Founded in 2001 as a small crew focused on commercial flatwork, Concrete Technology Incorporated (CTI) (Grimes, Iowa) has grown to more than 150 employees and has expanded its scope of services to include heavy highway paving, DOT and municipality work. Compact track loaders play a critical role in CTI’s daily operations, from unloading trucks and moving rebar around jobsites, to finish grading and material removal. “They play a big part in our day-to-day operations. We have roughly 16 loaders in our fleet, every crew's got one,” says Charlie Knudsen, paving operations manager, CTI. “It's our main tool. Just like our job trailers or pickups.”
When it was time to expand their fleet, Knudsen was looking for a machine that had the durability, strength and lift capacity of a large-frame CTL, with the benefits of a lower-horsepower machine. CTI worked with Titan Machinery of Ankeny, Iowa to purchase five CASE TV370B CTLs. The TV370B is part of CASE’s next generation line of skid steers and track loaders, and CTI was one of the first companies to adopt the new series.
With a rated operating capacity of 3,700 pounds (at 50 percent of tipping load) and a vertical-lift design, the 74 horsepower TV370B provides the right amount of power for CTI’s needs. “With these bundles, the baskets, they come about 22 in a bundle and about two bundles, the average weight is about 3000 [pounds],” Knudsen explains. “Where a guy picks it up, we know he's not going to tip into the side of the trailer, break out a window, that kind of thing. The more picking power the better.”
Shea Arter, trim supervisor for CTI, likes the new TV370Bs for the ease-of-use, and the ability to customize controls and other machine parameters to meet the preferences of the operator. “The joystick's a lot more user-friendly,” Arter says. “We like the new LCD display screen, the camera. You can customize it a little easier to each operator, so I could slow down or speed up the tracks, or the bucket, or the lifts.”
Visibility is enhanced by the new backup camera as well as a cab-wide rearview mirror that comes standard on all CASE B Series CTLs. “[Visibility] is a huge deal for me, especially when we're grading small pieces,” Arter explains. “There are a lot of people around us, a lot of moving parts. Visibility's a huge key for us, and sitting inside those loaders, it's a clear view back. The camera, it's just extra safety. It's awesome.”
Even though the machine is smaller than CTLs that he’s run in the past, Arter says that the TV370B has plenty of power. “To me, it's definitely still capable of doing everything I need it to do, even with going down in size,” he says. “Those machines run 24/7 a lot—all day for me—and it's critical that I have a machine on-site to do the work I need to do.”
Editor's Note: Scranton Gillette Communications and the SGC Infrastructure Group are not liable for the accuracy, efficacy and validity of the claims made in this piece. The views expressed in this content do not reflect the position of the Roads & Bridges' Editorial Team.