MT 3000-3i Offset
User opinions on the new VÖGELE material feeder
As powerful as always, more convenient than ever: VÖGELE has continued to develop its material feeders and bring them up to Dash 3 level whilst staying true to this principle. For RoadNews, we joined two projects using the MT 3000-3i Offset in the port of Hamburg and in Schneeheide, North Germany – and took the opportunity of asking a business owner and a construction manager for their opinion. Having already worked intensively with the predecessor models, these two road construction professionals report on how the improvements made by development engineers have been received in the field.
Mr Kalinowsky, what do you rate on the new Dash 3 material feeder?
The MT 3000-3i Offset is a real further development of its predecessor. Although our experiences with the Dash 2 material feeder were already good, the Dash 3 model certainly delivers even greater convenience and technical improvements. The new control for the heated conveyor, for example, ensures optimum temperature management and is even more economical than before. What is more, VÖGELE has adapted the transport components so that the machine hardly gets dirty at all. This then means less cleaning work for us.
And on which job sites are you using the new material feeder?
It varies a great deal. A lot of people see the benefits only in terms of large-scale job sites, but the Offset material feeder makes even smaller projects much more efficient. We use it when constructing cycle paths or footpaths, for example. Of course the material feeder really does come into its own on larger job sites such as Hamburg’s container port, demonstrating its full power in combination with the SUPER 2100-3i and the SB 300 Fixed-Width Screed. This enables us to pave a pave width of up to 13 m without interruptions.
So would you say that range of application, performance and engineering were the key points?
Yes and no. Apart from the aspects and additional functions on the new material feeder already mentioned, our positive experience with both VÖGELE and the WIRTGEN GROUP was another key factor. We appreciate the constructive cooperation in service and development.
The construction project
The container terminal of Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG is one of the most modern in the world. In future, recently filled-in docks will serve as extended storage space to allow large container ships to be processed quickly.
Here the VÖGELE SUPER 2100-3i paver, equipped with the SB 300 Fixed-Width Screed, paved the asphalt pavement in conjunction with the new MT 3000-3i Offset material feeder -a surface area of some 30,000 m².
The area was paved in sections 8 m to 10.5 m wide and 13 cm thick (base layer) and 3 cm (surface course). Average laydown rate was 450 t/h. “This is where the wheat is separated from the chaff” says Ferdinand Kalinowsky. So the MT 3000-3i passed its “stress test” with flying colours.
