We will soon be engaging on a project for a customer where we will have to setup a preventive and corrective maintenance shop. The area is in the desert so everything will run off of generator power. The setup has to be somewhat moveable but not necessarily mobile. Equipment fleet includes: 6 graders 8 wheel loaders 5 dozers (D4,D6,D9) 6 Rock dumps (740) 4 Case IH tractors with pull scrappers 10 compactors (2 soil, 6 asphalt, 2 pneumatic) Several Passenger trucks 2 pavers I am involved with procurement and need advice on the key pieces of equipment needed to provide maintenance and repairs for a year. Any and all advice on possible available solutions or advice on resilient equipment will be greatly appreciated. For example we anticipate the need for a repair truck with a crane. Thank you
What desert are we talking about? Parts are not going to be easy to obtain. What machines are you going to have? Rental, owned? With the new blades and ag tractor/ pans, you are going to need some dealership support.
Sahara desert. Equipment owned. For the list of machines see original message. The age of the machines will vary between 2007 and 2011. We will be working with the local dealership (1000km away). They will send us one of their techs.?we also have our own. Parts are not an issue we will be stocking all the maintenance kits at the different intervals onsite. The unknown will be which parts to stock that most likely to fail. Regardless we can always get parts onsite in no more than 3-5 days. My biggest unknown is making sure we have elk the tools onsite to service the machines. If you were to support such an effort what would you make sure to have in terms of tools and machinery onsite outside of obviously the plethora of hand tools. * For example would you need a heavy duty lift or can we do without one. * What about an engine crane ? * Air compressor (what size) * which pneumatic tools * any hydraulic hose repair parts and tools needed ? Like I said looking for advice. Moussa
To set up a facility to maintain 40 something pieces of equipment for a year in a remote location is a non-trivial exercise. Now, you'll not find a more helpful bunch of people then on this forum but I'm slightly concerned that you're asking strangers on the internet for advice on a project like this. Instead of getting bogged down in a thousand different well meaning but inevitably conflicting posts, I would be advertising to hire an experienced maintenance guy to manage the job. You say you have your own techs. Have you asked them for their opinion?
Agreed. Your point is well taken. I am indeed consulting with my maintenance guys. I also intend to do as you have suggested with the consultant. I am very aware of the sites solicitation rules ... The point was for me to educate myself and make sure that I can hold and intelligent conversation with my staff in Africa and any consultants we will use to make sure we have all bases covered. Do note however, it is a very austere environment. We are not looking for a 1st rate shop as you might find in a dealership. It has to be simple, functional and relatively complete to do preventive maintenance and minor repairs. Any major repairs will require taking the machines to a dealership shop about 1000 miles away. Moussa
I may be way off here because I've never worked in the desert but I would find a good used reefer trailer ( insulated and air conditioned ). I would also get a truck with a fifth wheel plate and a knuckle boom crane mounted behind the cab. That way you can move the trailer and lift some stuff like wheels and cabs. With the trailer you could hook some sort of shading tarps out over the machine but leave 3 sides open to let the air flow through much like an awning. I would also recommend mostly electric rechargeable power tools to cut down on air compressor needs.
Something like this is surely going to have to grow itself organically over time. If it was me, I'd pack a shipping container up with the basics (welder, compressor, air tools, hand tools, jacks, maybe a gantry crane you can knock down) and send it over. Then make weekly or monthly additions. In a few months it should be pretty well sorted. Since you have never run a setup like this before, it seems impossible to plan for every eventuality. You just do your best and add as you go.
I wonder with the cost involved if it would be more economical to add a few more spare machines to the fleet to keep the project rolling than to go all-out on the mechanic shop at first. Especially operating in a remote environment. In my business it seems that there is always some obscure part missing that holds up a project and I can imagine that would be worse in Africa.
Yair . . . Hoo boy, where to start. fulatoro It does seem a little strange that you would come here to an anonymous blog for advise on such a complex undertaking. I am sure though (given time for folks to respond) you could build up a real world data base of weak spots and components that fail once you have a list of makes and models of machinery . . . as you have mentioned the scheduled service items lists will be available from the dealer, that's the easy stuff. You are very upfront and have stated you have little experience in such a project and the best I can do is wish you luck and just pick up on a couple of your comments to maybe put things into perspective. I worked in remote parts of Australia and the Pacific islands all my life and statements like "parts are not an issue and we can have them on site in three to five days" will prove to be a pipe dream . . . anywhere . . . let alone in Africa. The notion that you can load a piece of equipment onto a truck and take it to the dealer for repairs a thousand miles away needs some serious reconsideration . . . your definition of what are "major" and "minor" repairs will change. To me, it seems a somewhat odd equipment list and, a general indication as to the nature (i.e. airport, industrial installation, predominantly sand/rock) and duration of the project would be helpful to folks on here. There are those who may be able to give advise on individual machines . . . the more details you can give the more interest it will create and the more feedback you will get. I wish you all the best on what is an interesting project. Cheers.
I would begin by talking to the dealers of the respective manufacturers for information about the parts and tools necessary to maintain the listed equipment. Holt and Shepard my provide complete shop, maintenance and repair service at the site, as will tire dealers. Speak to the AGC in California, they have a lot of information about setting up camps because of all the big dam work that has been done in the West. There are companies that will provide food and shelter services on a per person basis for work camps.
This is not going to be a small project to set up, and you are going to get some well meant, but conflicting information. I'm on the same page as Mobiltech. Get a used reefer trailer. This is how I have done camp jobs in remote areas (except we had to heat the trailer) As mentioned by other members, set up with all your basics. I usually find that the most common issues is with hydraulic hoses blowing or leaking. So a hose press would be a top priority for me. Not sure on all the brands you have, so that will decide what hose ends you will need. I'm sure you have done this already, but have the dealership do a good inspection of every piece before it leaves to work. The more you can fix at home the better. Oil samples would also be a good idea. And after oil samples are done, change every fluid on the machine. If you can get one, bring a skid steer. Its like a little mobile crane, and works great for changing tires. I don't see any excavators in your list? Are you using the wheel loaders to fill the trucks?
Just put Nige on retainer, he's not doing anything anyway is he? (Ducking!) :tong
Check out some dome sheds which attach to the top of shipping containers, easy to transport and set up, that's what we have used in remote sites in Australia, there are a lot of different sizes available. Set up the containers as small workshops with all the tools required. Also you can get shipping containers set up as service centres with 1000 Ltr oil pods, 20ft container will hold eight pods accessed from either end, centre door access to hose reels.
I really only have one thing to contribute to this... Well, two actually, but one of them is kind of obvious and I learned both in the Army. Interchangeability To the maximum extent possible, does everything run on diesel? Your machines are certainly going to. You may as well use diesel powered wheeled vehicles too. Diesel powered generators, heaters, etc... You have "X" number of wheeled vehicles, probably mainly pickup trucks and full size SUV's, etc. Are they the same brand? Wear the same tire? members of the same manufacturers "generation"? Nothing is perfect, but Thoreau was correct about simplicity. Redundancy Strive for redundant capability, not redundant gear. Things don't always work the way we think they will. There's not much point in having two things that won't work for the same reason. That's all I've got. Good luck though.
This sounds like a real nightmare i am a hour and a half away from a Big City and it takes more than 3 to 5 days on most easy stuff.
Yair . . . ericscher makes a good point lost on many of todays managers/designers . . . "back in the day" much of that line up of equipment could have been specified with 71 series GM engines. Cheers.
I also like the dome sheds set on containers, lots of storage, light, airy and very versatile (much better than a dark green maintenance tent in the desert). I agree with ericscher with respect to redundancy but no longer subscribe to the "travel light freeze at night" methods...If doable/affordable would like two of everything as far as tooling is concerned (air compressors, welding machines, etc.) Also ericsher, who is Thoreau? Regards, Bob
If extreme heat will be an issue during the time period of the project, the insulated reefer containers are not all that much more expensive and the cooling package will run off your generator quite handily.
Thank you for all the advice. Let me give a little bit more context...This a remote location in the Sahara desert. We have been operating in that area for the past year and half. We setup a quarry, a crusher and an asphalt plant in that area without mains power or easy water access. We have been doing a mill and overlay project of an airport runway. This new effort is for the construction of a new runway hence all the earthworks equipment and paving equipment. I am not coming at this totally blind. We have dealt with 120F heat, rainstorms with winds upwards of 60mph, sandstorms, floods... My estimates on parts availability are not guesses, but what we have experienced. We have had to procure parts from Europe, the US and China to deal with mechanical failures and have a pretty good logistics train to make that happen. My concern is not the logistics....We know how to handle that. I am trying to hear about people's experiences in remote locations and the things/tools/methods they have used to maintain this type of equipment. Like I said, parts supply is something we know how to resolve. I just want to make sure that I give the guys the tools they need to do the job. Additional context, we have dirty diesel that will in many cases be contaminated (we know this becuase we have had to deal with multiple fuel pump, injector failures). We are looking at potentially installing a diesel polishing/cleaning machines. I came to this forum to get multiple viewpoints specifically because this is a complex issue and hearing different viewpoints you can start to pull out some common threads and form a reasonable appreciation of the issues involved. Please review the first message on this tread for the list of equipment that will be onsite. We have very capable mechanics and guys used to working in a touch environment. What they have not had is access to the best tools. We are now in a position to provide that. This is how I am envisioning this: 1-Preventive Maintenance 2-Corrective Maintenance 3-Parts and consummables 4-Tools and equipment 5-Staffing 6-Supplies Management 1-Preventive Maintenance: We will be procuring all maintenance kits for all the machines anticipating a total of 3000 hours of operation on all machine. Most machines will have between 4000-6500 hours on them. Based on that all parts will be stocked on site to do the scheduled maintenance 2-Corrective maintenance: This in my mind is obviously where the most challenging aspect of this effort is. Murphy being on the staff, we can expect surprises. Having said that, all we can do is plan for habitual failures based on our field experience (Fuel quality, what we had to fix on our machines before) and that of others on these machines (you guys...). What I need to figure out here after talking to the dealer is what are the parts most likely to fail during 3000 hours or work assuming that we have done a proper inspection of the machines before shipping them Iincluding SOS analysis). If we have a failure for which we do not have the part available, then like I said we can procure it and transport to site, 5-10 days we can handle and is within acceptable bounds. Catastrophic failures of machines is also something we can cover to some extent. We will have machine redundancy for some of the equipment that we are not able to mobilize regionally. 3-Parts and consummables: This is I think is the easy part, it is just a matter of identifying all the kits, gather all the greases, lubricants, oils and shipping...Not going to lose sleep over this 4-Tools and equipment: I need some advice here, beyond the essentials what type of tools can make the difference in being able to restore a machine fast. For example, we will have the necessary devices to read and analyze machine codes. - Compressors - Pneumatic Tools - Tire repair kits - Grease/lubing gear - First aid kits and safety gear - Jacks - Welding equipment - Hand tools - Bench tools(vises, etc...) - Engine lifts - etc...This is the easy stuff...I am sure my guys will give me a longer list, but beyond the obvious stuff are there other tools that one should have onsite? 5-Staffing: Having the right folks for the job. We have 3 of our own mechanics, we will have a mechanic from the local CAT dealer (1000km away) and 2-3 guys from South Africa. 6-Supplies Management: Obviously making sure that we are always stocked and anticipate parts and consumable needs. One thing that I need to take a guess on is how many replacement tires do we need to be on the safe side (Assuming again that we have good tires to begin with). This is long enough. I just watned to provided context. Thank you for all the input. Realized the original list did not include equipment specs: * 6 graders (CAT 120M, 4 of them with GPS) * 8 wheel loaders (CAT 966, CAT 924) * 5 dozers (CAT D4,D6,D9) * 6 Rock dumps (CAT 740) * 4 Case IH tractors with pull scrappers(STX 480) * 10 compactors (2 soil, 6 asphalt, 2 pneumatic) -CAT or HAMM... * Several Passenger trucks (Toyota Land Cruisers, we know how to deal with these) * 2 pavers (Vogele 1800-2, we have a 1600-2 already and know how to maintain and fix it really well, we just had to replace the auger chain and rebuild the whole screed). See pictures of our current installation. We already have a camp setup,we have 3 office containers with AC and plan on installing 2 additional ones for the repair crew as work/storage areas.
Oi....!! I resemble that remark ......!!
hi ,Fulatora in your machine list above you have given general machine types ,machine model designation would help to determine tooling more accurately eg the 966 can vary from mechanical fuel system to fully electronic this goes for the hydraulics and transmissions as well. as for tooling, I would include a hydraulic hose press with an assortment of hoses and fittings to suit, I would also include a nitrogen freezing set up for installing bushes and bearings, you will also need nitrogen charging equipment for accumulators, add hydraulic test gauges and adapter fittings for orfc and jic as the majority of cat equipment will use these. you will also need fuel pump timing gear for the machines with the cat engines eg 120m (timing pins, pump timing brackets etc) don't forget suitable hard standing areas for jacking etc the list can go on, just supply more machine details serial numbers and models Mark
Maybe taking one step back before moving forward, I would look at the machines that are going there first and what exactly the owner/operator is planning on doing with them while they are on site if it is for a period of 12-18 months as per the OP. New or used..? if used how many hours on them..? For machines with higher hours consider overhauling them before sending to site. What is the aim of the maintenance facility..? Preventive & corrective maintenance only or is it envisioned to do anything up to major repair/overhaul of equipment..? The requirement for resources will be vastly different depending on the "mission statement" (for want of a better expression) of the maintenance facility. Basically what I'm saying is that you need to figure out what work will be done on the fleet before you can figure out the resources necessary to do that work.
And just my opinion if there a multiples of an equipment type, say front end loader, I would try to get all in the same model and serial number range. This would make stocking some parts like pre-made hoses easier to justify. One set of hoses spread over 6-8 966K's would not be too bad. Also in the worst case there is a major failure of one machine it could be used as spare parts for the others until it was able to be repaired. Also on the hose front, why not just do a routine change out of most if not all hoses? Better to take the time to do it in a nice clean shop as opposed to in the middle of a sandstorm.
Machines that will be used will have between 3000-6000 hours usage. What is the number of hours above which you would advise an overhaul ? I am sure that will depend on the machine. The job is building a new runway and supporting facilities. The soil is not rocky, more like dry sandy clay. The aim of the maintenance is preventive and corrective. No overhaul intended because of lack of suitable facilities. Corrective also has many degrees, here again we would not be able to do engine rebuilds, undercarriage work, etc...Corrective maintenance will also be limited to fuel injection systems, hydraulics, track repairs, belts, and minor engine repairs. There will be some amount of machine redundancy. Dozers will each have 1 extra machine available, 1 extra grader. We won't have any extra wheel loaders as we can mobilize some locally in case of a catastrophic failure. Several people mentioned hose replacement before shipping. What should I expect cost wise ? Also i realize we will need infrastructure for hose repair and replacement.
After how many hours is hose replacement usually recommended ? How long does that usually take ? We will need to have that capability on the ground regardless.
Thanks Mark for the detailed answers. Machines will be procured in the next few weeks. Which brings up an interesting point. We have. 2007+ requirement on the machines. Based on that, any advice for which machine years are better/more reliable ? Also, we prefer Tier 3 engines because our diesel is 50-500ppm sulfur. We did talk with cat emission engineers and they basically stated that Tier 4 engines from the 7.1 up Allan handle higher sulfur content diesel because of the active after treatment that burns at higher temperatures thereby being able to oxidize the high sulfur content (or something like that ....). Tier 4 engines like the 6.6 (120M, 924) do passive after treatment. CAT has conversion kits for overseas markets. Anyhow, this was just a side note. I would say less electronics would probably be less complex to deal with ...Or maybe not.. Don't know
You have to be very careful regarding the emissions issue. I have recent experience on the Caribbean of used equipment shipped out of the US that would not operate reliably on the locally-available diesel fuel because it had 1600ppm of sulphur. Most people I came across were the "diesel fuel is diesel fuel all over the world" kind of people, they had no idea that fuel varied from country to country and even less idea that an engine equipped with the latest and greatest emissions equipment in the US wouldn't run for more than about 30 minutes on 1600ppm dulphur diesel before throwing in the towel. Cat sell machines all over the world and believe it or not the markets such as the US & Europe that are emissions-regulated are much smaller in terms of units sold than those that are not. Cat refer to it as the LRC (Less Regulated Countries) market and even manufacture machines in the US destined for said market. These machine do not meet US emissions standards and must be exported outside the US immediately after manufacture. TBH if you are taking machines to a high-sulphur fuel environment I would not even consider sending used machines from the US, I'd be enlisting the help of the manufacturers like Cat to identify used LRC machines that are available in other countries. From personal experience I'd not consider anything higher than TIER 2, but if you buy LRC machines they are most likely to have TIER 2 engines in them anyway. Edit: Thinking a little more about this issue I think if it was up to me I'd be looking at buying new equipment with an extended warranty for the period of the contract and get the manufacturers/dealers on board to provide full support for the duration of the contract. Buying used is likely to produce a mish-mash of makes, models, and suppliers - it only makes the maintenance department's job more difficult that it would already be bearing in mind the already adverse conditions of the location and also the probability that equipment uptime will be critical in avoiding penalties for non-completion of the contract on time. Agreed it would be more money to be paid up front (although finance could ease the pain somewhat) but the resale value would be much better at the end of it all. Maybe even a guaranteed buyback of the used equipment at the end of the job..?
On the emission's issue, after talking with CAT engineers in Peoria and looking at some of the available information, Tier4 Interim and Tier4 engines are usable overseas as long as they are the right size or after they have been modified to work with high sulfur diesel, I am attaching an email correspondance with the Tier4 transition lead at CAT. There are kits available in LRC countries for retrofit. Regardless, our aim it to stay with Tier 3 and we have confirm that the local diesel is < 500ppm. Buying new is not an option...This would make our offer non-competitive as new CAT equipment is expensive overseas and has long lead times which we cannot afford to meet the project schedule. Decision has been made to buy used in the US. Now our task is to make sure we can operate reliably. We have operated US imported equipment in Africa before and have high confidence that it will work and can be adapted to the local conditions when needed. We intend to keep the equipment, so resell is not really on the table for us (We are a construction company active in that region). Unfortunately, not being a dealer, I do not have access to the information below. CAT REP EMAIL Quoted below Thank you for the phone call and email on this topic. I would like to direct you to some information on Tier 4 Interim/Stage IIIB used equipment migration. Also note that I have looked at the list of products that you have provided, and I noticed that you have a variety of machine types and emission standard levels ranging from Tier 3 / Stage IIIA to Tier 4 Interim/Stage IIIB. You will want to verify by serial number what emission standard the specific product meets (via TMI and/or the emissions certification group) and whether or not it was built with aftertreatment. If the product does not have any aftertreatment, you do not need to look for a migration kit. If the product does have aftertreatment, please reference the following information to find supporting information. We have a section within dealer.cat.com where we store various Tier 4 Interim/Stage IIIB used equipment migration information. The link to that section is https://dealer.cat.com/en/products/...s-technology/T4-used-equipment-migration.html . Within this section you will find many supporting files such as Factory Authorized Kit releases, position statements, training material, Brainshark training module, as well as third part fuel maps. On the Product Support Information tab in this section, you will find various files for the Factory Authorized Kits that have been released. Please see the screen shot below.
Absolutely fulatoro , I would at least want a single axil two ton truck set up with service bed & hydro crane . Might even add a tandem oil field truck with winch & jen poles to assist the single axil . http://www.truckpaper.com/listings/trucks/for-sale/5928935/1977-kenworth-lw900 You guys building a military airbase ?
A writer. It'd be simplest to google him and read the wiki page for an overview.
This sounds like a real cool project. Please update us with how you go! I have worked out of expanding shops (way, way up north) before, I'll try to upload an image when I get in... Expensive but could work for you.
As far as I'm aware Cat recommends rebuilds in the 12,000 hour plus ranges but that will vary depending on all the variables such as climate, operating conditions and materials, quality of labor and so on. I've seen plenty of iron run in the 20,000 range without total overhaul but there isn't much left at that point. Your biggest issue in your specified hour range will be damage more than actually wearing out depending on your material. You have stated that you have experience there already so you can go back to any prior documentation. How many times did you have to replace cutting edges? Do you have a history on undercarriage life? Four thousand hours is really good on most dozers in light soft materials. Less than 3,000 hours can be expected in hard highly abrasive stuff. What are the conditions with dust? I didn't see a crane on your list but would think that at least a thirty ton would be necessary to set up the quarry or asphalt plants. You will be maintaining equipment and not accomplishing major overhaul which means you will rely on exchange components in the event of a catastrophic failure. Dust an engine, order an exchange in and go back to work in a couple of days of receiving it. Bust a final drive and something is going to have to pick it off the side of the machine and stab the new one in. Most times a service truck 8 ton unit is all you need but what everyone seems to forget is the reach / load chart for one of those units. It may extend to twenty feet but will only pick 500 points at that point. Maybe picking a cab off something will be pretty dicy at that extension. I know a transmission in a 740 haul truck is a stretch and a heavy pick for an 8 ton unit on a service truck. You also didn't mention anything about fire safety. I take it you are in a hot environment. I've seen the results of fires that got the hydraulic oil going. When it is hot it can ignite like lighter fluid. Might think about fire suppression for your machines. I would also highly recommend auto lube systems for that environment. You don't want to be having to address sloppy joints because someone didn't want to grease a fitting that was hard to get to.
Tools: 100-150 track press, I like my otc 100 ton twin ram style because I can use the ram by itself to pull in bushings in booms. I would also recommend a hydraulic torque wrench or two 1" or 1-1/2" drive. Lots and lots of Orc Jack stands. Tool b for removing cat finals. Lots of different sizes of chain com a longs. Dry ice mold for making bricks of dry ice for bushing installs, you'll need co2 bottles to go with it..... TIO
Hydraulic caps and plug kits. A set of kit for every guy. At least 8 of every cap and plug ad each style found on each machine. With sand around everything has to be cleaned before removal and each side capped or plugged. Wheel loaders: loading a 740 with a 966 is do able but definately on the small side, just my two bits on that. A real good set of hydraulic test gauges. A flow meter of about 100 gpm, t fittings to tap inline for testing. Are you wondering about types/ kinds of compressors and welder a etc? Are you going to use your 924 with forks for removing and installing tires? You have lots of tires that fit inside of fenders that can't be vertically hoisted into place. A good nitrogen charging kit for your accumulators but mostly for the struts on the haul trucks. I'm going to say hydraulic torque wrench again just so it's not forgotten! 30,60,100 thru hole Rams all double acting. 30 and 60 ton Rams standard. Good power pack to operate them. Can be the same one for your track press. Lots of different sizes of rigging for lifting 2 ways 4 ways 3 ways, I bolts, bolt on links of every size. Straps for lifting. TIO
100-150 ton shop press A couple sizes of magnetic bearing heaters
Thank you for all the suggestions. I will come up with a list and post here In due time. Looks like we have a lot of procurement to do. Any advice on places to source this ? I know there is the CAT parts store but a lot of the hydraulic caps/plugs and presses probably don't need to come from there. Ditto for stands and nitrogen/dry ice kits.
Thanks for the tips. Yes, advice on compressors and welders. We are currently using Lincoln Electric inverter based welders desert duty. They have held up pretty well.
sounds like quite the adventure, ain't hunting a shop foreman are you? lol
Can you elaborate on scenarios where you would use the 100-150 ton press? Same thing for the bearing heaters. This is for my education and also because we have to be careful not to overdo it and not be able to support the infrastructure in the field. If it is an item that might get used once or twice then it does not make sense due to the logistics costs and efforts needed. Moussa
Yes. Let's not get carried away with worst case scenarios. Thing positive people! It's only a one year job in what sounds like fairly easy conditions, ie. no rock or scrub. My advice would be to spend money getting the machines up to scratch before you ship them out. My spending priorities would be, in descending order; Prep the machines before they go. New U/C for the TTTs. New rubber for the tyred machines. Repair buckets as necessary and new GET all round. 2000hr PM services plus oil samples. Replace any dodgy looking hydraulic hoses. Replace all engine coolant hoses. Clean the coolers. New batteries. Good PM servicing facilities on site, paying extra attention to contamination control. Tyre changing equipment. Hydraulic hose fabrication equipment. Bear in mind that modern Cat equipment has standardised on a fairly limited range of fittings, so to tool up for common hose failures isn't as daunting as it sounds. Other workshop equipment as you see fit. If you cover the above bases, I think you would be fairly unlucky to have any major downtime. One year passes pretty quickly when you're having a good time you know!
Have to agree 101% with Cmark. A very good inspection of all equipment up front with the replacing of any thing, belts and hoses that are not perfect will go a long way toward assuring reliability over a one year project. Not sure of the hours you are projecting to put on each machine but if properly prepped up front and not too abused in use most equipment should be able to run a full year with only basic maintenance. Sure there is going to be a freak failure at some point but should not be enough to shut down an operation. It would be a different story if you were talking about a five to ten year project or one where you were trying to open up a mountain pass through the Himalayas. Don't recall any mention of what I see as the most important link in this project, the manpower running and servicing the equipment. Equipment that is not abused will not need as much shop time to get back in production. Just something as simple as replacing a loose hold-down bolt on a line will save many hours of down time while waiting for a new hose or tube to be sourced. No idea on what local rules might be, need to us local labor?, but having a good human work force that is committed to getting the job done I would think would be a big plus. In my limited experience I have seen the difference a well treated group of people can make on a project. Where if management tries to micro-manage every little detail a project can drag on with nothing getting done while waiting for several layers of management to come to a decision.
What is one looking at cost wise for UC replacement for D6T and D9T type dozers?
Manpower running this equipment will be licensed US personnel. Maintenance crew is a mix of local labor, foreign labor and one or 2 us based guys. One challenge will be introducing the local guys to more advanced maintenance techniques. THey are very resourceful but have not had access to the same type of monitoring and testing equipment that most of you guys are used to.
This is where you need to get your local Cat customer service rep involved. If you tell him you're looking at new U/C on five tractors, he should be able to give you some good discounts. (Once he's picked himself up off the floor and waited ten minutes for his woody to go down a bit)
Cmark's suggestion is the way to go. It would also give you a chance to change things like track shoe type and width to better match the conditions in which the machines will be working when they arrive on site. Also sell the removed undercarriage parts from the tractors as "good used parts" within the US to somewhat offset the cost of fitting everything new. What Cm has suggested is somewhat similar to what used to happen at a construction company I worked for some years back. They did contracts all over the Middle East from Lebanon to Tunisia (and everywhere else in between) but their equipment operation was run out of Abu Dhabi. At the end of every contract the equipment went back to AD and was gone through with the proverbial fine-tooth comb ready for dispatch to another construction contract somewhere else in the area. The whole idea was that the on-site maintenance team could concentrate mostly on Preventive & Predictive Maintenance on machines that were in basically good order when they were delivered to site even though they were not new.
Last construction outfit I worked for did exactly the reverse... it was common for them to buy a worn out machine to do a job, and by the end of the season it would be in much better shape than when they started running it. I used to get a lot of flack for coming in late in the morning. My usual response was that while the owner and his minions were all warm and snug in their beds with full bellies I was out in the cold and wet working with smelly grease covered junk or welding up hot ragged steel, surviving on beef jerky and warm soda til the wee hours so they could run the poor mistreated beasts in the daylight. Good times.
Aye, undercarriage always makes 'em salivate yeah?
Sounds like where I worked except it was a quarry operation not a construction job. Every time they decided we needed some extra equipment to use seemed like for every hour we would use it I spent 3-4 hours fixing something on it. Then when it was working pretty good they would decide someone else needed it and they would ship it out!
How is the process going? Any new information for us followers of your project?
Not yet. It will be slowly developing starting in the next few weeks. I will keep this post updated.
If you guys plan on going through the machines. When you replace questionable but still functional parts with new stuff if the old parts are usable it doesn't hurt to keep them around. The trick is labeling everything you pull off and possibly keeping an inventory of parts. For example A used belt is better than no belt and will buy you a couple days till you can get a new one.
Indeed very good advice.
Or if you find a hose, like a tilt hose on a loader, that is rough, replace it and order a spare. Then be sure to tag it as to what machine it fits and where on the machine it goes.