Winter road maintenance – How to choose the ideal combination?

Winter road maintenance is an important task for municipal companies. Given the unstable weather conditions in recent years and the unpredictability of temperatures and precipitation, winter maintenance operators face a difficult task each season. RASCO always strives to be one step ahead and meet all of its customers’ needs in the most efficient way. Special attention is paid to the development and production of winter maintenance equipment that meets the requirements of different markets and all weather conditions.

The ideal solution for winter road maintenance

There are numerous combinations for equipping vehicles for winter road maintenance. The choice of equipment depends primarily on the purpose for which the vehicle is purchased, namely the type of traffic infrastructure to be maintained. Every user wants to equip their vehicle with the ideal combination of snow plough and salt spreader, as well as other additional equipment, in order to achieve maximum efficiency and savings.

One of the most complex solutions is undoubtedly the equipment of trucks. There are numerous variants for equipping trucks to make them ideal solutions for winter road maintenance.

Here we present one of the typical configurations most commonly found in road maintenance between populated areas or large cities: a Mercedes-Benz Arocs combined with the snow plough MOSOR PK and the salt spreader SOLID X.

A typical winter road maintenance truck

The truck has a two-axle chassis with a wheelbase of 3900 mm, four-wheel drive, a gross vehicle weight of 22 tonnes, a 6-cylinder engine with a capacity of 7.7 litres and 354 hp, a torque of 1400 Nm and an automated transmission. The dual-circuit hydraulic system is directly connected to the engine’s PTO. The truck’s spacious driver’s cab provides maximum comfort for the driver, even during longer continuous work with the vehicle. The entire vehicle is painted in RAL 2011 orange to maximise visibility even in adverse weather conditions.

HYDRAULICS

Two gear hydraulic pumps are connected in tandem to the engine’s PTO shaft. The first, with an oil flow of 40 litres/minute, drives the spreader, while the second, with a flow of 20 litres/minute, is used to operate and control the snow plough. The hydraulic blocks and an 80-litre oil tank are located on the right side of the truck, between the front and rear axles.

FRONT OF THE TRUCK FOR EASY SNOW REMOVAL

A front attachment plate is fitted to the front of the truck, designed in accordance with the standard EN 15432 F1. The side supports contain two pairs of hydraulic couplings; one for left-right rotation of the snow plough and the other for lifting, lowering and return flow. An electrical connection for the plough’s lights is also provided.

The snow plough installed on the front attachment plate is the MOSOR PK, the most popular snow plough known for its great adaptability to the conditions of the areas to be cleared. The polyurethane joints of the wings and beams, combined with the side deflectors, allow the MOSOR PK to operate quietly, making it ideal for urban snow clearance and facilitating adaptation to the road surface and safe passage over obstacles. The plough’s specially shaped wing enables effective snow removal, reducing the formation of snowdrifts along the road. In this configuration, the snow plough is 3.4 metres wide and clears an area almost 3 metres wide during operation.

Back of the truck for reliable salt spreading

A SOLID X salt spreader is built into a tipper body. The manufacturer, Meiller Kipper, operates the tipper body independently with a tipping pump. The built-in tipper body gives the truck more flexibility outside the winter season, as the spreader can be easily removed using the Roll-on, Roll-off (RO-RO) leg system. After the spreader is removed, the truck is ready for other tasks.

In this configuration, the salt spreader has a tank capacity of 5 cubic metres. The spreading material is brought to the discharge via an auger conveyor system, which enables precise metering of low-moisture spreading materials such as salt, sand or gravel. The spreader is also equipped with a pre-wet spreading system that increases spreading efficiency. The side tanks can hold up to 2400 litres of the solution.

Control systems for maximum efficiency

Every combination of equipment requires simple and reliable control systems. All RASCO equipment is operated by special control units developed by experienced RASCO experts.

Two control units are installed in the cab of the truck. One of them is the control unit EDH 20, which is used to control the hydraulic system. The main functions include switching on the hydraulic circuit for the spreader, moving the snow plough up and down as well as left and right with the joystick, switching on the floating position and adjusting the surface pressure relief of the snow plough.

The second control unit is the EPOS 10, which is most frequently chosen by customers. It is characterised by its high functionality, universality and user-friendliness. It has a colour screen, graphic and animated messages, and functions for working with all spreading options. Equipped with built-in Bluetooth and Wi-Fi modules and a USB interface, it can be connected to a mobile phone, a computer and the Internet, allowing retrieval of data and software updates. The additional option of installing sensors to measure the road temperature allows the spreading parameters to be set without operator intervention, depending on the measured road surface temperature. It also enables real-time monitoring of vehicle and equipment working hours and resources consumed (spreading materials, fuel, etc.), as well as viewing and downloading spreading reports and sending data to the ARMS system for monitoring and controlling equipment and vehicles.

Complete service from one manufacturer

The quantity and variety of possible combinations of winter road maintenance equipment can be a complex task for those involved in equipping winter maintenance vehicles. That is why RASCO is available to advise all its customers on the selection process.

Buying RASCO products is a safe investment with a guaranteed low total cost of ownership. Customers can get a complete solution for equipping their vehicles, down to the smallest details, from one place and one manufacturer.