The Titans ruled the universe for nearly 10 years during the days of Greek myth and legend. Today, another type of Titan is taking control of the East Coast. Ingersoll-Rand’s ABG Titan 525 tracked paver — the largest paver in the world, according to Scott Collins of Ingersoll-Rand — was recently purchased by Suit-Kote Corporation. Tracey Road Equipment, based in Syracuse, NY, sold the Titan 525 to this Cortland, NY-based contractor to become the centerpiece of its newest cold-in-place recycling train.
Researching the Titan
Suit-Kote’s Paul Suits started his search for a paving alternative when the model of paver that his crews had been using for cold-in-place recycling was no longer in production. That’s when Ralph Lubinski, sales representative, Tracey Road, told Suits about the 55,000-lb. (27,750 kg) Ingersoll-Rand Titan 525.
The Titan 525 was designed and engineered in Germany for European-style paving, where very deep layers of asphalt are applied, unlike the U.S. methods that require laying high volumes of asphalt in a single lift.
“Featuring high horsepower and large width and paving capacities, the Titan 525 can easily handle the course and heavy materials used during cold-in-place recycling,” said Lubinski.
Cool Performer
In this specialized form of cold-in-placing recycling, typically a layer of virgin aggregate is laid across the existing asphalt highway. A milling machine is then used to grind the existing asphalt pavement. Throughout the grinding process, virgin aggregate is blended with the ground asphalt material, asphalt emulsion is added and then these materials are thoroughly mixed and deposited in a windrow behind the grinder. Following the grinder is a paver equipped with a “pick-up” attachment that allows the material to be picked up and placed into the hopper to pave the road. Once the road is paved it is then properly compacted and re-opened for traffic.
“Two of the biggest advantages of the Titan are its ability to make wider passes without compromising the quality of the product and its sheer size,” said Scott Collins of Ingersoll-Rand. “This paver allows contractors to complete mainline and shoulder resurfacing in a single pass. Its unique tamper bar screed allows for the compaction process to begin immediately, thus complimenting conventional compaction methods.”
The Titan is fittingly classified as a “jumbo” size paver. It comes equipped with an abnormally large hopper that allows for a much wider range of capabilities. Incredible amounts of material can pass through this machine with relative ease, thus increasing efficiency and cutting costs.
Making the Purchase
“Suit-Kote is a long-term customer of Tracey Road Equipment, but convincing them to invest in a ’jumbo’ paver such as the Titan was not an easy task,” said Tracey Road’s Lubinski.
To give Suit-Kote the assurances that it would need with regards to parts availability, Ingersoll-Rand worked with Tracey Road to assemble a large inventory of wear and non-wear parts in Tracey Road’s stockroom.
In addition to making parts more available, the lead engineer of the Titan was flown in from Germany several times to make sure both parties were thoroughly trained on the workings and operation of the machine. Members of the Suit-Kote team were also flown over to Germany so that they could see, first-hand, the manufacturing facilities and to witness demonstrations of the paver.
The order for the paver was placed in December and was ready for shipment in March.
This paver was specifically built and re-engineered to meet the needs of U.S. pavers, and to include 10-degree slope capacity. The screed also was specifically designed to meet U.S. industry standards.
Great Size and Power
With a paving width up to 52 ft. (16 m) and a hopper capacity up to 17 tons (15 t), Suit-Kote has been able to pave 2.5- to 3-lane mi. a day. According to Peter Heller, equipment manager, Suit-Kote, the Titan is a welcomed addition to the fleet and certainly a technological step forward.
“The Titan has allowed us to improve the appearance and quality of our product,” said Heller. “The mat is very uniform. We have paved at various widths — 12 ft., 16 ft. and up to 18 ft. – and the paver speed has been no problem. At 18 ft. you are making a very large windrow and the paver had no problem pulling through it. The Titan has really come through for us and lives up to our expectations. What really sold us on the paver was its weight and horsepower. With its weight, horsepower and steel tracks, the Titan pulls through just about anything we ask it to.”
Suit-Kote Recycling Foreman, George Lynch commented that “throughout the season this machine has always been up to meet the task at hand.” He continued that “it moves very quickly even when we are paving wide widths — just to give you an indication of the Titan’s efficiency, we were able to place 140,107 tons in less than three months.”
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