I do work all over Virginia and i have noticed some contractors using GPS on large dozers such as D8. How is this beneficial? I always assumed gps was most practical for smaller dozers and graders to aid in finish grading.
It's just as beneficial on a D8/D9 as it is on a D5 or D6. Just bigger. Sorry for the short answer, but I'm not really sure what else to say at the moment.
I have it on a D11 landscaping,makes the job so easy. Cheers Will
outfit around here has it on there 11 and 3 of there 10's, its som much easier knowing where grade is, and that big of a machine has got to know where is grade is, in one pass he could under cut it 2 ft
I am of the opinion that it is even more effective on the large machines, as you can get to grade faster, and save a lot of finishing time. Wed do a lot of our finish here with GPS on a D-8T, and never have to go back with any other machine. Then we only need the smaller machines for the small detailed areas that the D-8 is too big for, and with a good operator, there is not much of that.
I agress 100%
works better on a bigger machine, less bouncing around, more stable. I saw a weird setup on a D9T, single reciever mounted on the roof. mining application check it out at the cat mining site main page
With the new Cat equipment coming out "set up" for GPS, the hydraulics now have built in sensors incorporated into them. It's especially helpful on the excavators, cause now you don't have a need for the external sensors attached to the boom, stick, etc. Because of this, Cat is trying to tie all that in on the D8t's and use a single cab mounted reciever. PS- it's getting late, I just realized you said D9... I think the principle is the same though.
I guess it's good for a machine working on the fill side of a big dirt work operation, but if cutting final grade is the task it's probably a lot better to set up with dual receivers mounted right on the blade. A lot of great things about this system though it looks like... Must be nice having GPS on the machine and not have to worry about a big rock or something bashing into a mast, likewise it must be nice to roam around a hard rocky surface in 2nd gear and not have to worry about the masts shaking around... must be nice to be able to push out a stuck rock truck and not mess up a GPS mast... the list goes on.
We have GPS on graders, D5s, D6s, D8s, and scrapers. My opinion is when we put it on large dozers and scrapers it cut finish grading in half or more. It may be more profitable on large machine. Having it on scrapers is the most help for us. Eliminates grade checkers or finish dozer in cut.
Yes, i think having it on a scraper is a must.
Although I agree it is nice on a scraper, I don't think it is a must. A good scraper hand needs to know how to read the grade around him. If you have a GPS blade, he is then your grade checker. He should rip or scarify at cut, key out features with ditches, if there is no windrow, there isn't enough dirt and the scraper needs to fill. When screwing the grade down tight, if the blade spins a tire the scraper needs to remove the entire windrow cause there is still cut there, if the windrow dwindles to near nothing he needs to give the blade more dirt to work with. It is that scrapers job to read the actions of the blade. JMO
I think GPS should be on any equipment that moves earth. Even marginal productivity increases on larger machines vs smaller machines mean greatly increasing your ROI (on the GPS) as you'd expect to move a lot more material with say a D10 over a D5.
Recetley been pushing dirt with a 10 and with GPS you always know where your cut fill line is, your never pushing further then you have to, and with a machine like a 10 or 11 it doesnt take long to undercut something.
Yair . . . hey vapor300 you been off line, haven't seen you posting for a while. Cheers
does anyone know of a good GPS system, that only tracks your equipment hours, location, etc..? I am looking for a dependable system, to assist our mechanics with the maintenance. thanks
bschlichter, if you run cats I would look into product link, we use it on all of our rental machines and it allows you to a decent amount of info remotely.
We have CAES on most all our equipment at work excavators, rtd's track dozers etc. it is very handy!
I heard D8 is good for bulldozers and other large track-type tractors as it has advance technology and very efficient.