The new Cat PM300 Series is designed as one of the most compact one-meter machines on the market.
CAT PM300
SERIES COLD PLANERS MILLING MACHINES ARE RECOGNISED AS AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE PROCESS FOR ACHIEVING QUALITY PAVEMENT PERFORMANCE STANDARDS. ROADS & INFRASTRUCTURE LOOKS AT THE EVOLUTION OF CAT COLD PLANERS, INCLUDING THE LATEST PM300 SERIES.
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hen milling machines, also known as cold planers, first came into the road rehabilitation market, their main job was to remove a layer of asphalt as quickly as possible and load it onto a truck via a conveyor, saving valuable time and money. Production was based only on the tonnage of material removed and loaded per hour. Today, the requirement for a mill or cold planer has evolved. Production is still required, but grade and slope accuracy, cut texture, operator comfort and environment friendliness are all becoming must-haves. Above all, safety is paramount. The milling crew are now more connected to the paving crew in terms of material savings and asphalt quality. To meet the demands of the job sites of today, the new compact Cat PM300 Series is designed as one of the most compact onemeter machines in the market. With both wheeled and tracked variants available for each model, it is suitable for a range of job sites where high manoeuvrability is required. The Cat C9.3 engine delivers 251 kilowatt (kW) of power, a three per cent increase over the previous model. The 251kW engine 40
ROADS SEPTEMBER 2021
also meets the Tier 4 Final/Stage V emission standards, while the 246kW engine meets Tier 3/Stage IIIA standards. Caterpillar’s PM300 Series can be configured with one of three drum widths and a choice of wheel or track undercarriage. These include the oneThe PM300 Series make the maintenance job easier for operators.
metre rotor PM310, the 1.2-metre PM312 and the 1.3-metre PM313. The rotor system is extended inward towards the chassis with wider rotors, as opposed to extending outside the frame like most other machines in the market. This allows the three models to have the same overall machine width despite different widths of cut. “Sometimes the operators would move the leg inboard to the flush cut position to get it loaded onto a truck. We recommend working with the track or wheel extended to the outside for greater stability during operation, unless when working on a flush cut,” says Luca Mancin, Paving Product Trainer from Caterpillar Paving Products. THE ROTOR Cat cold planers come standard with Cat System K milling rotors which feature efficient material flow and excellent cutting pattern. Rotors are available with spacings of 8 millimetres, 15 millimetres and 18 millimetres for a wide range of milling applications. The dual taper retention design of Cat’s exclusive three-piece tool holders used on Cat K rotors makes it one of the easiest to
