52-Ft. Mixer-Mounted Belt Extends Central Supply’s Placement Range

A seven-axle spec enables West Virginia independent Central Supply Co. to dispatch 9-yd.-plus loads in the first U.S. mixer bearing a 52-ft. Atlas Polar telescopic concrete conveyor

Sources: Central Supply Co., Clarksburg, W.V.; Kimble Mixer, New Philadelphia, Ohio; Atlas Polar Co., Toronto

By Don Marsh

A seven-axle spec enables West Virginia independent Central Supply Co. to dispatch 9-yd.-plus loads in the first U.S. mixer bearing a 52-ft. Atlas Polar telescopic concrete conveyor. Kimble Mixer stretched the Volvo VHD 64B-mounted mixer’s wheel base to 313 in., adding a steerable tag and three Hendrickson Composilite steerable pusher axles. Fewer axles would have limited the producer to perhaps 5-yd. loads on the highways of its federal bridge formula state.

The belt extends mix placement reach for customers building on West Virginia’s typically uneven terrain. The truck’s early-October delivery continues a five-year, placing capability ramp up that has seen six-plant Central Supply add two 32-m boom pumps, two trailer pumps, and an 105-ft. Putzmeister Telebelt. Each augments five 40-ft. conveyor-bearing mixers long a part of the company fleet. All equipment additions are made with one goal in mind: How can we better serve the customer base?, notes Central Supply Operations Manager Dwayne McCartney. Customer service built this company and led to its present operation under the founding family’s fourth generation.

The 52-ft. conveyor truck has been dispatched to one commercial and several residential sites, he adds, noting that construction in West Virginia has proved more stable during the recession than most markets across the country. When business was booming elsewhere three years ago, we were looking more like status quo, McCartney affirms. We’ve managed to maintain a fair amount of volume and that status quo looks pretty good now.

Central Supply’s newest vehicle joins a 60-plus mixer fleet, and follows a handful of 52-ft. belts Atlas Polar has mounted for Canadian ready mixed producers.