which Roadtec had on display.
Contractors “can start to monitor not just how many hours the machine has on it but also see how many hours a particular chain has run and see how their wear life is going,” said product manager Kyle Niesen.
Company President John Irvine said the system provides two-way remote communication between the machine and contractors, their service technicians or Roadtec technicians to prevent and address maintenance problems.
For example, if there is an electrical short, the machine sends an email and shows where the problem is on a schematic.
“When we show up on a jobsite, we can have parts in hand, and we don’t have to do a lot of diagnostics,” Irvine said. “We know what’s wrong with the machine when we get there.”
Roadtec can also reprogram the machine remotely. Irvine presented a case in which a machine were affected by lightning. “We can reach out to it from the office and reprogram it right there,” he said.
Guardian does not use wires but provides real-time reporting via a cellular signal and can be accessed at any time with a mobile device or web access.