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The CAT AP1055F Track Paver: What Actually Changed From the AP1055E

Oct 4
4 min read

Updated: Oct 6

Highway and DOT paving contractors don't swap out a flagship track paver often, so when Caterpillar retires one, it's worth understanding exactly what changed before your next equipment decision. The AP1055F replaces the long-running AP1055E as CAT's mainline Mobil-Trac paver, and unlike a lot of mid-cycle refreshes, this one isn't just a new engine tier or an emissions update bolted onto the same machine. Caterpillar redesigned the entire screed family that bolts to the back of it, and that's the change that actually shows up in your paving width and your bid range.

The Predecessor: What the AP1055E Established

The AP1055E ran a CAT C7.1 ACERT engine at 225 horsepower, the same power class Caterpillar carried forward into the F-series, so this was never a horsepower story. What the E-series offered was a choice of four screeds: the AS2302C and AS3301C Vers-A-Mat/Extend-A-Mat screeds for variable-width work, and the heavier AS4251C and AS4252C vibratory-and-tamper-bar screeds for mainline interstate and airport paving. With the biggest tamper bar screed, the AP1055E topped out at a 26-foot-4-inch (8.0 m) maximum paving width and an operating weight around 46,645 lb. It was, and still is on the used market, a genuinely capable highway-class paver.

What Changed With the F-Series: A New Screed Family, Not Just a New Badge

Caterpillar retired the AS-series screed lineup entirely for the F platform and replaced it with the SE60 family: SE60 FM, SE60 V, SE60 V XW, and SE60 VT XW. The practical result is a wider top end. With the SE60 V XW or VT XW screed, the AP1055F reaches a 33-foot (10.06 m) maximum paving width, a genuine jump from the old 26'4" ceiling, which matters directly to a contractor bidding wide-mainline interstate work or multi-lane municipal paving where fewer passes means faster production and fewer longitudinal joints to worry about. Maximum paving speed with a vibratory screed also ticked up slightly, from 200 feet per minute on the E-series to 210 fpm on the F. Operating weight crept up too, topping out around 48,320 lb with the heaviest SE60 VT XW screed versus roughly 47,161 lb on the AP1055E's heaviest configuration, which tracks with a sturdier screed built to hold that wider width steady.

  • Engine: CAT C7.1 with ACERT, 225 hp (unchanged power class from the AP1055E)

  • Operating weight: 45,090 lb to 48,320 lb depending on screed

  • Maximum paving width: up to 33 ft (10.06 m) with SE60 V XW/VT XW screeds, versus 26'4" on the AP1055E

  • Maximum paving speed: 210 ft/min with vibratory screed (up from 200 fpm)

  • Maximum throughput capacity: up to 1,766 tonnes/hour

  • Max travel speed: 9 mph; fuel tank capacity: 92 gal (unchanged from the AP1055E)

Caterpillar AP1055F track paver laying asphalt, dealer product photo

Mobil-Trac Undercarriage: Why a Track Paver Exists Alongside Wheeled Ones

The AP1055F's Mobil-Trac rubber-belt undercarriage isn't just a traction choice, it changes mat quality. Oscillating bogie sets on the front and rear maintain ground contact over uneven base material, which minimizes tow-point movement, the small up-and-down shifts in the tractor that transfer straight into bumps in the finished mat. A smooth belt option performs well on soft base and fresh mats specifically because it disturbs less material underneath the machine than a wheeled paver can manage on the same surface, while a tread-bar belt option handles loose or transitional paving and transport conditions better. For a contractor paving interstate shoulders, new subdivisions on fresh grade, or anywhere base conditions are inconsistent from one truck load to the next, that's the practical argument for the tracked machine over a wheeled AP1055-class paver.

Who Actually Buys a Paver in This Class

A 225-horsepower, 33-foot-capable track paver isn't a residential-driveway or small-parking-lot machine, and it isn't priced or sized like one. The buyer is a DOT-qualified highway contractor, a municipal or county paving contractor bidding multi-lane resurfacing, or a commercial paving contractor who's scaled past the compact and mid-size paver classes and now bids work wide enough that extra passes actually cost real money in production time. If you're paving two-lane rural roads one season and eyeing four-lane commercial corridors the next, the jump from a mid-class paver to an AP1055F-class machine is exactly the kind of equipment decision that should get planned around your financing, not forced by whatever's available on short notice from a rental yard.

Financing a Highway-Class Paver Around Your Actual Paving Season

Asphalt paving is one of the most seasonally locked trades in construction, and a machine this expensive sitting idle for a few winter months is exactly the kind of cash-flow problem that deserves real planning rather than a generic twelve-month note. We've written in detail about structuring paving equipment financing around the asphalt season, and the same logic applies whether the paver on the invoice says Caterpillar or LeeBoy. If you're still working out which paver class fits your actual bid mix before deciding on a specific model, our asphalt paver buyer's guide is the right place to start.

Caterpillar AP1055F track asphalt paver, official CAT product image

Equipment Financing Nationwide for Paving Contractors

BFC finances the AP1055F and the rest of Caterpillar's paving lineup, along with the full range of asphalt and paving equipment we work with, for startups and established paving businesses, nationwide, with good credit or credit that's taken a hit. If a wider screed and a bigger bid range are what your business needs next season, it's worth talking through the numbers before bid season locks you into this year's equipment.

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