JCB’s Pothole Pro machines are said to fix potholes permanently, first time, without the need for additional expensive machinery.
The six machines, bought from dealer TC Harrison JCB, are now being rolled out for rent or contract hire by local authorities and contractors across the UK who need to tackle potholes as winter approaches.
The Pothole Pro is claimed to prepare up to 250m2 of roadway in a single shift and allows the contractor or local authority to cut the defect, crop the edges and clean the hole with one machine – mechanising jobs traditionally done by pothole gangs. Safety is also improved as the gang does not have to complete the handheld cutting and breaking, eliminating the risk of hand arm vibration syndrome.
The JCB Pothole Pro is equipped with a modified Simex planer, with integrated dust suppression, mounted on the machine’s rear skid steer hitch. The planer is 600mm wide, with up to 1.3m of side-shift adjustment.
According to JCB, this allows the operator to plane a full carriageway from the kerb, without repositioning the machine. Hydraulic tilt and depth control provides a consistent depth for larger patches.
The machine’s Tab two-piece boom is fitted with the JCB ‘Multi-tool’, mounted on an X12 Steelwrist tilt-rotator. The ‘Multi-tool’ comprises two attachments, a dedicated hydraulic cropper and a sweeper/bucket. The 600mm cropping tool is said to eliminate the need for floor saws or hydraulic breakers, providing a squared off, clean cut to the repair area. The operator then rotates the boom head to bring a 1.2m wide sweeper/bucket into use to clean up the pothole area, removing the requirement for a separate sweeper truck. Material lifted by the sweeper/bucket can be loaded into a support truck for removal from site.