Tag Archives: Caterpillar

Cat 953 Track Loader is one of the best of its kind

For contractors who are into excavating work often find a track loader as a good substitute for a full scale excavator. Though it can’t completely replace an excavator because of its phenomenon features, it can nevertheless play a crucial role in excavation work and can do a lot more other activities which can’t be expected from an excavator. Overall, a track loader is a heavy equipment that is capable of performing tasks that are ideally performed by other heavy equipment.

It has the potential to do all the work for which we normally seek the help of other heavy equipment but it somehow lacks to perform the job that is done by the core machines under certain set of conditions. This is perhaps one of the reasons why mostly all construction companies will want to possess a track loader. For instance, an excavating company will possess an excavator but at the same time will also keep a track loader handy. The track loader will perform jobs while the excavator is busy excavating. Thus the construction company will be able to complete its work in time.

Contractors prefer using CAT track loaders as they find it to be convenient and user friendly. The acceptability of CAT track loaders has increased all the more with the arrival of the CAT 953 loaders. The net power of the loader is 110 hp which is phenomenal in this class of machine. It also has a displacement of 317.3 cu in. Moving towards the operational part of the machine, the operating weight of the machine is 14098 kg. The total fuel capacity and hydraulic system fluid capacity of the machine is 192 liters and 58 liters respectively. The capacity of the bucket when struck is 1.3 m3 and when heaped is 1.5 m3. It has a maximum speed of 10.4 km per hour.

If we check the undercarriage segment of the tracker, the track show width is 380mm and the number of track rollers per side is 6. The length of the track on ground is 7.5 ft in with a ground contact area of 1.7 m2 and ground pressure of 11.3psi. The dimension of the loader just meets the industry standards. The total length of the loader with the bucket on ground is 19.2 ft in and the width to outside of track is 7.2ft in. The total height of the machine to the top of the cab is 10.1ft in and has a ground clearance of 1.2ft in.

CAT has also manufactured multi-terrain loaders such as 257D, 277D, 287D etc. These loaders are considerably tougher as compared to the conventional ones. They have the potential to perform at rough terrains where the land is ultra-muddy or you have to work on a slope and still stay fixed to the ground. You definitely need special types of machines for unconventional jobs and CAT has been successfully able to meet the demands of the customers and keep itself in the top most position.

 

336F L excavator – CAT’s new fleet of excavators

Construction companies in US have been long waiting for the new excavator that they have heard so much about from CAT. Their long wait is now over as they have come up with the 336F L excavator in the large series. This machine is not only capable of excavating but can be used for many other purposes. It is actually multi-functional heavy equipment that has the capability of demolishing structures like a bulldozer can also be used for grading purposes and can take care of loading debris. Normally the items that we expect from a track loader is what you get from this heavy equipment. The only major difference is that it is an expert when it comes to excavating and excavating companies would not want to go with any other machine if they are given this as an option. It consumes less fuel as compared to other machines which therefore brings it in the category of green heavy equipment.

The specification of 336F L excavator can amaze a person who has slightest of knowledge about heavy equipment. The operating weight of the excavator is around 80,500 lbs which bring it in the category of large sized heavy equipment. The make of the engine is C9.3 ACERT with a net power of 303 horse power. Talking about the hydraulics, the total flow of main pumps, implement and swing is 151 gpm and the maximum relief valve pressure is 5076 psi. The minimum and maximum width of the bucket is 30 inch to 72 inch. This means that it can be installed with a bucket that has a lot of capacity to gather stuffs and then load it in a truck. This is where it can give tough competition to a track loader or a backhoe loader because you can’t install this big bucket in a loader. So if you are excavating and are worried about the loading part of the mud then you can get it done with the same machine and do not have to deploy a new one.

Moving towards the performance of the machine, the total length of the stick that is used for dimensions is around 12 feet and 10 inches. The maximum the machine can go is 26 feet and 10 inches. The maximum depth of vertical wall is 20feet and 8 inches and the reach at ground level is around 38 feet and 5 inches. This is perhaps phenomenal as it has the capacity to go real deep inside the ground. The height of the dump is 24 feet and 7 inches. The force of the arm is 31810 lbs and bucket digging force is 42380 lbs. The undercarriage of the machine is simply exceptional. The total track show width is 34 inch with a maximum travel speed of 3 mile per hour and maximum drawbar pull of 66139 lbs.

The price of the 336F L excavator is slightly on the upper range which is mainly due to the top range performance that it can provide.

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Resale of Cat heavy equipment

Most of the assets that are in good condition have a resale value. Buyers while buying any new asset should have the notion in their mind that there will be a time when they have to resell it someone and therefore they should buy it from such a brand that can give a good resale price in the market. Focusing on heavy equipment, there are number of machines of different brands available. But it makes more sense to buy the heavy equipment of the brand which can give you a good resale value. You may want to sell it after few years and you want to sell it at a good price. So as long as you do not buy the stuff of a renowned brand, the chances of getting a good resale value are miniscule. It is therefore advisable to invest your money into buying heavy equipment of a brand that is long lasting, reliable, power efficient and also gives you a good price when you go out to sell it in the market.

Caterpillar is one such brand that meets all the above requirement that a buyer generally wants to have in a heavy equipment. According to a study, it has been observed that CAT dozers are the ones that got sold real fast and also gave a good price to the seller. Well, it is not just the dozer, you can take any CAT heavy equipment for that matter and you can expect to get a good resale value for it. CAT has been carrying this legacy of excellence right throughout its inception and it intends to continue with it by delivering incredible performance across all class. Whatever they get into they try to make class stuff so that the end user do not end up regretting or they receiving any complain from the customer about a fault in a particular product.

Keep the machine well maintained:-

In order to get good resale value, there are few things that a owner should consider doing throughout the time the machine is in its possession. Firstly, the heavy equipment should be well maintained at all times. Though CAT machines are exceptional in quality, if you do not take good care of them they may turn rogue. It is absolutely no fault of the machine. The users should ensure that in order to maintain the highest standard of performance the heavy equipment should be serviced at regular intervals. It should be cleaned after work so that the dirt gets wiped off its body and also lubricate the machine at regular intervals. This in turn increases the overall longevity of the machine and thus ensures a good resale value.

Give it a new look:-

We all like to buy things that look new. It may be a used one but we expect it to look a bit new. The owners of heavy equipment should get the equipment painted before they decide to sell it off. If required, change the faulty parts with new. This will give a new life to the machine.

Get the best land clearing equipment to get optimum results

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Clearing huge stocks of debris can be a big pain for a construction company who has taken the project to build something in a place. First you got to invest good deal of time to break down the existing stuff that is standing and then once it is fallen, you got to invest another good number of days to clear the land and just in case if you do not have a state of the art heavy equipment, you find yourself into deeper problem. In this age where we seek all our work to be done in the click of a button, we can’t expect to give days to clear a stock of pile. We definitely need something that is quick and can get the work done in a day or two and should not take long. Therefore, one should always depend on the heavy equipment that can get optimum results when it comes to clearing debris from the land.

There are many heavy equipment manufacturing companies that are coming up with machines that can play wonders when put to use. But such machines are quite expensive and can cause a big hole in your pocket. Right from Caterpillar to Tigercat, they all are into producing equipment that can clear land in a day or two which would otherwise have taken a week if not less than that. Tigercat is a company that specializes in producing equipment used to clear lands in the forest areas. Land in the forest areas is very rigid and it is very arduous to clear them off. Tigercat has earned the goodwill to complete this kind of work in comparatively lesser days than any other equipment had taken. The sad part of the story is that you won’t find Tigercat throughout US. They have kept themselves small but have plans to expand and are probably on their way to enlarge their business. But for the time being if anyone wants to buy their machines, they can’t get it from a showroom in their city and have to book the stuff on the net.

Tigercat may not have all the parts of the machine indigenously built in their workshops but they rather assemble the parts from other companies and make the best equipment. The M760 mulcher is a 425 hp machine and has a CAT C-12 engine in it. While they have used CAT’s engine, they also installed their own cooling system. Thus they gave the land clearing equipment the most desirable thing that it always wants: tons of horsepower and in order to cool off the engine, a dependable cooling system. Other than that, it has all the features that are required in any land clearing equipment thus making the work of the operator simpler. The operator will not feel that the machine is new functions and finds hard to understand them. On the contrary, he will feel like he is working on a machine that’s quite familiar to him and that will make him work in comfort.

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Resale of CAT heavy equipment can fetch higher price

Heavy equipment after a certain period of time needs to be upgraded and while you are in the mode of upgrading it, you either do away with your existing one or you install more features in it. Sadly, not all heavy equipment are compatible with upgrading feature and one has to eventually do away with it. But the question here is that once expensive heavy equipment which is now no longer in use for you, does it fetch any resale price for you and do you have a market where there are buyers who are ready to buy your heavy equipment which has perhaps now become almost redundant. Well, as we say there is a market for everything in this world. You only have to find the right channel to put it across. The next important question is at what price you should be selling your used and possibly redundant heavy equipment.

Heavy equipment of different companies have different rates. You sell a machine of a reputed brand and you are sure of the fact that you will get god money out of the transaction. However, if you have heavy equipment which is not of a famous brand then getting a decent price could be a problem. It is quite logical for anybody to not pay you more for a machine that does not have a good brand name attached to it. Therefore, the crux is to buy heavy equipment of famous brands so that when you have to sell them, you can expect a good price. Heavy equipment of CAT are famous for its quality, durability, high performance and low maintenance cost. So owners of CAT equipment ideally do not experience hardships in selling their machines at a price they want to. They normally get the amount they quote and also owners of heavy equipment of other top notch brands have an easy time selling their used ones in the second hand heavy equipment market.

So eventually, it is the brand name that plays a major role in getting a good resale value and CAT heavy equipment are undoubtedly the best. So there are more takers for that than machines of any other brands. The avenues where you can sell your used CAT heavy equipment are online, word of mouth and to companies who deals with second hand machines. When you sell it via word of mouth, you end up paying nothing to anybody for selling the machine but using any other mode apart from this will cost you an amount. If you try to sell the heavy equipment online, the website will charge you a nominal fee for listing the item and also an additional fee if it turns out to be a successful sale.

If you approach a company who buys your used machine and sell it after making some modifications, you only get the sales price and do not pay any sort of fees to anybody. In this scenario you got to wise enough as you are dealing with professionals who will try hard to negotiate with you and bring down the price of the machine. Stick to your price and you may see them paying you the amount you have quoted.

Five Ways Construction Technologies Can Improve Profitability

By: Jason Hurdis–Sr. Market Proffessional for Caterpillar Inc.

How many times have you heard the saying, time is money? That old adage has never been truer in the construction industry than it is right now. But today we can update that passage to say, “tech is money.”

Every construction company owner faces pressure to control costs and operate at lower profit margins. As you evaluate your own business operations, technology is something you should consider. By identifying areas where you can become more efficient, you can determine the types of technologies that will bring the biggest benefit to your organization’s bottom line.

Based on customer experiences and data, Caterpillar is constantly developing and refining advanced technologies to help make your equipment more cost-effective and efficient. CAT Connect technologies and services such as, LINK, GRADE, PAYLOAD and EMSolutions all help increase profit margins and worksite productivity. Here are several ways the right technology can help make your company more profitable:

  1. Control fuel costs

Fuel consumption information is some of the most valuable information you can collect and use as a construction company. Idle time can represent 40-50 percent of a machine’s total running time. Tracking and reducing idle time in your machines with CAT technologies can reduce fuel costs by as much as 50 percent.

Such technologies enable insights that wouldn’t otherwise be available to you. If fuel consumption goes up suddenly during a job, it could signal a bigger issue. Here are just a few problems CAT technologies can flag and help you uncover before it becomes a real problem.

  • Dirty fuel injectors
  • Plugged/Contaminated air filters
  • Defective sensors
  • Faulty Engine Control Modules
  • Worn piston rings or leaky valves
  • Slipping clutch or transmission
  • Improper lube oil viscosity
  • Undersized machine, bucket or work tool
  • Low tire pressure or worn tires
  • Aggressive or untrained operators
  1. Manage maintenance intervals

Analyzing the data our technologies provide can help business owners increase the efficiency and cost effectiveness of your maintenance schedules. The longer you can effectively stretch maintenance intervals, the more time and money you can save. The importance of planned maintenance – and the profitability it enables – cannot be overstated. CAT technologies can help you interpret your data, provide monitoring services and help you develop the most profitable maintenance schedules for your fleet.

  1. Increase machine utilization

It’s hard to see patterns or trends when you have multiple machines working at multiple worksites. With data produced from CAT technologies, business owners can make decisions on machine activation and optimization from one central point. If a truck is sitting at idle too long waiting to be loaded, you may find there is so much idle time between trucks in your fleet that you can park one of them.

The data produced by CAT technologies can identify underutilized assets in your fleet, and can help managers eliminate the need for rental machines while also providing them with the information they need to forecast future equipment needs.

  1. Increased uptime

CAT technologies can provide companies with fault code alerts, which are messages delivered when a machine is working outside a predetermined set of parameters. These alerts cover machine-specific situations including engine over-speeding, high-speed directional shifts and changes in temperature and pressure. The benefits of receiving alerts like these are that they notify managers when maintenance and repairs are needed, which reduces unscheduled machine downtime and equipment repair costs.

  1. Improved bidding accuracy and competitiveness

CAT on-board systems allow companies to submit tighter, more competitive bids because of the data they provide. Companies today don’t need to pad their fuel numbers when bidding for a project; they can calculate exactly how many gallons per hour they need to get the job done.

Such technologies also are proven to increase materials savings by up to 10 percent, and decrease rework by as much as 50 percent. Using fewer materials and spending less time on rework allows companies to lower their bid prices, therefore, giving them a leg up on their competition.

CAT technologies are reshaping the process of using, managing and owning construction equipment. Construction companies that want to stay ahead of their competitors for projects both now and in the future must adapt and implement the proper technologies. It’s the best way to become more efficient while maintaining margins, quality and safety. Why give the competition the edge when the technologies present profitable opportunities? Because tech is money, and a more efficient fleet equals a better bottom line.

GUEST POST

By Jason Hurdis

Sr. Market Professional

Caterpillar Inc.

 

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Caterpillar is strategizing to consolidate its future

It was a good year for most of the construction companies and so was for the heavy equipment companies but not all were doing well in the year 2015. Some heavy equipment companies were incurring losses for the last few years and they were thinking of downsizing their labor force. But they were not able to take the call as the overall industry was doing well. Perhaps they were looking at the global picture which seemed to be pleasant but with reference to the situation in the United States, it was a bit worrisome. Not all heavy equipment companies in the US were making profits and especially the giant ones were certainly not seeing any profits in their book of accounts. They made some profit in a couple of quarters but when it was time to check the fiscal growth, the situation looked dim.

One such giant company that is experiencing a hard time showing profits is Caterpillar. It seems that the primary reason for them incurring losses is having started lot of units in every part of the country. Now they have to employ people to run the unit and also port machines from one place to other which involve huge costs. Other than that, they have pledged to manufacture excellent quality machines for which they require to invest chunk of money on research and development work. As a result of this, the final product produced by them is a bit higher than the machines of other heavy equipment companies. Not every construction company can afford to buy CAT machines and they majorly sell them to big construction and mining houses. Therefore it is utterly futile to have so many units across the country and hence the first step that they will take to consolidate their position is to crack down the units that are not performing up to the mark.

Cat is planning to reduce its salaried workforce of around 4000 to 5000 employees till the end of 2016. This also includes the guys who are operating in the agency. It has also planned to shut down most of its units and manufacturing facilities by the end of this year and the process may even extend till 2018. It also planned to offer voluntary retirement scheme to most of its qualifying employees. “It will be sad to part ways with the employees but that is the want of the situation and in order to sustain in this market, strong steps are required to be taken” were the words of one of the CAT’s spokesperson.

Primarily, the major part of cost reduction is to be done from curbing Administrative costs. It seems the company spends a whopping amount on Administrative costs which will be cut down across states once the non-profitable units and the manufacturing facilities are closed down permanently. The company has to take the tough call in the year 2016 so that it can expect good returns in the following years to come.

How did they come up with their construction equipment names? i.e. Caterpillar, Hitachi, Case, John Deere

At some point in time in our lives, we must have wondered why the names of heavy equipment manufacturing companies so unusual. For instance, why would someone ever want the name of their company to be caterpillar? Caterpillar is such a small create and why would a heavy equipment company who has big dreams and intend to grow in the coming years would want to keep the name of such a creature. Same goes with the names of other construction equipment manufacturing companies. Names like Case, Hitachi, John Deere etc. are all examples of names that somehow do not seem to fit with the size and fame of the company. But they still have them and are doing absolutely wonderful.

In order to understand why these companies have such strange names, it is important that we take a tour of their histories and try to understand the real meanings of these names.

Caterpillar:-

Let us start with Caterpillar. It is said that this name was given by a company photographer named “Charles Clements”. It was in the year 1925, when Holt Tractor Company the pioneer in the field of heavy equipment merged with Best Tractor Company. It was then that Charles Clements cried loudly that the machine is crawling like a Caterpillar. Since then the name stuck with the company and has eventually formed into one big incorporation.

John Deere:-

When we talk about the John Deere, we actually mean the heavy equipment company that is in the name of John Deere. If we check his history he was an able blacksmith who doing pretty well in the state of Illinois. But he had taken up a challenge of using a better form of equipment to plow the tough prairie soil of Illinois. Therefore, he invented the self-scouring steel plow that made lives comfortable for the farmers of that area. However, it was only in 1837 that he successfully manufactured the first commercial steel plow. He sold that piece of metal to a local farmer who found it extremely convenient and spread the word to more people in the vicinity. He went into a partnership but that did not last long and had to come out of it. Things did not stop for him there and he continued his good work thereby producing more of such machines. He was of the belief that he will produce the best of machines for his consumers. Eventually in 1868, he incorporated his company.

Hitachi:-

Like many others, Hitachi also has an interesting story behind its name. It was founded in 1910 by Namihei Odaira. He was an electrical engineer by profession. The product that the company manufactured for the first time was an electric induction motor that was predominantly used for mining copper. The company started with its operation in a mining company located in Hitachi, Ibaraki. The name “Hitachi” also means “Sunrise”. This is how they stuck to the name of Hitachi and from there they started their journey from selling hard disk drive subsidiary to construction equipment to all over the world.

Does Caterpillar have the best track loader?

It seems that almost all the heavy equipment manufacturing companies have something best to offer to its consumers. Some of the companies are good in manufacturing dozers; some are good in excavators while some are good in manufacturing track loaders. However, if one has to decide which one should he be using for completing his projects, then that would be a hard decision for him. There are few companies who have earned their goodwill in the industry by providing quality machines and offering great after sales services. In today’s time, it is just the brand that makes the sales for them. Out of these many companies, the name Caterpillar has made its mark in almost every kind of heavy equipment. Be it back hoe loaders or crawlers or track loaders, Cat seems to be the best.

If we talk about CAT 953, it has a free wheel power of 148 horsepower with a bore of 4.13in and stroke is 5.0 in. It has a displacement of 402.76 in. It has been fitted with the state of the art technology and seems to be one of the best in the industry. The track shoe type is double grouser and its standard width is 18.9 in and optional width is 15.0 in. The number of shoes installed on each side is 37 and the track on ground is 91.4 in. The drive system is one of its kinds as it has hydrostatic drive with a speed of 10 km/hr.

Apart from this, the loader is multi-specialty equipment as it can be used for many applications like excavating, landscape contouring, grading and truck loading. Ideally, heavy equipment manufacturing companies produce machines that are multi-specialty equipments and are meant to do more than one job.

Cat has another track loader model (CAT 963), that is at par with the 953. Having almost similar specification, it has been branded as one of the best track loader in the market. The one thing that distinguishes CAT 963 from the 953 model is its bucket that can be of general purpose, multipurpose or for extreme multi-purpose use. The bucket is meant to do heavy clearing, shredding topsoil, excavating, backfilling, carrying material truck loading and other loads of things. The earlier model may have certain restrictions. However, the engineers have taken notice to those limitations and therefore designed this model that is more or less based on the same line as the previous model but given few added benefits.

In case if people want to place orders to buy either of the models, they can directly approach the company and check if they can offer them with any deals. A discount in the price is what one can expect the most. Alternatively, they can also sign up for after sales service for a lesser price and in case if any of the part goes faulty, then that can be replaced or fixed without being charged an additional penny. Overall, if a survey is done wanting to know what people would prefer to buy, it would be undoubtedly either of the models.

 

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Employ D6 Cable Dozer as a Weighty Farming Tractor

D6 bulldozer is a kind of pathway tractor that is manufactured by Caterpillar Inc Company. This dozer is usually available in the weight of 18 tons. It is furthermore utilised in military base camps in the model name of SNL G152 middling canker. This dozer falls under the class of heavy equipment. The readers of this article will get to know the applications of D6 cable bulldozers in agricultural and other sorts of fields. The farmers started using this mechanism in the year 1941. The blades and rear tools are attached to these D6 cable dozers.

Antiquity of D6 Cable Bulldozer

The first D6 cable dozer was operated in the year 1935 in the name of RD6. This conventional dozer was equipped with an engine of 3-cylinders. The first D6 model was invented by Caterpillar with the version of 4R and 5R chains. Some of the features of traditional D6 Bulldozers are as follows:

  • D6 8U and 9U bulldozers were available with 6-cylinders engines.
  • D6C was launched in the year 1963.
  • D6D with 140 hp motor was launched in 1977.
  • In the year 1986, D6H was invented with the drive sprocket system.
  • D6M is also a sort of cable bulldozer that is accessible with LPG adaptation.

Engine Feature of D6 Cable Dozer

  • The modern Caterpillar D6 cable dozer applied a 6-cylinders diesel motor with the rate of 1800 rpm.
  • The measurement of the engine disarticulation is 638 cubic inches.
  • The capacity of the fuel tank of this transformer is 65 gallons.
  • In this engine, the customers get the facility of conduction up to three expedited cogs and one overturn gear.
  • The height of the Caterpillar D6 cable bulldozer is 105 inches.
  • The length and breadth of this dozer are 184 and 96 inches respectively.
  • The weight of this heavy equipment is 33,000 lbs.
  • The frontage and back tires pathways are available in the size of 60-74 inches.

Indispensable Protection Guidelines for Bulldozer Operators

  • Only proficient, qualified and experienced employee should be permitted to control bulldozers.
  • The drivers should always wear the seat belts whenever they start the machine.
  • The machinist should start the engine of the dozer only when the path is clear.
  • The bulldozer drivers should know all the techniques of lock out, tag out and block out at the time of refurbishment of the machine.
  • The method of traffic control helps the dozer operators to run the equipment in public place.
  • The operators should use flaggers to manage the mechanism in a crowded area.
  • It is sensible for the workers to keep the bulldozers away from the transparency power rows.

D6 cable bulldozers are obtainable in the souk with various sorts of dozer blades. The short straight blades with no tangential bend can be applied for grading the soil in fine particles. The U-blades are big, arched and have the feature of great elevated wings that help to collect more amount of earthy material at a time.