Yair . . . Guday folks. I'm back home in Australia after a couple of weeks touring north island of New Zealand . . . and I saw perhaps a half a dozen Caterpillar road trucks which was a very rare sight for me. My New Zealand friend tells me they are the latest thing with Caterpillar engines and all Mother Cat's bells and whistles. So what's the go? I thought Cat were going out of the road truck and engine business and the so called "Caterpillar trucks" were basically badge engineering at it's worst . . . the one local truck with a Cat badge I believe was a Navistar with a Cummins, I am completely confused. I have tried to do a bit of research but, to say the least, the information is contradictory. Can anyone clarify the situation which seems to be a public relations and marketing disaster? Cheers
You're right. Navistar iron with Cat badges. Turds. Local dealers all but gave them away. Engine issues etc etc. Total failure IMO. A local contractor has some and they are snake bit bad. He called asking if I knew of a place that could delete all the crap off the motors. For every hour or mile of service it seems as though they spend twice that in the shop. Junkyard
Cat has shelved production of the trucks. http://www.caterpillar.com/en/news/...oduction-of-on-highway-vocational-trucks.html However the trucks are still marketed on their website. They might be getting rid of stock? I asked my salesman about them when they first came out and he just shook his head no.
Yair . . . Gotcha Junkyard. I hope other folks with a bit of inside knowledge will help clarify the situation as regards the Caterpillar saga into vocational trucks. With the current US administration perhaps about to wind back some environmental legislation perhaps Cat will be prepared to get back into/continue in that segment? It would be hard to imagine them producing anything but engines. Road trannies, drive lines, cabs and chassis are hardly a Caterpillar thing. I always thought them getting into bed with International seemed a bit out of left field . . .now snuggling up to Kenworth or Mack would be a different thing again. (wry grin) Cheers.
Well, Cat had a plant under construction, or already finished, in south Texas that was going to be their truck plant. Before they bailed, they had on-road engines in development stage, had ended their deal with Navistar, and had announced that Cat would build their own trucks in the future. I don't know where all this stands now, but Cat trucks have not been manufactured for at least the last 2 model years.
Yair . . . Thanks mowingman. It's got me beat. I just copied this link from the Australian agents website . . . http://www.hastingsdeering.com.au/home/images/ApprovedImages/Products/Oh Highway Trucks/ct630hd_specsheet.pdf It sure looks like they are maintaining a blatant "business as usual" attitude if in fact (as detailed in C M's link) they are shutting down the operation. Anyone care to comment? Cheers.
Scrub, NZ gets alot of tail end of production run's. An outfit I worked for over there purchased some Macks that were going to be shipped to Argentina but they had run out of overseas funds so Mack sent them to NZ. That was right after the Falklands war. A real bosses truck, cheap and never broke down, no comfort for the driver, an air seat was an extra. Foden ,Oskosh were others that come to mind PS Cyclone Debbie couldn't get you in OZ so she went looking for you in NZ.
I think they're just a slightly better looking Prostar. We've got 1 in the fleet. Has a few issues. Navistar dealer can't plug into it and we can't seem to access it with ET. They never were a popular truck. I can count 4 I see on a regular basis locally including ours.
Yair . . . Gotcha Tones. I mentioned that possibility to my friend. He had been told by a quarry operator in Wellington the trucks were the latest current technology, in production and the Cat engines would only be available in Cat trucks. I didn't argue as I had no access to the net over there and thought Cat may have changed their mind . . . again. If, as suggested in CM's link, the idea has been shelved the whole exercise of selling off existing stock is a cynical exercise in off-loading a discontinued line with no sweeteners (as far as I can see). The whole claim and counter claim thing is a marketing schemozzle. Cheers.
Meanwhile they close a plant in IL and shuffle people around, several hundred lose their jobs. Also may have a multi-billion dollar tax bill payable to Uncle Sam due to some creative offshore accounting. Gotta love it! Maybe Bernie Madoff helped them cook the books!! Junkyard
Yair . . . Yeh, she was a ball tearer hey. Our house sitters reckoned it started showering the day we left, built up to the cyclone with some wind and seventeen inchers of rain and cleared the day we flew back into Brissy\ . . . then it clobbered the North Island where we'd been poking about. All the best to D6 Merv and our other Kiwi members, trust all is well with you and yours. Cheers.
Yair . . . After looking around a few more sites I am just as confused as ever. I have seen articles stating the "C13" is a yellow MAN engine with Cat Decals and stickers and the "C15" is a Cat block and bottom end with Navistar pistons, top end, injection and engine management . . . what could go wrong with that? (sad shrug) Right or wrong these articles are out there and must be damaging to Cat. The vocational truck line seems to have been a very poorly managed foray into a competitive market and until they get repeat orders from the likes of Fox, Toll, and a few of the ready mix outfits I think Cat must view it as a "Fail". I have no skin in this of course and started the thread out of curiosity and interest. Thanks to all who contributed and any further views or opinions will be appreciated. Cheers.
I honestly don't know what to believe when it comes to that kind of stuff. There's so much BS floating around in regards to who makes what these days.
A friend of mine who works for Finning (One of the world's largest Cat dealers) sent me a copy of the notice that said that Cat was discontinuing production of their highway trucks. That was last year I believe. They were never popular here. I have never seen one in real life. A fellow that I work with used to work for a truck shop down island from me. There was a local guy who had bought one. It was a turd. Spent more time on the back of the hook getting towed to Vancouver to be repaired. (For those of you not local. To get to Vancouver from Vancouver Island there is a ferry involved. Not sure how much it would be for a large wrecker with a Class 8 dump truck behind it, guessing 5 to 6 hundred on top of the tow and then the cost of the return. Pretty much going to tie the wrecker up for a day) As for Cat engines. The company I work for have some Cat equipment. The 568 forestry machines are powered by C9's Your lucky if you see 9 with them. See 9000 hours, start looking for a rebuild because as soon as they hit 10 or 11K they will blow. Garbage. Just had another one come back with a bad oil sample. I'm looking for a Motorhome for retirement. I found a beautiful unit close to home. Went and had a look. Just gorgeous. Opened the engine hatch and there was a big yellow C12 rusting away. Slammed the hatch closed. Thanked the Salesman for his time and RAN for my car. Just my 2 cents worth.
They are a redesigned International 9400i with a Maxxforce, the story I was told by a corporate IH trainer was that there were some customers in Australia that would only buy a truck with a CAT engine. Navistar's response was to paint their engine yellow and the "CAT" truck was born. I can't say for certain whether that story is true but that is was I was told.
Yair . . . Dunno. A mate just sent me this . . . http://www.cattrucks.com.au/ The engines look to be Cat which puts paid to the claim they are out of the road engine business. Beats me how they can justify building trucks in Australia though . . . especially when I have never seen one on the highway. It will be interesting to see how this all pans out. Cheers.
I can't find mention of that CT630 anywhere BUT Australia, so maybe it's an Ozzie orphan child? CAT has been pretty psychotic the last few years, like buying up all sorts of lines in mining and then literally killing them off when they decided to get out of it. Not confidence inspiring. But then look at the incredible mess left by Ford/New Holland/Case/Hitachi/Kobelco/Macmoter, et al>FIAT Group? Talk about and exploding cluster hump.
Yair . . . I believe you summed it up in three words lantraxco. Judging by the rolled eyes and head shakes I got down at the truck stop when I mentioned Cat trucks it will be a while before they are accepted up here in Queensland. Having said that if Goughs can get some on the road in NZ and they perform okay and the price and dealer service is competitive they may make it . . . I hope so. I did notice in the Cat blurb there was a picture of one in Toll livery hauling a car carrier so perhaps they are cutting some deals. It may also be that I am talking through my hat and they may be common down south . . . it's just that we live on the main drag North through Queensland and I have never seen one on line-haul. As I said up thread I have no skin in this but it saddens me to see Caterpillar, a company I held dear and could do no wrong for so many years of my working life in a position where folks actively dislike and shun some of the products of the Marque. Cheers.
To confuse matters further, Iveco will soon be marketing the Prostar here under the International brand name, all with Cummins motors... will be interesting to see if they do any better than the Cat version.
Let me declare my Cat experience upfront. My grandfather was a sawmiller and logger, but could never afford the premium for Cat gear, however he praised them and their service to the day he died, I did my apprenticeship under an ex Cat salesman and went on to buy my own Cat dozer (D7C), later on I worked underground and operated Cat AD30, AD40, AD45B, AD55, AD55B trucks and R2900 boggers. In addition, a heavy vehicle mechanic friend of mine who also spent time in truck sales has added his perceptions to the mix. The Caterpillar that my Grandfather, first boss and who built my lovely D7C is long dead, replaced by a company that seems intent on dabbling in everything. Not all of it well. The AD30-AD55B trucks are good pieces of gear, but parts backup seemed lacking with longish lead times to source basic parts. The C18 engine in the AD55 is pushed way too hard to achieve the output rating and they fit into one of two categories. Those that make 10,000 hours and those that don't make 100. Failures generally mean daylight visible from one side of the block to the other and vital parts spread over a fair radius. The R2900 boggers are workmanlike, but basic and ergonomics are terrible. They also heat up their environment far more than the comparable Sandvik boggers, (anyone who has worked underground will appreciate that this is a problem). Same comments relating to parts backup. One mine I worked at was chosen to trial the brand new R3000 bogger prototype, intended to take on the Sandvik 621's and exceed their performance. It was a total dog, short on engine power and with exceptionally weak hydraulics. The Sandvik could just drive into a pile and grab a full bucket, while the Cat would bounce and dance around all over the place trying to fill their buckets. The Cat road going trucks were a joke from day one with their EURO emission standards lagging well behind other competitive brands, (while I prefer uncomplicated engines, resale value will be negatively impacted greatly) and dated cab design further hurting sales. Cat in Geelong has a whole yard full of unsold trucks that were produced to meet the expected flood of buyers fawning over the new trucks due to the Cat name. If William Adams (the Tasmanian Cat dealer) managed to sell more than three I would be surprised. If you ask most truck drivers here to name their dream truck, Kenworth would be the dominant choice. The very average truck that Cat dished up was never going to be a serious threat to the established marques and opposing truck salesmen certainly didn't seem to rate them as a serious threat. The whole debacle did speak volumes as to Cat's current attitudes and arrogance. We are the best because we say we are and you should buy our product because it has a Cat badge. If our product is outclassed, see previous statement. I long for the return of the old Caterpillar who built solid gear and backed it better than anyone else in the game.
You know, never met a Kenworth I didn't like. I honestly cannot say that about any other brand, ever.
I never thought of it that way, but I completely agree now that you mention it.
Of all the trucks I've had other than my old 359 Pete I've always like the KW's best. Mine were all heavy spec and did the job I needed them to the best. I ran various ages from the early 90's up to the last new one I ordered which was a 2013. Bought quite a few used ones over the years as well. Maybe they are, as the claim, worlds best. Junkyard
Do you think they will get prosecuted on this? This last round is just another chapter in a decade old war between Cat and the tax man. Been no winners but lawyers in the other battle. On the trucks, there was quite a few Cat 4 and 5 axle dump trucks around Minnesota when they first came out. You hardly ever see one anymore. And they were priced $25,000 over a Kenworth similarly equipped when they first came out.
Well according to the article they paid an accounting firm $52 million to create this tax evasion plan. Not knowing details it'll be interesting to see what comes of it. To me if it cost that much to create the plan there were some high powered lawyers really reading the fine print and between the lines to skirt the laws. So I'd expect them to pay. Probably not all but a healthy amount. Probably taken care of quietly in light of the questionable press they've been getting lately. Junkyard
Yair . . . Thanks for your long and detailed post Karl Robbers. I find the following paragraph extremely relevant and uncomfortably close to the bone. From your comments about Caterpillar, the company so respected by your grandfather, your first boss and who built your D7 being dead and gone I sense you feel much the same as me . . . and perhaps millions of other blokes who ran and worked on the gear when Cat indeed was king. I'm going on an off topic ramble here but it's my thread so it doesn't matter. (grins). Folks on here a while will know my experience is limited mainly to the larger 1960's era dozers, the scrapers they pushed and the trucks that hauled them. Back then Cat used to be the yardstick by which performance was measured and, for the most part, you paid a premium when financing a Cat. For years the small company I worked for ran Allis Chalmers dozers and it must be said in their day most Allis's performance wise were as good or better than the equivalent Cat . . . but you couldn't keep the bastards going. In our scrub pulling application all that kept us afloat was the fact Tutt Bryant were pretty good with parts availability and the Boss learnt to fly and bought a Cessna 206 . . . we became pretty good at building bush strips, it mostly took less than an hour from virgin scrub to aircraft on the ground. That all changed when we took delivery of two D9G's. I picked them up from Hastings Deering's Dalby branch on Christmas eve 1965 . . . and they clocked eleven paid hours each on Christmas day. Those tractors did have some teething problems. One chewed up a bevel gear and pinion but Hasting's stood by us and then came a series of D8's for pulling and raking, a D6 for a railway job and several J621 eggbeaters for irrigation channel work. Without exception the Cats paid their way and then some . . . supported always by good parts availability and--this is what I have been working up to-- excellent technical support and manuals. With the manuals an interested bush bloke such as myself (with little education beyond the fact that my mother taught me to read) could perform increasingly complex repairs under the most primitive of conditions. Caterpillar manuals became my Bible and I would literally spend hours pouring over details, cross referencing with the parts book and, with my prized set of Starret micrometers I taught my self the art of fixing Cats. It's been all down hill from there and forty years later friends with a D6 just out of warranty have to fly a technician in and chopper him to the broken down machine because they can't get full access to the diagnostic details . . . the machine has since been sold and replaced by an old oval track machine of what was once considered an inferior make . A contractor with three excavators on a road job told me he is not game to take some of the newer machines into remote areas and he is rebuilding old machines for his gas line work in the North West. This is not the Caterpillar equipment I knew and I feel a certain illogical sadness that this once proud company appears to have spread itself so thin and has so many irons in the fire that it is incapable of maintaining quality and service across it's full range of products. This marketing and quality debacle with the vocational trucks seems further evidence of the malaise infecting the organization and perhaps it is time for them to rethink their direction and get back to what one was there core business . . .simple effective equipment for moving dirt. The dirt and the rocks and the trees remain the same, it's only the equipment that has become complex and fragile. End of rant and Cheers.
Scrub, there's lots of points here you took the words straight out of my brain, and in one case those of a logger friend. The old boy told me about logging with an AC dozer in the 60's said it was a real bull, but he had to keep a CAT D7 on the landing for when the AC broke down which was common. CAT was indeed the standard back then. Your words about loving CAT service manuals struck a deep chord with me, as a young brute working on sixes and sevens and paddle wheel scrapers I spent many an evening educating myself on the finer points of power train operation and power flow, hydraulic circuits and the like. Those books were the epitome of boiling down engineering information into something that was translated into "mechanic", complete with color coded drawings. The total opposite at the time were Japanese manuals which were at best sparse in information and often translated poorly from the original into British, probably was not much trouble for you, but us Yanks had to look up what the hell a spanner and commencer were for instance. Heavy equipment has become so expensive and unreliable I don't see how going forward it can be sustainable. All the bells, whistles, features and meeting of asinine emissions standards is all well and good, but we have reached the point of zero emissions and 100% safety because the damn things won't stay running! In another world, you can get fantastic bargains on big motor homes here these days, with CAT ACERT diesels, and spend all your vacations being towed to one CAT dealer after the next. If you google it a bit the horror stories are long and often, it's almost unbelievable. It's the same with big road trucks but there the industry doesn't take it so personal, even though it has bankrupted some owners and small companies.
Yair . . . Good one l antraxco , I reckon that'll end up the quote of the year. . . thanks for your words and thoughts. As I have mentioned I have a certain disbelief and sadness that the industry and Caterpillar in particular have been allowed to come to this. Cheers.
I would rather say "forced" than "allowed" because the U.S. EPA regulations are the reason we can't have a diesel engine that will run longer than 2000 hours without some kind of component or system failure. It's all bull$hit anymore. My 2014 excavator with 1800 hours had two failed injectors this fall. 6 days down, and what would have been a $5000 repair bill if not for warranty.
Yair . . . I hear you Shimmy1. I have never been able to understand why all earthmoving equipment has to comply to the standard regulations . . . as I mentioned up thread perhaps those regulations will get a tweak with the new administration? Having said that it seems some manufacturers are managing better than Cat and that's the part that hurts. Had an interesting talk to an oldish about to retire truckie and he reckons the problem is the perceived need for speed. He reckons if all the trucks were wound back to 250hp the world would still go around and most of the engine troubles, transmission and tyre troubles would just go away. Cheers.
I remember watching this whole thing go down as it happened like a slow motion train wreck...the other manufacturers swiftly went to cooled EGR but Cat was trying to differentiate themselves, had a "better idea" and that was staged turbos, Rube Goldberg valve apparatus and who knows what else. Plus they did not meet emissions targets even at the times while the competitors did, and so they were paying huge fines per engine built because the EPA apparently will accept $$$ in lieu of compliance. I remember a sticker on a 3208 in the 80s that indicated the same thing so nothing new here apparently. But evidently it broke them in the end and the management threw in the towel. So I would say that in large part Caterpillar did it to themselves. If they had followed with the herd then we would probably still have Cat road engines save for the vertical integration that has also been happening at the same time. IH/Navistar is another one that damaged themselves badly by going with high % EGR in lieu of DEF, even though their strategy was not working at all they stubbornly continued pushing ahead. Not sure where that one ended up as I don't follow trucks any more. But I sure do hope the current administration neuters this nonsense, Tier 4 standards are far too strict by any stretch of the imagination and nobody can meet them without a lot of junk. But I don't hold much hope for it, but it would be a nice surprise.
Well, the news for Tier 5 (Yes, it's a thing) is that the entire treatment process will occur in a separate self contained exhaust unit with DEF (I HATE that crap) which supposedly will allow for much better reliability. Yeah, and they said computers would lead to paperless offices too....
As long as EGR becomes obsolete I'm fine with that. Whoever thought pumping dirty, abrasive soot into the intake of any engine was a good idea needs a slap in the face.
IIRC that was one good idea Cat seemed to have. They used clean EGR from after the filter. I guess that idea did not catch on for some reason.
Yair . . . Well it's an interesting thread but after a couple of pages of responses I am none the wiser as to the true status of Caterpillar in the vocational truck market. That is to say . . . are they out of the business completely, are they back into manufacturing road engines, are they just producing models specifically for Australia and new Zealand. There are so many questions and I just sent a query to Hastings asking where the Australian trucks were manufactured and if they have Caterpillar engines. I'll update the thread if they reply. Cheers.
Had no idea tier 5 was a thing. DEF isn't bad, as long as you don't let it touch anything you like and keep it way from the dust.
Well, it's like the old saw about school, it's not that it's all that bad, it's just the principal of the thing (sic)
We have had good luck with the c12
Pretty much.
As far as I'm aware, they're running an updated C15. There's quite a few running around here now, I haven't driven one yet but we have a rental from time to time. The biggest truck lease outfit in NZ (TR group) has several of them, Toll lease a lot of their units so there's a good chance that the Cat running around in their livery is a leased truck. I've heard mixed reviews about them from drivers, they seem to have a few turbo issues but otherwise are doing the job. A large company with several bulk tippers has bought a few Cats in the last couple of years, plus some companies local to me.
Yair . . . Thanks for reply Kiwi-truckwit, its nice to get some comment from those with local knowledge. See'in as you're here (grins). I have been too busy to properly research the NZ twin steer thing. Is this a new regulation? Bogey drive, twin steer and a four axle trailer looks extreme on the road . . . . what load do they give with that setup? Cheers.
Not a new thing at all scrub. An 8 wheeler truck (twin steer, tandem drive) is good for 26,000 kg while a 4 axle pull trailer is 28,000kg. Max load with such a combo, however, is 44,000kg. The "new" thing here is 5 axle pull trailers, with that combo you can go up to 50,000kg. Some are also adding another axle to the truck and going up to 54 ton, but then you require permits and are limited to specific routes. The same applies to B-trains (our version of your B doubles). A standard, 44 ton B-train is a 6 wheeler prime mover, tri axle 1st unit and tandem axle 2nd unit. Add an axle to the 2nd unit, and it's 50 ton. There are also some "super b's" running around, which consist of an 8 wheeler, quad and tri. I believe these can run up to 68 ton under permit. I'll post up some pics.
Note: All pics are sourced from Google, I claim no ownership of the photos, nor am I affiliated with any of the companies shown. 8 wheeler truck plus 4 axle trailer. 5 axle trailer: 5 axle B train. CAT 6 axle B train
And a 'super b train' The other most commonly seen unit on our roads is a 6 or 8 wheeler prime mover with quad semitrailer. There's still some tri axles around, but not many. Usually the last 1 or 2 axles are castor steering, and locked straight for reversing. There's variations, of course, but these are the main units on NZ roads.
For those with sharp eyes, the Daily freight unit is a 6 axle B train. Here's a 5 axle
Gotcha . . . thanks so much for your time Kiwi-truckwit. It would have taken me hours to suss all those details out and I think other folks here will appreciate the pictures as well. Your rigs are much more sophisticated than we have here . . . maybe that's why you have less crook roads and potholes? Cheers.
Up in Canada, what ya'll call a 5 axle B train we call a Super B. I think your Super B is more deserving of that title than ours lol.
Don't worry, we still have plenty of potholes and average roads! Most of our freight is carried by truck, thanks to our sub par rail network. As a result, we have some pretty awesome trucks running around the country.
I've been fortunate enough to visit your country, and of course observed the trucks there. I may be wrong, but your super B's carry 2 40' shipping containers, do they not? Our regulations have just been changed to allow a 20' and a 40', under the old regs a truck was only long enough for 2x 20', or a 40' on a semi.
I don't think we could fit a pair of 40 footers on our super b's. They aren't very long. We do run double 53 foot vans on some routes with the trailing van being hooked up with a single or tandem axle converter dolly.
We have an overall length limit of 75 or 76' in the states, can't speak to Canada. 32' lead with 28' pup is the most common North American Super B, older trailers and hay hauling trailer's you will see 32-32 sets. I've never seen B-trains hauling containers around here, I'm sure someone does but it's not common.
I have seen super b container chassis that can handle two 20' containers but that's about all I've seen.
That was what I saw... I recall the dolly
Here you go. Anything you ever wanted to know about "B" trains in BC http://cvse.ca/CTPM/Com_Circulars/2016/160808_comp_cc_05-16_27-5m_B-Trains.pdf Good reading for when you can't sleep at night. Sorry for hijacking your thread Scrub.
Yair . . . There is no thing such as a highjack on one of my threads wornout wrench . . . anything to keep the conversation flowing, thanks for chipping in. Cheers.
27.5m is a bloody long unit, it's hard enough to get a 20m unit around here, let alone the new 23m ones!
Anyways, to get back on topic, here's a link to the NZ CAT dealer, Gough CAT, and the 2 models available here. http://goughcat.co.nz/equipment/new/on-highway-trucks
Sometimes those types of dealer web pages tend to get never updated when things change.
Sure is confusing, that page mentions the CT630 models as having the CT15 engine (yellow maxxforce?), but if you download the specs, it has the C15 Acert like the Australian models. I read that Cat got the C15 over the ADR 80/03 emissions line here, by simply changing a breather and adding particulate filters.
Yair . . . Exactly Queenslander. The confusion and misinformation is quite amazing and I think symptomatic of an organization that has completely lost it's way. As mentioned up thread I have sent messages via Hasting's contact page for clarification as to where the trucks are built and confirmation the engines in the Australian/NZ models are indeed built by Cat. No replies as yet and I don't really expect any . . . I might send the sales manager a link to this thread. (grins) Cheers.
Iam looking for another truck, not new, so I've been doing a bit of research recently. The few Cats on the market seem to be holding their value reasonably well. We never got to see the US CT660 style trucks here. The trucks sold here have basically been Navistar's Prostar model. They were initially assembled at Tullamarine then possibly Geelong, not sure where they are made now. Both the Cat and the International I mentioned earlier are virtually identical, except for motors, and are produced by a subsidiary of Navistar called Navistar Auspac. Cat's biggest contribution now, I think, is providing the dealer network to sell them. Iveco will e selling the Inters. The C15 Acert is a Cat motor but the smaller CT610 truck, sold here, has a CT13 which is a Maxxforce engine. Errors and omissions excepted....lol
I've only seen CT630s here, but then, our hilly terrain and increased GCMs make lesser horsepower trucks less attractive. Most new trucks here are 500hp+
This truck was parked around the corner from our farm. Moving an asphalt pacer with it.
Looks like it's all over, bar the shouting, for Cat trucks here. This story appeared in a local trucking paper recently. Thinking of buying a new Cat Truck? Only a handful remain on Australian dealership stands and once they're gone it's all over. Cat Trucks were launched in Australlia with much fanfaire during 2010. It would take an incredibly optimistic mind to believe that Cat Trucks are not on the edge of extinction, bringing to a close one of the most tumultuous, disjointed and ultimately disappointing brand histories to ever impact the Australian trucking industry. As things stand right now, there is little more than a handful of new Cat-branded trucks remaining on dealers’ lots and the likelihood, according to many sources within the Cat network in this country, is that once current stocks run out, there will be no more. From all appearances, typified to some extent by their complete absence from the recent Brisbane Truck Show, Cat-branded trucks will simply slink into oblivion. In effect, it is following in the path of the yellow engines which were once such a proud and prominent player in the big end of the truck business before Caterpillar’s 2008 desertion from the on-highway truck engine business. Once again, it’s leaving Cat’s somewhat maligned dealer group to wrestle with the wrath of truck operators who took the Cat trucks plunge. The full story here..... https://www.ownerdriver.com.au/indu...13012017&utm_term=list_ownerdriver_newsletter
Yair . . . Thanks Queenslander. Sad state of affairs I reckon . . . mismanagement on a considerable scale. I think they were simply up themselves. Unfortunate to see such a mindset in such a once great company. I believe such nonsense is leading to the demise of their scraper line. I have heard of an experimental rig being tested "somewhere in Queensland" with a powered bowl on a Volvo ADT. I know the K-techs (?) mounted on ADTs are nothing new but the drive on the bowl in that application is a new one to me. Cheers.