GOMACO World Index --- GOMACO World 35.1 - February 2007

 

The Power of Choice – Introducing the New GT-3400

 

GT-3400

GOMACO is proud to introduce the GT-3400. It’s a three-track machine with all of the features that have made GOMACO the worldwide leader in concrete paving equipment, including the powerful G21 controller, All-Track Steering, high-speed track motors, and the patented simultaneous trim/pour process. It also has some new and exciting features that put the GT-3400 in a class all by itself. There’s nothing remotely like it!

It’s the first curb and gutter machine to be controlled by remote control. The remote control is light weight, durable and gives the operator total freedom to move about the operation.

The remote is 11 inches (279 mm) wide, seven inches (178 mm) tall, 4.5 inches (114 mm) deep and weighs only 6.75 pounds (3.1 kg). All of the necessary functions, including vibrator adjustment and an emergency stop, are built into the remote’s small package. It’s powered by a nine volt, off-the-shelf Makita battery, which makes it easy to replace if necessary.

Safety is always a priority in design consideration. Built-in safety features stop the machine if the remote loses communication or if the remote control turns on its horizontal axis more than 60 degrees. The wireless remote features “frequency hopping” capabilities. The remote is constantly changing channels and frequencies to maintain contact with the GT-3400.

“We spent a great deal of time with radio manufacturers having them convince us that these radios are reliable,” Kevin Klein, GOMACO’s Vice President of Research and Development, said. “The last thing we want is any communication lag between the operator and the machine.”

The remote has the option of being tethered to the machine for areas that do not allow transmitting. For example, projects near airports and blasting operations restrict radio use. The contractor simply tethers the remote to the machine and the wireless transmitter is disabled.

“Some contractors are going to say, ‘I want to be up on the machine,’ and they can be,” Scott Pedersen, Research and Development Project Manager for the GT-3400, said. “They can take the radio console right up front on the platform.”

The GT-3400 features the G21 electronic-over-hydraulic control system. GOMACO’s exclusive G21 controller makes it possible to have push-button steering setup. The controller allows the operator to teach the “smart” cylinders to set a desired degree of leg rotation, so that the tracks do not strike any object in minimum-clearance or zero-clearance requirements.

 

 

GT-3400

The new GT-3400 makes these types of projects possible.

 

GT-3400

The operator alternated between standing on the platform and walking beside the machine at an industrial park in St. George, Utah.

 

 

 

The GT-3400 features an all new three-track footprint with All-Track Steering. The new footprint features two close tracks on one side and a single track on the other. The design was chosen for tight turning radius capabilities, getting on and off stringline fast, and the design minimizes machine length. With the front track positioned behind the trimmerhead and beside the mold, the GT-3400 is capable of slipforming right up to an object or to the end of the stringline. The trimmerhead simply has to be sideshifted and lifted up out of the way allowing the machine to pave up to the end of the pass.

Many parking lot designs for curb and gutter have sharp angles, short runs, tight radii, and do not always take slipforming into consideration. The new GOMACO GT-3400 makes these kinds of jobs possible. Its compact size from front to back allows the machine to get into the small areas where one island ends and another begins. And with its large capacity hopper, it’s easier to complete a tight radius, with minimal hand work.

“People designing parking lots don’t often take into account the ease of slipforming the curb, and they put a lot of 90 degree corners in them,” Klein said. “We wanted the machine to be able to bring the mold as close into those 90 degree corners as possible to eliminate some of the handwork going into and coming out of them.”

The GT-3400 can slipform tight radii. A two-foot (610 mm) radius ribbon curb is accomplished because of the machine’s unique design. It utilizes three steer sensors to eliminate guesswork. One sensor is located at the tip of the front track; one is located at the front of the stainless; and the rear sensor is slightly ahead of the back of the stainless. As the GT-3400 enters the radius, the operator switches from sensor 1 to sensor 2 with a toggle switch on the remote. The mold on the GT-3400 is positioned to assure precise placement of the concrete through a radius. Also important for a tight radius are travel speed, mix design, grade, and concrete slump. The combination of the hopper and the charging auger enable the GT-3400 to continuously travel through the radius without awaiting concrete delivery.

 

 

GT-3400

The new footprint has two close tracks on one side and a single track on the other.

 

GT-3400

The GT-3400’s can be ordered either right-side or left-side pour capable.

 

 

 

GOMACO patented the trim/pave concept in the 1960s and this machine features the latest in trimmer technology. The GT-3400’s direct-drive trimmerhead is the most powerful on the market today. The direct-drive trimmerhead is driven with a radial piston hydraulic motor. The trimmer’s closed-loop hydraulic circuit and radial piston motor provide 27,280 foot-pounds of torque at the trimmerhead. The 24 inch (610 mm) diameter trimmer is equipped with Kennametal teeth, and the trimmer’s width can be varied from 30 inches (762 mm) to 78 inches (1981 mm).

The GT-3400 has a direct-drive, 14 inch (356 mm) diameter, charging auger to deliver concrete to the mold. The auger was chosen because it minimizes the overall length of the machine. The auger also hydraulically slides to help minimize the transport width. It slides down for hopper positioning and receiving concrete from the trucks and it slides up to reduce transport width.

“We knew it would be a little more compact and that an auger could run at a little steeper angle to keep overall length of the machine down,” Klein explained.

Changing molds is quick and easy with the Hook-and-Go mold mount system. The operator simply has to drive the GT-3400 up to the mold, hook the mount to a special attachment plate on the mold and lower the holddown. The operator then hydraulically lifts the mold and goes back to work slipforming the project.

 

 

GT-3400

The GT-3400 turned several tight radii on a curb and gutter parking lot project in Faribault, Minnesota.

 

GT-3400

The GT-3400 can slipform challenging projects with minimum working room.

 

 

 

The versatile GT-3400 is powered by a 127 hp (94.7 kW) electronic-controlled Caterpillar® diesel engine with a remote mounted cooling package. The engine, coupled with the state-of-the-art hydraulic circuitry, results in the most fuel-efficient horsepower to work-performed ratio in the industry. The cooling package fan is driven by a hydraulic motor which allows the G21 controller to vary the fan speed to match the cooling demand. This results in less engine horsepower dedicated to the fan and a quieter operation.

The GOMACO G21 and exclusive “smart” cylinders provide simple push-button steering setup on the GT-3400. The cylinders are attached to a new style of leg. GOMACO engineers have designed a new piston-style leg that acts like a cylinder. The legs have bearings on both ends of the inner tube so there is no steel-on-steel contact. A keyway is utilized for steering control and adjusting wear pads is a thing of the past with the new legs.

Two-speed track motors provide fast job-site mobility up to 125 feet per minute (38 mpm). It’s one of the fastest tracking speeds in the industry.

The new GT-3400 has been designed to be a multi-application machine and will slipform curb and gutter, tight radius, safety barrier, bridge parapet, sidewalk, recreational paths and flat slabs up to six feet (1.8 m) wide. And you can pave with either stringline or go stringless. The controls interface with stringless technology/3D control systems.

The GT-3400 is the beginning of a whole new class of curb and gutter machines, and we are very excited to be introducing it to you. It’s all new from top to bottom, and has incorporated the best and latest technologies available on the market today. There is nothing remotely like it. It gives contractors the power of choice. Right-side or left-side pour, operate from the operator’s platform or on the ground with the remote, stringline or stringless... the choice is yours.

 

 

GT-3400

The charging hopper and large capacity hopper helped slipform through several radii on a parking lot in Murray, Kentucky.

 

GT-3400

The GT-3400’s powerful direct-drive trimmerhead cut through tough grade conditions on a project in Utah.

 

 

 

 

 

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