A leading global quarrying, mining and construction hauler manufacturer is celebrating a big sales milestone, while other big sector players have updated key proven models. Guy Woodford reports.
“The articulated truck has been a key member of Caterpillar’s core product line since it was developed in Peterlee, which has always been its proud home. I thank the entire team for their focus and dedication to continually improve the design, manufacture and support of these great trucks for our customers,” says Brent Losey, Caterpillar product manager for articulated trucks. “Cat articulated trucks are helping our customers meet their objectives on construction and mine sites around the world. We are proud to see the 50,000th truck drive off the assembly line and look forward to the next 50,000!”
Trader Construction Company of New Bern, North Carolina, USA, received the 50,000th unit during a recent ceremony held at the Peterlee facility. Carl Huddle, president of Trader, and Gregory Poole Cat dealer representatives were on hand to receive keys to Trader’s newest Cat 745, 41tonne articulated truck. “Trader and Cat dealer Gregory Poole have enjoyed a long-standing relationship dating back to the 1960s, and Trader has owned or leased a total of 500 36tonne class articulated trucks over the years,” says Anthony Pollock, articulated trucks marketing manager for Caterpillar.
Since 1957, Trader has worked in close partnership with municipal, commercial and private customers on mining, road and highway, bridge, aviation, site development and other infrastructure projects large and small throughout North and South Carolina. The Trader team has grown to over 400 office and field workers. The company operates and maintains more than 200 pieces of heavy equipment, including 50 articulated trucks, to efficiently complete its infrastructure projects.
Featuring the recently re-engineered world-class cab, the Cat 745 is said to offer improved ease of operation, uninterrupted rear-quarter visibility and in-cab operating sound levels 7dB lower than previous designs. Its gear range selector delivers efficient single-lever control over truck speed and body-hoisting functions to improve cycle times. Featuring economy mode operation for an average 5% fuel consumption improvement, the truck’s power train is driven by the Cat C18 ACERT engine, rated at 375kW, with a range of emissions control platforms to meet global environmental standards. The Cat 745 articulated truck features a host of standard integrated technologies, including Product Link, Cat Production Management and Cat Detect with Stability Assist, to monitor, manage and enhance job site operations.
With a heritage dating back to the DJB Design & Engineering Ltd. company, today’s Cat family of articulated trucks features six three-axle models with rated payloads ranging from 24 to 41tonnes and heaped capacities from 15 to 25m³. Caterpillar first premiered a 36tonne payload class articulated truck with the D400 in 1985. Since that time, Caterpillar has been a leading manufacturer of 36tonne-plus class articulated trucks.
The TA300’s new transmission comes with eight forward gears as well as four reverse gears, higher overall gear ratio spread, equal ratio steps between gears and optimised gear shifting with partial load shifts. All of this helps to ensure smoother gear shifting and thereby higher levels of operator comfort. The TA300 is also equipped with true independent front suspension as standard, further enhancing operator comfort and enabling excellent traction control and maximum productivity in the most challenging of conditions.
In addition to this, the hauler’s maximum speed has increased to 55km/h, up from 50km/h. As a result, customers can achieve faster cycle times and lower cost per tonne. Other operational features include automatic shifting with manual over-ride, a hydraulic integral retarder and a hydraulic power-shift longitudinal differential lock. Together, these help to ensure safe and productive operation, as well as reduced fuel and diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) consumption on job sites. The TA300 also now comes with long-life transmission fluid, increasing the length of time between oil maintenance intervals from 1,000 to 4,000 hours. The updated TA300 will initially be available from August 2018 in the higher regulated emissions markets of Europe and North America.
“Introducing the new transmission to the TA300 articulated hauler continues Terex Trucks’ commitment to install product performance and productivity improvements that lead to lower operational costs for our customers,” says Scott Pollock, product manager at Terex Trucks. “Developing and testing the new EP320 transmission for the TA300 was a collaborative effort between Terex Trucks and ZF. The new transmission has been calibrated specifically for the TA300 and rigorously tested for two years internally and by operators on real job sites, working in a variety of conditions. Operators have had nothing but praise for the upgraded machine. Among some of the most commonly cited benefits are the improved fuel efficiency and performance, as well as the smoother gear shift quality.”
The TA300 is a proven performer on large-scale construction projects as well as in quarries and on infrastructure developments. The hauler’s fuel-efficient
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As seen by the hundreds of customers, dealers and quarrying and construction equipment trade media representatives from across Europe who attended the 18-20 September 2018 Doosan Quarry Days event, the DA30 ADT’s suspension has an upgraded hydro-gas self-levelling system, said to ensure outstanding performance and superior shock absorption for better driving comfort. The extra comfort is said to be especially felt when the truck is being driven without a load. Additionally, DA30 operators will now benefit from a Grammer Actimo XXL seat in the cab as standard. The seat has its own independent low-frequency pneumatic and wide scissors-type suspension.
According to Doosan, the new version of the DA30 has lower running costs than its predecessor. This is partly due to the model’s reduced number of service points, fewer oil types in the driveline and increased intervals for transmission oil change. In addition, the new cab tilting system enables the service technician to lift and close the cab in just a few minutes.
The Doosan DA30 is powered by the Scania DC9 276 kW (370 HP) diesel engine, meeting Stage IV/Tier 4 Final emission regulations by using Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) and Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) technologies. An electronic engine brake system is one of four brake systems on the trucks. Doosan’s Stage IV/Tier 4 Final ADTs do not need a diesel particulate filter (DPF) to meet the emission regulations.
