In the immortal words of Travis Bickle of Taxi Driver fame, "Someday a real rain will come and wash all the scum off the streets." Until then we have street sweepers to help keep the streets from being choked with leaves and various other trash. Here are some of the latest street cleaning machines.
Sweep like a pro
Rear steering makes the SweepPro from Rosco Manufacturing, Madison, S.D., extremely maneuverable in tight spaces, while its front-mounted broom with joystick controls gives the operator excellent brush control during sweeping.
One person using the quick-change brush system can change the 8-ft, front-mounted brush core easily and quickly in about five minutes. The brush is available in poly or a poly-steel combination, with a 150-gal brush watering system. Rosco's exclusive variable brush down-pressure system reduces brush wear and maximizes brush life.
SweepPro is powered by an 85-hp Cummins diesel engine with hydrostatic drive.
Wet or dry broom attachment
Designed for cleanup of all wet or dry materials, the SweepEx MegaPlus broom attachment series from TrynEx International, Warren, Mich., features task packages catering to multiple service vehicles and a two-year warranty covering the entire broom.
The MegaPlus package contains the hardware and accessories for a skid-steer sweeper, a forklift sweeper or a three-point-hitch sweeper. The skid-steer sweeper comes standard with a quick-tach plate that fits most major skid-steer loaders and a hydraulic-angle mechanism and edge marker kit. The forklift sweeper attaches to most fork tines and also is standard with edge markers. The three-point-hitch sweeper hooks directly to equipment with traditional three-point hitches.
Attach this
The Multi-Sweep line of heavy-duty sweeper attachments is designed to attach quickly and easily to a wide range of prime movers with forks, including lift trucks, skid-steer loaders, wheel loaders, backhoe loaders, tool carriers and telescoping material handlers. Four Multi-Sweep models from Midland Machinery Co. Inc., Tonawanda, N.Y., are available in widths of 46, 59, 80 and 98 in.
The design allows the forks to float up and down. Large-diameter, heavy-duty caster wheels guide the unit over the roughest ground, keeping the weight of the unit off of the brushes while maintaining proper brush contact at the surface.
A field-proven mix of 50% wire and 50% poly rotating sweeper brushes pick up anything from fine granular materials to construction debris and mud. The 22-in.-diam. brush height adjusts quickly for proper ground contact, wear reduction and jobsite conditions, and the long-lasting brush wafers are easy to change when necessary.
In the bag
The Madvac PS300 litter collection system is a simple and cost-effective way to collect litter and simultaneously help maximize productivity, according to Madvac Inc., Longueuil, Quebec, Canada. With a flip of a switch on the operator's control panel, the hydraulic debris dumping system raises the debris hopper and dumps out the debris into a regular plastic garbage bag.
Two self-leveling brushes sweep a 48-in. path. The unit has a two-step dust filtering system that captures dust down to 2 microns. The machine is powered by a 14-hp diesel engine, travels up to 6.5 mph and runs eight to 10 hours on a tank of fuel. It provides easy access for routine maintenance and changing the collection bag and has a 30-gal litter container.
The PS300 will even disinfect as it sweeps, with a combination water and disinfectant spray system.
Power sweeping
Power steering enhances maneuverability in the 6600 line of Power Sweepers from Tennant Co., Minneapolis. Dual dust side-skirts tightly seal the main brush door compartment to prevent dust and debris from escaping. The 6650 offers an optional SB2 auxiliary side-brush that cleans areas not accessible to regular sweepers, including up on the curb. The 6650 also has an optional 4-in.-diam. vacuum wand to pick up trash from remote locations.
The 6650XP offers optional dual side-brushes, increasing the sweep path to 76 in.
Heavy sweep
The Heavy Sweep package on the J 3000 sweepers from Johnston Sweeper Co., Chino, Calif., delivers additional power to the main broom and elevator when sweeping in extreme conditions. With the Heavy Sweep package, each system has its own dedicated pump, which effectively doubles the power to both the elevator and the main broom and practically eliminates slowing or stalling. Having 11 elevator flights instead of seven ensures quick and efficient loading of the heaviest debris into the hopper.
The J 3000 has a tight inside turning radius of 10 ft. The forward-mounted cab gives the operator a panoramic field of vision. The 5.6-cu-yd, center-mounted hopper contributes stability and even weight distribution. Air conditioning is provided as standard equipment.
Waterless sweeping
The waterless Pelican is the first waterless dust control sweeper in the history of Elgin Sweeper Co., Elgin, Ill. It began rolling off the assembly line last August. The waterless Pelican maintains all the popular features and sweep quality that have made the Pelican Elgin's best-selling sweeper while offering dustless, waterless, all-temperature sweeping. The 100-hp, three-wheel sweeper meets all California fugitive dust control standards in water and waterless dust control modes.
"We have addressed the need for water conservation across the country with a machine that we believe will prove to be more efficient and more effective in sweeping streets and roadways," said Product Manager Brian Giles.
Heavy-duty broom
The Sweepster SB and the FFC Attachments Hopper Broom have combined to form the SB Hopper Broom. This attachment is an excellent choice for heavy-duty cleanup. The SB Hopper Broom from FFC Attachments, Lee, Ill., easily picks up asphalt milling spoils, gravel, construction debris and other heavy materials, moving the debris into the large hopper for disposal. To pick up dirt and lighter material, simply reverse the broom and the lighter material is collected in the hopper.
Drive-by sweeping
The huge hopper on the Model 4000 from Masco Sweepers Inc., San Jose, Calif., allows it to hold large debris, leaves and large quantities of trash. The sweeper can dump into a 5-ft bin or dumpster for easy removal of debris. The vehicle comes equipped with a large, high-performance 32-in. vacuum fan able to vacuum up large rocks (2 in.), sand, gravel, weeds and dirt as well as bottles, cans and other trash. A digger-type curb broom can dig up weeds, dirt and rocks from pavement cracks.
