Phil Meyer, operations manager of the Whitman County Public Works Department, in Washington State, is tireless in his search for the right tools to help his 42-person team maintain over 1,900 miles of roads and 360 bridges and large structures in Southeastern Washington. The department has a daunting workload and inclement weather that can border on the extreme, productivity, durability and versatility are critical requirements of the equipment used at Whitman County. Typical projects include ditching to maintain flow lines, culvert maintenance, placing rip-rap, brush removal, bridge demolition, gabion basket installation, sloping and more.
Meyer's search lead him to Parker, the manufacturer of the PowerTilt Tilting Coupler and PowerGrip Multi-Purpose Jaw Bucket. The construction equipment attachments were exactly what Meyer’s team needed to maintain the county road system by preventing, reducing or restoring the roadway infrastructure and for maintaining the stormwater runoff by providing proper drainage, preventing flooding and road damage. "We switched to PowerTilt from cylinder-style tilting buckets and couldn’t be happier. Our tilting buckets didn’t offer the rotation we needed and weren’t durable enough. PowerTilt provided us with greater angles of rotation and since all moving parts are fully enclosed — PowerTilt has been virtually maintenance free," states Dave Stine, Whitman County equipment operator.
Benefits with a wide variety of maintenance projects
The seven PowerTilts and their PowerGrip have been important assets for the Whitman County Public Works department. With PowerTilt and PowerGrip, the department accomplishes most tasks 25 to 50 percent faster. The Whitman County Public Works department has even recommended PowerTilt and PowerGrip to other local agencies such as the Washington State Department of Transportation and the North Latah County Highway Department in Idaho.
The Whitman County Public Works team explained that PowerTilt is extremely effective for shoulder maintenance tasks. Great care is required when ditching and sloping next to fragile habitats and consideration must be paid to the most effective water runoff target zones. The main objective is to provide shoulder stability by creating a smooth transition from roadway surface to shoulder. By utilizing PowerTilt, with 180-degree of smooth rotation, the equipment operator can work primarily from the road surface, diminishing the impact on sensitive roadside vegetation and habitats meanwhile producing the clean “V” shaped ditches the department requires.
When working on a culvert project, PowerTilt virtually eliminates the need for back-breaking manual labor. The PowerTilt is used to angle the bucket to dig around both sides of the pipe. Once the soil is loosened around the pipe, the equipment operator can hook the end of the pipe and lift it right out. With the utilization of a PowerTilt, labor intensive, time-consuming digging by hand is eliminated. Often, using the attachments, most tasks can be accomplished by an equipment operator and a truck driver resulting in efficient utilization of resources.
PowerGrip has proven very helpful in placing rip-rap around bridges as well as for removing the old wooden pilings. PowerGrip has also made life easier when it comes to removing brush and trees from the roadside and right-of-ways. The multi-purpose tool eliminates the need to switch attachments between tasks.
The rotary actuator technology
PowerTilt uses Parker’s innovative sliding-spline operating technology to convert linear piston motion into powerful shaft rotation. Each actuator is composed of a housing and two moving parts — the central shaft and piston. As hydraulic pressure is applied, the piston is displaced axially, while the helical gearing on the piston outer diameter and housing’s ring gear cause the simultaneous rotation of the piston. PowerTilt's end caps, seals and bearings all work in tandem to keep debris and other contaminants out of the inner workings of the actuator.
Over a decade of research, innovation and engineering has gone into making the PowerTilt and PowerGrip attachments integral solutions for work site efficiency. PowerTilt’s robust design has allowed Whitman County Public Works to keep a PowerTilt on their machine 100 percent of the time, year-round.
PowerTilt is available for equipment up to 75,000 pounds in eight sizes with standard rotation of up to 180 degrees. Each model is designed for a specific class of machinery and individually customized to fit the carrier. PowerGrip buckets are available for equipment up to 20 tons, in three sizes, with bucket width ranges from 24 inches to 48 inches in the trenching profiles and 48 inches or 60 inches in the ditching profiles.
Within the construction industry, PowerTilt and PowerGrip have built a reputation for their versatility, durability and efficiency – learn more today http://solutions.parker.com/powertilt
This article was contributed by Jessica Howisey, marketing communications manager and Daniel Morgado, applications engineer, Helac Business Unit, Cylinder Division.
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