Shortly after Blaw-Knox began marketing its new line of compact asphalt paving machines, Mike Baughan, owner of A-1 Asphalt Paving & Sealing, knew that he needed one.

Asphalt was becoming a “black-golden” opportunity for Baughan. For several years he had owned and operated a large commercial landscaping business when clients began to ask him if his company also did asphalt sealing.

“We didn’t at that time, but we quickly saw the chance to add to our annual income. It was only a short step to add that capability to our business,” said Baughan.

“We made a business analysis and found that we could also profitably do that, too. In less than five years we had evolved to where we had outgrown the landscaping business and had gone through four small pavers. We sold the landscaping business, bought a Mauldin Superpaver, a skid steer loader, an IR roller and a trailer to haul them all. We felt real comfortable with ourselves,” said Baughan.

However, the company began to have problems with its new paver.

“Our dealer, Richmond Machinery Co., quickly came to our aid with a loaner machine while they repaired ours. The loaner had a conveyor-belt feed and my crew loved it. That was just about the time Blaw-Knox introduced its new small line. We were on the base course of a large parking lot one day when our repaired machine again developed problems,” said Baughan.

That afternoon, Baughan took it back to the dealer and Richmond arranged a quick trade-in. “The next morning I was back putting down the surface course with our new Blaw-Knox machine,” said Baughan.

A-1 is based in Glen Allen, VA, but has paved projects as far as 150 mi. away. Soon, we’re going to be paving inside a state prison facility. It’s a total parking lot job. It involves the gravel subgrade as well as the asphalt. They’ve already told me there will be extra guards on duty just to check my trucks into and off the job,” he said.

A-1 recently completed a 250-ft. (76.2 m) long residential driveway in a new development in Hanover County. Baughan spoke of the project: “It was 11 ft. wide and led through a wooded area where it widened out to a two-car garage. We were able to pull the 11-ft. wide section in a single pass after paving the section in front of the garage. We used 32 tons of a typical SM2A mix, put down and compacted to a 3 in. depth.

“That job took the majority of a morning because the ambient air temperature was already 83 F when we began and reached in excess of 100 F before we were done. There was simply no way that I was going to push my men at those temperatures. Even so, we were able to reload our equipment trailer and move to a second driveway location for the afternoon,” he said.

A-1 also does a considerable amount of asphalt sealing for Henrico County.

“I have a second crew out every day sealing. We’ve now got a 500-gal. Blaw-Knox rig for that,” Baughan said.

Baughan sees only growth in A-1’s future, and with this expansion is a need for a larger equipment fleet.

“As small as we are in the overall scope of the asphalt paving industry, we must have a compact, highly maneuverable equipment spread. We haul asphalt in the dump trucks we use to tow the equipment trailer. I recently purchased a second skid steer loader and shortly will acquire a second Ingersoll-Rand roller, a DD-14. Looking a bit further down the line, I foresee the time when we will trade up to a larger Blaw-Knox paver.

“The PF-855 is fine for the majority of the work we now do, but we are increasing our business every year. We pave both residential driveways and commercial parking lots. Last spring we did our first roadway paving at an industrial complex.

We also have the streets in a small subdivision scheduled for this fall. On one occasion, we were paving a rather steep residential driveway. I was able to push a quad-axle dump truck loaded with 25 tons of asphalt, up the grade with no problem with the PF-855,” said Baughan, who added that it’s imperative that the electronics work well on the new paver, because he operates it himself.

“That means that I would have to do a lot of manual work in a short amount of time if they fail. With ambient air temperatures well above 100 F during the day, I don’t need to do any excess movement. The design of the PF-855 is such that it helps reduce the amount of handwork needed on a job. The crew likes this and it makes for a better looking job,” he said.

Why does A-1 own so much Blaw-Knox and Ingersoll-Rand equipment? Baughan explained:

“Quality and name recognition. People who hire us know quality equipment. They know and respect the name Blaw-Knox. They also don’t want junk paving the driveway for a $250,000 to $1,000,000 private residence. They want quality and using that is what gets your foot in the door. It’s the return referrals, however, that pay the bills. We can’t afford to have less than the very best there is. That’s what we get when we deal with Richmond Machinery and buy Blaw-Knox pavers,” concluded Baughan.

(This article appears courtesy of Blaw-Knox.)