Chicago suburb uses 6-ton hot box to move away from cold mix,
keep crews busy year-round and perform long-lasting repairs.

When Mike Mahoney, street supervisor for the Village of Winnetka, first began looking at asphalt repair equipment, he thought a 2-ton unit would fit the needs of 12,000 residents living the in Chicago suburb. But with more than 50 miles of roadway within the Village’s jurisdiction, and the nearest asphalt plant located 12 miles away, he determined they needed a bigger, 6-ton solution that could keep asphalt hot all day and reheat cookies for the occasional larger patching jobs.

“We looked at equipment for several years,” Mahoney said. “Volume was an issue, so having the 6-ton capacity was key. Being able to put it on a truck was huge, and the heat management system in the Falcon unit was superior to anything else we looked at.” With traffic, a round trip to the asphalt plant can take up to three hours, so the large capacity was a key factor in keeping crews productive all day. The unique grid design of the EvenTemp™ heat management system uses a series of engineered baffles to heat the asphalt evenly throughout a massive 6-ton hopper.

Winnetka is one of the most affluent communities in Illinois, and one of the wealthiest in the United States, with a median household income above $250,000. Residents have very high expectations for the quality of services in the historic village, which has been the setting for many Hollywood feature films, including Home Alone, Risky Business and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner and his family were residents of Winnetka prior to moving to the Governor’s mansion in 2015, keeping the Village – and its roads – in the public spotlight.

“The Falcon unit provides a crisper patch with better appearance,” said Matt Deutsch, vice president at Midwest Paving Equipment, the local dealer in Glen Ellyn, Illinois that supports Winnetka’s equipment needs. By keeping asphalt hot all day at a consistent temperature, the Falcon hot box makes it easier to work with the material, providing time for proper site and pavement preparation to achieve a superior repair.

The Village of Winnetka uses its hot box unit year-round, including daily use in the summer months when crews are primarily focused on street maintenance. Much of the focus is on repairing and maintaining Green Bay Road, a high-traffic thoroughfare that connects the wealthy North Shore communities of Chicago.

“Quality was the main consideration when we purchased our Falcon machine,” said Mahoney. Winnetka is unique in the process that it uses to fill potholes. A dump truck is used to apply the base, and then the Falcon unit is used to provide a 1-1.5” finish coat for a stronger patch with a better appearance. “I love it for that,” he said.

One of the key advantages is the ability to load it on any of the three Village trucks via a hook lift system. This provides the flexibility Winnetka’s Public Works Department needs for its team of eight maintenance workers. In addition to routine and preventative maintenance of the Village’s roadways, Public Works is also responsible for refuse collection, street sweeping, leaf collection, spring cleanup, snow and ice control, and forestry services.

“Unfortunately, every truck had a different voltage output,” said Steve Konstanty, Central Region Sales Manager for Falcon Asphalt Repair Equipment. As a result, Winnetka was one of the first Falcon customers to pilot the patent-pending Voltage Indicator and Protector (VIP™) technology, which prevents the burner from operating below required voltage, protecting critical components from failure. “This was a huge improvement over previous systems,” added Mahoney.

“We like everything Falcon has shown us so far,” Mahoney said, who continues to partner with the municipality on new products and upgrades for its existing unit. With its 6-ton unit providing hot asphalt whenever and wherever needed, the Village of Winnetka is paving the way to smoother roads for years to come.

Falcon Asphalt Repair Equipment helps customers build “street cred” one pothole at a time. Now, our customers are joining in on the fun and helping build OUR street cred! Check out these top-notch customer testimonials about our FalconNOW quick ship program.

 

Jordan Snipes from Snipes Drilling, LLC / GHL

“The FalconNOW quick ship program has a really fast turnaround and got us on the ground running in order to meet our customer’s needs. It’s enabled us to maximize profit and add another facet to our business with patchwork. We turned into a one-stop-shop for contractors, and we couldn’t be happier.”

Bill Peters from the Village of Lemont Department of Public Works

“Our experience with the FalconNOW program actually worked perfectly for our needs. We need board approval to order items over a certain amount, so sometimes the order gets delayed and we end up waiting weeks – sometimes months – to get products. When we ordered with the FalconNOW program, we received our order right away with plenty of time before pothole season. If you need it, you will get it!”

Homer Allen from the City of East Lansing

“The FalconNOW quick ship program is great because we don’t have to wait for a piece of equipment that usually takes months to get. And not only was it delivered quickly, but the customer service follow up to make sure that everything was correct and the way we ordered it was fantastic. Overall, the turnaround time from start to finish is hands down remarkable, and the machine comes complete and ready to work.”

Even our dealers have great things to say about FalconNOW. Check out this testimonial from Jeff MacDonald of AMACO:

“The benefit of the FalconNOW  quick ship program is flexibility. Customers are able to consider a wide selection of available options in various machine sizes with what, in our industry, is a fast delivery timeframe. Previously, quick delivery was only available with in-stock units with fixed options – but not with Falcon. Falcon is devoting time and effort into getting machines out to customers quickly with the options they want and need.”