Gomaco Rock Hopper For Placer/Spreaders

Full-Width Aggregate Spreading For Base Preparation

The new rock hopper can be used in tandem with the RTP-500 rubber-tracked placer. End-dump trucks can quickly discharge the aggregate into the RTP-500, which in turn loads the new hopper on the placer/spreader.

In Response To Customer Demand

A GOMACO customer needed a way to place rock base for 123,191 square yards (103,000 m2) on top of a geotextile separator. The base needed to be four inches (100 mm) thick, and have a crown and superelevations built into it. After partnering with GOMACO’s research and development team, a new rock hopper which could be mounted to any GOMACO placer/spreader was born.

An RTP-500 was used to feed the rock from dump trucks into the rock hopper on a PS-2600 placer/spreader. Workers followed the RTP-500 with rolls of geotextile separator, rolling it out on the grade. The PS-2600 placed the rock on top of the separator at the proper thickness. A double-drum roller followed behind and made three passes across the grade. A GOMACO GP-2600 slipform paver was then brought in to pave the 25.6 foot (7.8 m) passes.

The PS-2600 ran off the same stringline the paver did. It had a strike-off on the back of the hopper and the rock hopper worked as a funnel, laying the rock to grade. The PS-2600 had a PTA (power transition adjuster) in the middle for the crown and the transitions into the superelevations.

After the material placement, the PS-2600 can be converted back to a traditional placer/spreader by removing the rock hopper and attaching the concrete strike-off and belt.