Frequently Asked Questions About Road Rollers
What is a road roller used for?
Road rollers are compaction machines used to flatten and compress soil, gravel, asphalt, and concrete during road construction, foundation preparation, and paving projects. MCM offers both ride-on and walk-behind models.
What is the difference between a ride-on and walk-behind roller?
Ride-on rollers are larger, heavier machines suited for road construction and large-area compaction. Walk-behind rollers are compact and manoeuvrable, ideal for driveways, pathways, trenches, and confined spaces.
What financing options are available from MCM Group?
MCM Group works with multiple finance houses to offer competitive repayment terms on all equipment. Contact our sales team to discuss deposit requirements, monthly instalments, and approval timelines for your business.
Road roller selection in South Africa depends on the material being compacted and the layer thickness specified in the project's compaction specification. Single-drum vibratory rollers (padfoot or smooth drum) are the standard choice for soil and subgrade compaction. Tandem vibratory rollers are used for asphalt compaction during road surfacing. Pneumatic tyred rollers provide a kneading action that improves density in granular materials and is required as the final pass on many asphalt specifications.
Compaction frequency (vibration frequency in Hz) and amplitude (the force of each vibration cycle) determine how effectively a roller compacts different materials. High-frequency, low-amplitude settings are used for thin asphalt lifts to prevent aggregate fracture. Low-frequency, high-amplitude settings are used for thick soil layers requiring deep compaction to specified density.
MCM Group's road roller range covers walk-behind compactors for trench backfill and footpath work, ride-on single-drum rollers for subgrade and sub-base compaction, and tandem rollers for asphalt surfacing. This range covers the compaction requirements of most South African civil and road construction projects.
All MCM Group road rollers come with full local warranty, vibratory mechanism service kits and after-sales support from our branches in Cape Town, George, Gauteng and Bloemfontein. Finance options include operating lease and instalment sale.
