A successful family-owned and run limestone quarrying business in Tuscany continues to see big productivity and efficiency gains from its extensive Caterpillar machine fleet after entering its sixth decade of working with Cat’s longtime Italian dealer CGT. Aggregates Business Editor Guy Woodford reports.
The happy faces of Cave Pedogna co-founder Vittorio Lumini and longstanding CGT technician Stefano Bastianoni make it clear the pair are very comfortable with each other. The 88-year-old Vittorio’s arm is around Stefano’s shoulder as he playfully points his walking stick towards the photographer on the 2025 Cave Pedogna calendar photoshoot. In his seventies, Bastianoni has worked with Cave Pedogna’s Caterpillar fleet for many years. His close working relationship with Vittorio is a great example of the partnership between Caterpillar, CGT, and the quarrying business that Lumini jointly owns with Massimo Del Debbio and the wider Del Debbio family.
Bastianoni spoke about the longstanding partnership during a visit to Cave Pedogna by Aggregates Business.
“I’ve been a technician for 50 years, 30 of which I’ve spent at CGT, and for the past 15 years I’ve been specifically dedicated to Cave Pedogna. Over time, we’ve built a strong relationship of trust,” he said.
“CGT has always shown maximum commitment to the customer, and I’ve personally responded even at night or on weekends when necessary. Today, thanks to the connectivity of the new machines, the service has evolved, and most of the time we can plan interventions, arriving at the quarry with a clear idea of what needs to be done.”
Cave Pedogna turned 50 in 2023, and during Aggregates Business’s visit in early May 2025, commemorative memorabilia, including a special plaque from CGT, were on display in the company’s central meeting room. Also displayed were many miniature versions of Caterpillar machine models purchased from CGT over many years.
Before moving to its current quarry home, a 30-minute drive north of Lucca, Cave Pedogna used excavators to extract Calcare limestone from the nearby Serchio River, crushing it into final-grade product at a site neighbouring the notable regional waterway.
“The company moved to this quarry in the 1970s as we wanted to increase production and process bigger rocks,” Lumini said.
Lumini’s first Caterpillar machine was a D8 dozer, followed by a D9 dozer. Lumini and some business colleagues visited Caterpillar’s Malaga Demonstration and Learning Centre (MDLC) in 1988 to see potential new machines for Cave Pedogna being demonstrated. This led to the company purchasing a Cat D11 dozer, Cat 990 and Cat 992 wheeled loaders, and a Cat 775 rigid dump truck for its quarry setup.
Fast-forward to 2025, and Cave Pedogna has an extensive fleet of 19 Caterpillar machines. At the time of Aggregates Business’s visit in early May 2025, Cave Pedogna was awaiting the delivery of a new Cat 775 rigid dump truck.
The current fleet comprises one Cat 992, one Cat 988K, one Cat 980M, and one Cat 980H (wheeled loaders), one Cat 374, one Cat 325F, one Cat 365, one Cat 301.7 CR, and one Cat 318C (excavators), one Cat 745, one Cat 740 and one Cat D300E (articulated dump trucks), two Cat 777D and one Cat 775D (rigid dump trucks), one Cat 226D3 skid steer, two Cat D11R and one Cat D7R (dozers).
Lumini told Aggregates Business why Cave Pedogna has been buying Caterpillar machines for more than four decades:
“We have a lot of Caterpillar machines and continue to buy them because of their quality and reliability, and the strong partnership we have with CGT. We believe in partnering with just one equipment supplier, so we can count on working with the same people and have access to reliable product servicing and support,” he said.
Downloading machine data and accessing it via Cat VisionLink, CGT produces monthly fleet operation reports for Cave Pedogna. These reports can identify any production issues to be addressed and suggest new ways to boost equipment productivity and efficiency further. Cave Pedogna has Caterpillar Diamond Plus Customer Value Agreements (CVAs) offering three years of full maintenance and repair for each covered machine. This includes Genuine Cat Parts delivered to your site when needed, Cat Condition Monitoring via Remote Flash, Cat S.O.S Fluid Analysis, Cat Inspect, and Cat Preventive Maintenance. Under Cave Pedogna’s Cat CVAs, CGT technicians must repair any machine within four days, or a replacement machine will be supplied.
Cave Pedogna also has an extended warranty of three years or 4,000 hours on the new Cat 992, and Stefano Bastianoni is a near-daily on-site presence as the company’s dedicated CGT technician. Bastianoni assembled Cave Pedogna’s new Cat 992, which was delivered to the quarry in March 2025. Last year, Cave Pedogna turned to CGT for a certified rebuild of the engine on its Cat D7 dozer, prolonging the reliable machine’s working life.
“In 2024, CGT celebrated 90 years of history, while Cave Pedogna marked its 50th anniversary in 2023. Our two companies have shared a strong and enduring relationship built on mutual trust,” CGT sales director Marco Villa said.
“In addition to the reliability of Caterpillar products, Cave Pedogna relies on CGT for the quality of its after-sales service, which keeps its machines efficient and productive. They can count on our preventive maintenance contracts and the constant presence of a highly experienced technician who provides dedicated support.
“Moreover, Cave Pedogna has always been able to count on the support of the CGT branches in Livorno, Florence and Arezzo, and over time, a strong connection has grown with our people there.
“Over the years, Cave Pedogna has also turned to CGT for other solutions, such as the purchase of used equipment, rental services, and tailored financing options. We can proudly say that we are not just suppliers, but true partners.”
During Aggregates Business’s visit, Vittorio Lumini is keen to learn more about how Caterpillar and CGT compete with Chinese original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), some of which have notably enhanced their Italian market presence in recent years.
Peter-Valentin Sauter, a Caterpillar quarry machine specialist accompanying Aggregates Business on the visit to Cave Pedogna, commented: “We work to deliver machines that offer the lowest cost per tonne, and with Cat CGT, you have the highest quality support of any dealer.”
Cave Pedogna works two quarry faces, the highest 530 metres above sea level, producing up to 7,000m³ of Calcare limestone products daily in a five-day-a-week operation. The company produces 500,000m³ of product annually, down from 1 million m³ per year in the 1990s. Material product sizes range from 120mm down to 0-4mm.
The in-house team blasts around once a week after an Epiroc drill rig is used to prepare the blasting holes. A Cat D11 dozer pushes blasted material near the quarry wall down one level. The material gets loaded by Cat 992 wheeled loaders into a Cat 777D rigid dump truck for transporting to and feeding a primary jaw crusher for initial processing. Other material lying further away from the wall is loaded by a Cat 374 and Cat 365B excavators into Cat 740 and Cat 745 articulated dump trucks for transport to and feeding the primary jaw crusher.
From there, the material passes through secondary cone crushers and screens before being processed in a wash plant and then discharged onto a conveyor for stockpiling. Around 200 road trucks are filled daily to transport quarried products to customers. Cave Pedogna’s customers are located within an 80-kilometre radius of the quarry, including the Del Debbio construction company and Prefabbricati LP, another Lumini company, as well as road construction and highway maintenance contractors, and asphalt producers.
Breaking off from working a Cat 374 excavator at Cave Pedogna’s highest quarry face, Livio Bechelli, told Aggregates Business about his experience with the excavator.
“It’s a one-year-old excavator and very comfortable in the cabin. The controls are very easy to use, and the machine is very responsive. I move around 3,000m³ of limestone a day with the Cat 374. The more power I have, the better for my work, and this machine is very powerful,” he said.
In another part of Cave Pedogna’s quarry, Massimo Luschini, a Cat 992 operator, has time for a few words while waiting for an empty Cat articulated dump truck to arrive and be loaded with another batch of limestone to transport to the site’s primary jaw crusher.
“Its fuel consumption is 30-40 per cent less than the Cat 992G,” he said. “It’s also faster and has a more powerful engine. The cabin is 100 per cent more comfortable, and I also like that daily fluid checks can now be done at ground level and from one part of the machine,” Luschini said.
Luschini’s Cat 992 is one of the first in Italy to be fitted with the new Cat Operator Coaching Technology for Wheeled Loaders. Operator Coaching is a system that monitors operator technique, detects specific coaching opportunities during truck loading, and provides corresponding tips for the operator through the display in the cab. The operator can review the data and watch video tutorials while in a safe state on a secondary display, then improve by following the tips.
There are currently 21 tips available on the Cat 992. A 250-hour free trial is available through SEA activation before any subscription is required.
“It is a good system, particularly for less experienced operators. A message comes up if you have not done a process point correctly. It shows what you have done and explains how you should do it,” Luschini said.
As Aggregates Business returns to Cave Pedogna’s HQ offices at the end of our tour, we pass a wheeled loader parked in a company warehouse. It won’t be long until the quarrying business’s new Cat 775 arrives, and the image of CGT’s Stefano Bastianoni getting it ready for work, with Vittorio Lumini playfully waving his stick again while stopping by to see his close business colleague and dear friend at work, is clear.
