skid steer planer

[Yellowdog]

Can a high flow planer 40" model or thereabouts be used to mill limestone that protrudes from roads? Can the planer be used to crush rocks or tear up an existing base road before regrading and compaction? I've been looking for a solution to rehabilitate old ranch roads without having to bring in so much base that just washes away every time we have a 3 or 4" overnight rain. Now that the TX drought is easing, we have had two 48 hour periods with 4+ inches of rain in the last couple of months. At $200/load for base that's used on steep roads, I'm hoping to find an attachment that will allow me to work with some of what's already on these ranch roads. Any thoughts?

[millingman]

Take a look at the stabilisation video on YouTube: http://youtu.be/BIP6KrCkX88
I'd start out by milling the material to a out 6 inches deep. It may take a number of passes, depending on how good your skid steer is and how good your attachment is. The best skid steer on the market at the moment is the telex/asv pt100. I've been on a number of big skid steers and this one is at 20% more powerful in heavy stuff then it's closest competitor.
Your next step after milling the surface is to spead a stabilising material over the top of the milled surface. You then go back with the milling attachment and mix the stabiliser in to the milled material. Then compact it with a decent roller. After this you can either seal it with a thin top coat of asphalt or leave it as it is.
There's a bit of science involved in stabilising roads, but it is by far the cheapest way to rehabilitate country roads.
If this seems like a path you might like to follow, let me know and I can post a few more details.... Otherwise someone else may offer another solution.
Take a look at the Schibeci ST1000 attachment as well. It's a pretty heavy bit of equipment.

[mrfrog359]

yes you can do it with a cold planer. i used our 30 inch cold planer on a where we had limestone (304) or 1.5 minus that we could not dig with the skidloader. the only problem i ran into was busting teeth off. i think the problem is we mill asphalt 99 % of the time and the teeth are not built to handle that kind load

[millingman]

There is a better video of stabilizing that I have just seen. You might want to take a look at this before you start your work.
http://youtu.be/PdAxUq86nIk

[Yellowdog]

I'm going to demo a planer soon but they only have a standard flow for demo.. Thanks for the video links.

[millingman]

A standard flow machine really wouldn't be great. For stabilizing you really need to be able to cut 6 inches deep per pass. You should be aiming for about 1500+ square feet per hour to be making good money. If the machine can't produce that you may be standing still. It'd be great to get a high flow skid steer for a demo, even if you have to hire one. A big high flow will do 10 times the production of a standard flow machine. I'd want to see it running at that production before writing a cheque. I'm pretty cautious about where I spend my money. I'm happy to spend big dollars if the product is worth it.

[eamon]

Hi Yellowdog,

i've use our skid steer Gehl 4640 turbo with high flow on a unverisal bingham planer 450mm wide(18inch), it works at treat in compact limestone, and very fast compared to asphalt, however you need to be careful of picking up larger stones which jam the machine so you nbeed to be quick at backing off. As regardind speed we would go at a fast walking pace at around 4 inch deep, doing a track of approx 800 yards by 3.5 yards wide in half a day.

High flow is a must. and do not be atempted by wider planer versions as they jam up to easy. then up and down a few times with tractor grader or back of bucket / 4 in 1, then out with the roller.
We tried to plane large hardcore when levelled to give a better and finer surface, but this didn't work as it isn't compacted and keeps picking up large lumps and jamimg. Compacted limestone tracks works well.

Anyhows do be so tight and get it tarmaced / Asphalted!!