Hamilton Civil and Asphalt’s new BOMAG BM1300/35-2 Cold Planer is reinforcing the brand’s reliability while delivering impressive efficiency for the busy Waikato and Bay of Plenty team
A new name and – over time – a new machine fleet. That’s the broader aim of Hamilton Civil and Asphalt, says surfacing manager Nigel Haywood.
Under new stewardship, with owner Matthew Spratt having purchased the company around 12 months ago, Hamilton Civil and Asphalt is putting its faith in BOMAG road building equipment to deliver its clients’ projects on time and to the expected standard.
“Several of our rollers are BOMAGs, along with both our small and large pavers,” says Nigel. “The new owner is very keen on both BOMAG machinery and Porter Equipment’s performance as the brand’s distributor, so the goal is to eventually swap all our machinery over to BOMAG over the next year or so. The same plan is in place for Page Earthworks in Tauranga, which is our sister company.
“BOMAG equipment is so reliable – we genuinely never have anything major go wrong with any of their machines, aside from normal wear and tear. And we’re fortunate to be very busy for a variety of clients, so we can’t afford for them to be off the road for any length of time.”
Hamilton Civil and Asphalt’s latest fleet addition arrived recently in the form of a new BOMAG BM1300/35-2 Cold Planer.
Sitting in the ‘compact’ 350hp class of Planers, the new BOMAG BM1300 represents one of the German manufacturer’s latest generations of Cold Planers, of which there are seven different machine models in the series, offering working widths between 500mm and 2,500mm. As a result, the BOMAG BM1300/35-2 brings with it plenty of the latest features, designed to improve both project productivity and operator comfort.
With the new Cold Planer on the fleet, Nigel says it further underlines Hamilton Civil and Asphalt’s ‘one-stop shop’ appeal.
“You can see how things have changed over the last few years: clients demand the full package – from milling to membrane, to spraying, to chip sealing – they want one company doing the lot. One operation, one phone number to call. And that makes sense for us, too.
“But we were hiring in our mill previously, which adds another layer to the puzzle for us. So, having our own mill on the fleet makes us much more efficient: clients ring us, we’ll book it in and get on with it, knowing it’s our machine we’re relying on.”
While he was in no doubt that the new Cold Planer would fit the bill from a reliability standpoint, the most impressive aspect of the machine for Nigel is its efficiency.
“I’m really impressed with the fuel economy of the new machine. For example, we sent the mill out with a full tank of diesel on Sunday last week and didn’t need to fill it up again until Thursday. That’s impressive compared to other machines we’ve used, as the BOMAG is our only mill and it’s definitely working hard for us.”
BOMAG states its 350hp class Cold Planers are up to 20 percent more fuel efficient than previous generation machines. But that isn’t to the detriment of available power.
The BOMAG BM1300/35-2’s 240kW diesel engine transfers torque optimally to the milling drum by means of variably configurable planing and feed speeds. From the console, the operator can switch between three application-specific milling speed presets. Adapted to the desired milling depth, the milling drum will then always work in the optimal torque range. At the same time, feed rate is automatically maximised, creating, says BOMAG, the perfect ratio of engine output to milling speed.
The alignment of the tool holders also helps balance milling power and engine efficiency, optimised as they are for the milling process, resulting in precision rotation and lower wear on the cutting tools. The manufacturer also stands behind the patented geometry of the drum itself, which has taken years of experience out in the field to perfect.
Back up at the controls, Hamilton Civil and Asphalt’s operator benefits from a number of new advances in comfort and visibility present in BOMAG’s 350hp class Cold Planers.
The fully vibration-isolated operator station offers a swivel seat, which can be rotated up to 45° in two directions for a better view. Overhead is a large canopy roof, which can be adjusted to provide optimal weather protection, regardless of seasonal sun or rain. The BOMAG BM1300/35-2’s crawler tracks are longer, which helps with stability and better traction for travel (the machine features a travel speed of up to 7.5km/h).
Much like what is happening under the machine, BOMAG has spent decades perfecting operator ergonomics and functionality. From the operator station, the machine’s slimline frontal design gives the operator better visibility of the milling edge, the loading truck and the planing result. Also, all controls on the operating console can be reached on one level, while the system menu navigation is intuitive and simple to use.
Hamilton Civil and Asphalt’s new BOMAG Cold Planer is currently in Tauranga working – on behalf of Higgins – on a project at the Port of Tauranga. It will move swiftly on to another job in Taupō after that: its relatively compact transport dimensions set to help make the journey down State Highways 30 and 36 all the more straightforward.
“The mill hasn’t stopped since it was delivered,” says Nigel. “There’s so much work on for it, so we know we’ve made a good investment.”
Porter Equipment will help Hamilton Civil and Asphalt look after that investment too, thanks to the BOMAG distributor’s well-documented back-up support in the field. While Porter Equipment’s technicians will come to the company’s smaller pavers and rollers for regular servicing wherever they are, Nigel says the plan is that the bigger BOMAG Cold Planer will always make the trip back to base for its servicing.
“We’ll always rely on the service skills of Porters, but our preference is that their guys do the servicing on the mill in our workshop,” he explains. “It’s just a better environment for a bigger piece of equipment, and I’d rather have it offline for one full day in the workshop than maybe a couple of half days out on site.”
Porter Equipment’s aftersales support goes beyond just scheduled servicing, however. The ability for the company to be where Hamilton Civil and Asphalt needs them is legendary.
“We have a great relationship with Porters – they’re superb,” says Nigel. “They’ll even pick a machine up for us if we need them to. We just give them a call, and they’ll be there with a transporter.
“It’s like the hire fleet they have as well: if we need an extra roller, they’ll be there with one on-site within the hour, depending on where we’re working. That’s why, taken together, we believe Porter Equipment and BOMAG offer us the best service we can get.”
Images Supplied