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| "Why don't you have an 800 hp engine in your big, half-lane mill?" Not a day passes without someone asking Wirtgen America this question. But there is much more to a milling machine than the engine. Wirtgen has access to the same engines as its competition. What we know, and that many contractors don't realize, is that a milling machine will consume more dollars in teeth during five years of operation than the machine cost at initial purchase! Under high loads, a Cat 3412 DITA 750 hp engine will burn more dollars in fuel than the machine cost to purchase. A road milling machine consists of a well-designed, rugged, thick symmetrical, severe-duty cutter, surrounded by a bunch of hardware that makes it rotate and move down the road. Cutter dynamics and related cost is the single most important component in the design of a productive and economical milling machine. Wirtgen GmbH, the world's oldest, largest and most successful manufacturer of asphalt, concrete and hard rock milling and mining machines, has an ongoing research and development program dedicated to improving the strength, durability and reliability of cutting components. For more than 10 years Wirtgen has been on the leading edge of cutter development technology, bringing the level of reliability to higher plateaus with its Type II non-weld replaceable holder system, and now the new Type III extreme duty system. Wirtgen learned long ago that the cutter reliability and performance were directly related to the level of horsepower input to the cutter. When Wirgten had 200 hp units in the late 1970s, their standard mining tools and holders were well up to the cutting requirements of most asphalt and some concrete. When Wirtgen and competing makes introduced 400 hp units, Wirtgen engineers and customers saw that they had reached the practical limitations of the commonly available cutting tools and holders. Horsepower increased in the late 1980s as 500 and 525 hp units appeared in the marketplace. But these machines were handicapped by old technology cutting components. Tooth and machine manufacturers failed to respond to this problem; except for Wirtgen. In 1992, Wirtgen introduced its new Model 2100 DC with a 600 hp Mercedes diesel engine, with an all-new replaceable cutter tool holder system matched to the higher input horsepower, as well as the higher production output. This machine became the industry standard. It's characterized by good balance between weight, cutting width, cutting depth, horsepower, and low-cost/low-maintenance cutting tool holders. Wirtgen's Type II non-weld bolt-on system met the requirements and expectations of owners and operators worldwide. Wirtgen had achieved a new level of balance in machine design. In 1994, some milling machine manufacturers succumbed to the "bigger is better" syndrome and began putting 700 to 800 hp engines in the same frame as the 525 hp engine. They dumped the extra 275 hp into a standard welded cutter system, made of the same cutter components first used in 225 hp designs. These high-horsepower battleships chewed up the best teeth and holders the industry could provide and weld on. The overall result was a mill that was three to four times more expensive to operate and maintain. Wirtgen chose first to design an all-new Type III bolt-on tooth holder system, specifically designed for high-horsepower machines. Wirtgen has retrofitted numerous competitive 800 hp units to test their designs. On successful completion of this in-house, two-year testing program, Wirtgen will introduce an all-new 900 hp, 87-inch wide by 16-inch deep-cutting W 2200 DCX by the new Millennium. Wirtgen may not always be "first", but we guarantee that we always will be the best. Wirtgen strives to produce the highest quality machines, very carefully developed to provide high production, properly connected to high output engines, and reliable, cost-effective cutting components. If you own one of today's 800 hp milling machines or 500 to 650 hp reclaimers, Wirtgen has the only severe-duty cutting system that is made to take this level of punishment. Get Wirtgen's new Type III non-weld cutter components and try to beat them. They'll enjoy it . . . and you will too. Back to Wirtgen Expertise Index |
