The plant's last day is Friday. The crew wants to be done Thursday. The paver has a hopper full of mix from the last job, the sealcoat tank still has 150 gallons in it, the striper hasn't been flushed since the parking garage in September, and there are two totes of sealer and a pallet of traffic paint sitting in an unheated trailer. The forecast for Saturday night says 26°F.
Every one of those is a spring repair bill or a pile of ruined material if it's still there Saturday morning.
What winterizing paving equipment means
Winterizing paving equipment means getting every machine and every drum of material ready to sit through freezing weather without damage: all the mix cleaned out, all the water drained, everything greased and fueled to the manual, batteries on maintainers, and water-based material moved somewhere it won't freeze. It also means writing down what each machine needs before spring, while the people who ran it all season still remember. Plan on about half a day per major machine, done the week the plant closes, before the first hard freeze.
Your operator's manual has the storage procedure for each machine and wins wherever it disagrees with a checklist. What follows is the whole yard, in the order that keeps the expensive mistakes from happening.
Budget the time before the crew goes home
The reason winterizing gets rushed is that nobody put it on the schedule. Put it on the schedule.
Say you have six machines that need real winter work: the paver, two rollers, the sealcoat rig, the crack melter and the striper. Figure half a day each, with two people.
- Machine time: 6 machines × 4 hours = 24 hours
- Labor: 24 hours × 2 people = 48 labor hours
- At $45 an hour loaded: 48 × $45 = $2,160
That's the cost. Compare it with a cracked water pump on a roller, a sealcoat pump that's seized with dried sealer, or a striper pump full of paint that set up over the winter, and it's an easy week to pay for. Book those days before you tell the crew their last day.
The paver and the rollers
These get the most attention already, and winterizing paving equipment when the plant closes has the full machine-by-machine list. The short version:
The paver. Run it empty and warm, and clean every bit of mix out of the hopper, the slat conveyor, the augers and the screed. Spray with an asphalt release agent, not diesel. Grease on the manual's schedule, fill the fuel tank with stabilizer if the manual calls for it, check the hydraulic oil for water, and put the batteries on a maintainer or disconnect them.
The rollers. Drain the entire water system: tank, pump, lines and spray bars. Pull the nozzles, dry them and store them inside. Clean the drums while there's still some warmth in them. A water system that isn't completely drained is a classic spring repair, because it only takes one cold night.
The sealcoat rig
Sealer that dries in the tank, the pump or the hoses is a hard spring. Sealer that freezes in them can crack parts.
- Empty the tank. Don't leave 150 gallons to "use in spring." Use it on a last job, or get it into containers that can be stored above freezing.
- Clean the tank and the agitator while the sealer is still wet. Dried sealer on the paddles throws off the mix next year.
- Flush the pump, hoses and wand with water until it runs clean, then drain everything. Open the low drain points on the pump and the lines so no water sits in them.
- Clean or replace the spray tips and store them inside.
- The engine: follow the manual for storage, add fuel stabilizer or run small gas engines dry, and take the battery inside or put it on a maintainer.
The crack melter
- Follow the manual on material. Some kettles should be run low before storage, and the manual says how much to leave.
- Clean the wand and hose while they're hot. Sealant that cools in a hose is a hose you're replacing.
- Check the heat transfer oil level and condition, and note if it's due for a change in spring.
- Propane. Store cylinders the way your supplier and your local fire code say, which usually means upright, outdoors and not in the shop.
The striper
Water-based traffic paint left in a striper over the winter can ruin pumps, filters and guns.
- Flush with water until it runs clear through every gun.
- Pull and clean the filters and tips. Replace the ones that won't come clean.
- Fill the pump with the storage fluid its maker recommends. Plain water left in the pump can freeze and crack it.
- Store the machine where it won't freeze if you can. If you can't, the manual's storage steps matter more.
Trucks and the small stuff
- Trucks: wash the undercarriage, load-test the batteries, check antifreeze protection for the coldest night where they'll be parked, and treat the fuel for cold if they'll run or sit outside.
- Plate compactors, saws and blowers: drain water from anything that holds it, and run small gas engines dry or add stabilizer.
- Tack sprayer and any tank that holds emulsion: empty and clean it. Asphalt emulsion that freezes is generally ruined, and so is whatever it sets up in.
The material in the yard
This is the part that gets forgotten, because nobody thinks of a tote as equipment.
Water-based material can't freeze. Sealer, tack emulsion and water-based traffic paint can all be ruined by freezing. Move them into heated storage, sell them back if your supplier will take them, or use them up before the cold comes. Read the storage temperature on each product's sheet.
Put a number on it. Say you left 500 gallons of sealer concentrate in the yard, at $3.00 a gallon.
- 500 × $3.00 = $1,500 of material, plus the cost of getting rid of it
Other material just needs to stay dry. Crack sealant blocks, bagged cold patch and glass beads for the striper don't mind the cold, but they don't like water. Get them off the ground and under cover.
Count what's left. Write down what you have and where it is. In March, that list is your first material order.
The yard itself
- Park for the plow. Put equipment where the snow can be pushed around it, not where it'll be buried against a fence until April.
- Block and cover. Get machines off bare ground where you can, cover control panels and electrical boxes on anything stored outside, and cover exhaust stacks.
- Mice. Rodents move into parked equipment in the winter and chew wiring. Check stored machines every few weeks, and look under the hood before the first spring start.
- Lock it up. Winter yards are quiet yards. Lock the cabs, disable machines where you can, and keep keys out of the equipment.
- Take photos. One photo of each machine with its hour meter showing. It's a record for insurance, and a starting point for next season's maintenance.
Write down what each machine needs
The operator who ran the paver all season knows the conveyor chain is stretched and the left screed extension leaks. In March they may not be here, and they won't remember.
Keep one sheet per machine: what was done this week, what was found, and what needs a part. Order those parts in January, when suppliers have them, not the week before the plant opens. The off-season checklist covers the rest of the winter's office work, and spring startup picks up where this sheet leaves off.
Questions contractors ask
When should paving equipment be winterized?
The week the plant closes, before the first hard freeze. Water in a roller's spray system or a striper pump can freeze and crack parts on the first cold night.
How do you winterize a sealcoat machine?
Empty and clean the tank and agitator, flush the pump, hoses and wand with water, then drain everything, including the low points. Store spray tips inside and follow the engine maker's storage steps.
Can sealcoat or tack emulsion be stored outside in winter?
Generally no. Sealer, asphalt emulsions and water-based traffic paint can be ruined by freezing. Check each product's storage temperature and keep them above it.
How do you winterize a line striper?
Flush the paint out with water until every gun runs clear, clean the filters and tips, then fill the pump with the storage fluid the pump maker recommends so no water sits in it.
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