has anyone seen this yet??? the cab looks awesome..... i like the looks of it alot..
Very nice!! From the lift cylinders (top hook up) back to the cab seems completely different (picture 4) Also do you think that the lift cylinders look light? I am curious as to what the features on this grader would be compared to the older ones. I would p*ss my pants if I ever got into something like that! :yup
From what i hear from a salesman, they have no steering wheel, use joysticks. that would take a bit to get used to, expecially for thoes that use the grader to plow snow at high speeds. The cab style should help eliminate the 'blind' spot caused by the cab frame.
I don't see any steering wheel in those pics I'd like to see one.
In the latest Construction Equipment magizine I saw, they have a shot of the M-series cab, looking at the seat and the front of the sticks. Problem is that they are still kinda secret, and these field follows have "mittens" that the operator has to put over the controls, so you can't see them. Should be a fun time learnin to run them I'm sure. -Jim
I thought I read somewhere, on here perhaps, that some manufacturer had attempted to switch their graders over to simpler joysticks and that the operators wouldn't run them. Supposedly the majority like the control that the standard configuration offers. I wouldn't know since I have only ever sat in a grader once (at an auction) and wondered where I left my other six arms that would be needed to run it . I have nothing but respect for you guys that run these:notworthy
You guys are right ,there is no steering wheel (enlarged the pictures). I think joysticks would take some getting used to alright. I could understand why an operator would refuse to run one that was equipped that way. I am sure Cat would not design something that was not safe to operate. Most likely something that has state of the art steering controls. We have a Cat dealership not to far from here so I going to find out exactly how it steers, and some of its features. Of course if it is still top secret stuff...... I might have to go in under the cover of darkness
is there anyway you can post those pics??? for us
There is a guy on DHS's forums who apparently got VIP treatment to sit in the situation that Cat has at one of their plants:notworthy , and this is what he says the controls do: "These new Cat graders are something else. I had a chance to try out the cab recently while at the Decatur factory. Once you get past the "wierdness" of no steering wheel and no levers, you will love it. I have operater blades (and all other equipment) for 18 years, and the new control system seems to come naturally. The nintendo generation will pick it up very quickly, but you may be surprised how fast the more experienced operators will get it as well. Each lever raises / lowers its side of the blade as it should be. Steering is on the left, like skid steers and dozers, side shift is on right. Rotate the left lever to circle the blade, rotate the right to articulate. All other functions are on rocker switches easily reached without moving your hands. Anyone who has ever turned around in tight quarters, circling the blade, side shift, steer, all at the same time, will really love doing it without the Hudini like contortions you go through now. Hope that makes it easier to understand. Jerry" PullPan... I'll see if I can get ahold of one and scan it in the PCT library for ya.... :thumbsup -Jim
Same here......I would love to get a chance at running one.
With all the modern technology operating a grader or any machine for that matter is becoming easier and easier. Soon all you will have to do is set in the cab and give voice commands to an on board computer! Or set in an office with a remote control. What ever happened to the good old days when you had to hold the lever ahead with your foot so it wouldn't break your wrist? Or little peep holes for windows, and you had to go by the feel of it instead of being able to see.:crying Technology has come so far even in the last 5 years that it is almost unbelievable. Imagine driving down the road with no steering wheel!!:spaz So I guess for us "old operators" who has been operating these rigs from the beginning of time (or at least it seems that long) can appreciate just how far they have come.:notworthy
Looks Good They look like very nice I have seen a few pics of the cab cant see much of it, but I would love to have a go at the joystick controls!:thumbsup
a new 24M here is what a person said about the new 24M Just got back from Cat factory tour.In Decatur we saw the first 24M.We also saw a 140M set up for a photo shoot and a couple of 14Ms ready to ship for field tests and saw a 797 hot fire test.In Peoria we saw a number of D11s lots of D10Ts and Big Als.Lots of big yellow iron. Brad John, Sorry no pics.They or very fussy about that. No cameras cellphones or packs of any kind. Widetrack,To tell the truth I was not that famillar with the 24H so I dont know of any changes.They both look very about the same.The smaller blades look very different.If you picture a 24 frame [arched] loader engine enclosure [rounded]and dozer cab[triangular]you got it. Red ,Your not a fully vested Cat operator until you have done your seat time at Big Als.By the way They were still talking about you Mich. boys down there. Brad I just thought I would dig this post up as I have learned that field test 24M's will be placed at various sites around the world this June-July. will be the "M" series grader. I don't know when it will go into production, but i saw a mock up cab in Peoria, at Caterpillar's headquarters a few weeks ago. They have, in the M, done away with the central steering column so unique to road graders. Two joysticks and many toggle swithces and buttons to play with. There is still throttle, clutch, and brake pedals. The view the operator will now have is awesome! I wanted to snap a picture, but alas, that wasn't allowed. These new Cat graders are something else. I had a chance to try out the cab recently while at the Decatur factory. Once you get past the "wierdness" of no steering wheel and no levers, you will love it. I have operater blades (and all other equipment) for 18 years, and the new control system seems to come naturally. The nintendo generation will pick it up very quickly, but you may be surprised how fast the more experienced operators will get it as well. Each lever raises / lowers its side of the blade as it should be. Steering is on the left, like skid steers and dozers, side shift is on right. Rotate the left lever to circle the blade, rotate the right to articulate. All other functions are on rocker switches easily reached without moving your hands. Anyone who has ever turned around in tight quarters, circling the blade, side shift, steer, all at the same time, will really love doing it without the Hudini like contortions you go through now. Hope that makes it easier to understand. Jerry I understand we will be getting two of the new 24M graders to test out. But from what I have been told, the cab doesn't look much different than the existing cabs. I guess they opted not to put the new design cab on the 24M's, but they will still have the joystick controls. Brian here is some good info on the new graders huh!!! im am very interested in runnin one of these....
Wouldn't it be an awesome job just to do demos of these machines for different construction companies around the country?:yup
yes sir im up for that any day of the week......
Any idea what type of transmission it has? Autoshift? direct/declutch drive? Torque converter?
i do not know? thats a good question. do u think they would go hystat like the D5's it would be variable ya know......
It certainly would be an interesting development if it were hydrostatic and it would be easier to integrate all-wheel-drive with a hystat system but I will be surprised if it is. I know most of the smaller Cat graders are powershift/direct drive with inching pedal. On the new Komatsu graders you can switch between torque converter drive and direct drive with a switch in the cab... TC drive is great for slow speed aggressive cuts. It will be interesting if Cat follows suit.
At first glance..it looks like the new 700 series Volvo Graders...but I'd love a shot to operate a CAT
Be like going from a volkswagon to a cadillac:wink2
900 series, you mean? Do you know how these are doing? They looked prettty sleek.
Notice the rugged set of rippers on the back. I never had an opportunity to operate a grader with rear rippers. All the ones that I run had the rippers behind the front wheels and they were only light. A John Deere that we used to rent had rippers in front of the grader. Anyone had any experience using rear rippers on a grader? and how did they work?
I operate a 140 g here ion Alberta, and thats almost all any one uses is a rear ripper. my machine has two sizes of teeth. If i ues the large set, all that itll pull is three, and they give you a good depth (over 12 inches) and i can pull a whole set of the little teeth. I think there is 8 of the little ones and penitration is around 8 inches. they are used more for scarifying the ground. because there is so much rock here, the larger ones are a must. They are very handy, but it can get a little hard on the machine and it shakes the operator up a little bit.
I have never ran a blade with rippers in the front, all of them have been in the back. I can't see any pluses for having them in the back, but they are harder to see and if your on uneven ground and your rippers are deep they will easily unload the rear tires.
The rippers mounted behind the front wheels otherwise known as "scarfiers" have 10 shanks. They are good for loosening up material that you cannot cut with your moldboard. Works really well for preparing a road(hardpacked) for chipseal as you can get the material you need to build proper crowns etc. I have used them as well for ripping up old road surfaces (asphalt) when rebuilding a road. At times the asphalt was so thick that I had all the shanks removed except for one. Also they are good for cutting out ice holes in the winter. But again they are light so they would not last long in heavy construction. Yes, probally rear rippers would take some getting used to as you cannot see them and maybe a little hard on the machine and your back but probally a "must" on most construction jobs:yup
We use the 710G and 720G Volvo Graders...my preference is still the Deere grader for power..and overall use...the Volvo's are ok for gravel road machining and doing some light ditch work...but no comparison with a Deere
I ways have heard bad things about Deere blades IYO how do they stack up to Cats and what are the differences IE controls?
i have never been on a blade w/ scarifiers.(up front) very seldom use ripper. sometimeswhen mixing in our solidification area. yuch!!!! doesnt seem to want to break hard pack roads. if i really need to loosen the hard pack i just position one edge of blade directly under cab and apply pressure. that breaks her up quick!!!
A Deere grader is a good machine. You hear good and bad about them all I guess(operator preference) Most graders have the same controls for the blade, for ex. blade lift etc. although the Deere that I run has push switchs for the circle turn and blade slide(didn't like them) How do they stack up to a cat? That is simple enough...they don't.:wink2 farmerted44 The shanks(10) on the scarfiers mounted behind the front wheels are about 3 to 4 inches apart so when ripping it mixes the material really well, and gives you lots to work with. Maybe in the conditions that you describe they might work better than back rippers?
i just got my may 06 Equipment World magazine and got my first look of the joysticks on the new m series and all i gotta say is wow. i wanna run one or at least know the control patterns.. i wanna run one for sure!!!!!!!
Scan us some pics, does it tell you the functions?
Yes, if you could scan the pictures they would be really interesting to see.
i dont have a scanner but im trying to find the ad on line to copy and paste no they dont give you the control pattern....
The advertisement is simply a seat-cushion level shot of the controls -- all you see is the seat and two joysticks. It's a two-page ad (facing pages), so the left joystick is on the left page, the seat spans two pages, and the right joystick is on the right page. All you can tell from the joysticks is that there's a yellow trigger on the operator's left-hand joystick. The non-Caterpillar-official rumor is availability this fall.
There is now a Market Watch update on the Construction Equipment magazine homepage ( www.constructionequipment.com .)
Tryed clicking on your link. It will not work unless you delete the last comma. It will be interesting to see how the controls work. The first one that arrives in my area is going to see my butt in the cab....if the dealership will let me
I fixed it.
here is another artical that i found with more info on this machine here is the link to it LINK check it out
Thanks digger!
Cat M graders I found another little article on the new M series graders. It shows a small picture of the cab and controles. Looks good. Here is the link: http://www.enr.com/opinions/commentary/archives/060515.asp
Good information. Awesome the way they have the joysticks set up. The left is the steering and shifting and the right is moldboard control. Be interesting to see how that works. Lets keep picking away at it, eventually we will know all about it.:yup
Good article, It's interesting though, because I remember hearing that the left and right sticks would still raise lower their side of the blade when you pushed forward or pulled back on them, but we'll see. -Jim
One heckuvan article... thank you! Xing
Here goes... LEFT: Left - Right=steer left - right Forward - Backward=blade left lift/lower/float Rotate (twist) Left - Right=articulate left - right Wheel lean is controlled using two variable pushbuttons on the joystick Upshift/Downshift buttons are on the left, as well as FNR (trigger style) RIGHT: Left - Right=blade sideshift right Forward - Backward=blade right lift/lower/float Rotate (twist) Left - Right=circle left - right Thumbwheel Left - Right=circle sideshift left - right Thumbwheel Forward - Backward=Blade pitch forward - backward Throttle resume is a trigger switch Diff Lock is a momentary switch Hope this helps...
Welcome to HEF! I take it by reading your posts, you operate this type of grader? On edit I will ask my first question...To engage the float, is it push button on the sticks or do you just shove them all the way ahead and they lock?
There is a soft detent on both joysticks. Push the joysticks forward past the soft detent (no more than five seconds), and the blade is in float. The joysticks will return to normal position. All you need to do to take the blade out of float is move the joysticks toward raise or lower. Thanks for the welcome!!
I know the older cats were a lot more responsive, as in faster on the controls than for example the champions. Is the M series even quicker? How much travel is there on the stick for the blade lift? Sorry to bother you with these questions, but you seem to be very knowledgeable on this subject.
The controls are pretty sensitive. Almost too sensitive. You have to really pay attention when steering while operating, because it's very easy to get unwanted blade movement while steering. When you have to move the machine and not perform any grading, it's best to lockout the implements (it's painful and humorous at the same time to watch your buddy drop one side of the blade into the pavement while steering the machine). I would say the stick movement fore and aft for blade control isn't more than a couple of inches each way (less than 10 degrees each way from center).
Can't remember where I found this but it shows the joysticks in a cab on a display somewhere. Theres a bit of talk around the site on on about possibly getting a 24M out there (we currently have 6 x 24H's) which would be unreal, sorta like playing nintendo.....
I was thinking about the steering and the blade lift. I could see a person getting into a mess quite easily. During grading and levelling operations at times you have lift/lower and keep your grader straight, and also at times you have to lift while steering the grader to the left or right. I think probably that this would be the most difficult function to master. :IMO Ah well, practice makes perfect...it sounds like one heck of a machine On edit...Great pics Cat Dr.
Looks a lot nicer than our 503 Galion :thumbsup
Does it look like this one?
I hear that Cat is having issues in extreme cold weather climates with the thing steering. What I want to know if this system is soooooo great....they why does the intro date keep getting pushed back?:beatsme Seems to me like they can't get their stuff straight.
The machine steers just fine in cold weather. If the oil temp is too cold, the machine will activate an alert on Messenger to the operator ("Steering Function May be Limited; Oil Temp. Low"). Obviously cold oil doesn't flow as well as warm oil, and any function (Implement, Steering, or otherwise) will be limited. Regardless of the machine.
I experience the same condition in my pilot controlled 248. On initial startup in cold weather, input response is sluggish and delayed. There's a warning to that effect in the owner's manual and after 10 t0 15 minutes operation it goes away.
Wow these designers think of everything these days... sounds like a really neat function
:lmao You guys crack me up! :crying
One could understand why Cat has emphasized the steering diagnostics on the new graders. The steering sensors are triple redundant (there's three of them), and each sensor inputs to two different ECUs. There are two separate power supplies to the steering lever from two different ECUs as well. The premise is if an ECU fails, then the other ECU takes over. Same with the sensors. If one sensor fails, the family in the minivan won't be wiped out, as there are two other sensors to provide input. There is a cylinder position sensor in each steering cylinder as well, and each of these sensors receive power from two separate ECUs. So far, so good.... Now, the steering CYLINDER position sensors and the steering LEVER position sensors are constantly monitored by the ECUs. If the operator commands steering and no input is received from the cylinder sensors or the cylinders move the wrong way, active diagnostic codes will be activated (Perform Safe Shutdown), and secondary steering will be activated. Steering has four modes: Primary steering valve/Primary steering solenoids, Primary steering valve/Secondary steering solenoids, Secondary steering/Primary solenoids, and Secondary steering/secondary solenoids. Secondary Steering will also be activated if main hydraulic pressure falls below 750 psi during steering command. But wait, there's more! If the signal from any of the three lever position sensors is varied more than 5% from the other two, diagnostic codes will be activated. If one sensor fails, a code will be activated, but the machine will continue to run normally. Ignore the loss of one and lose a second? The machine still operates normally, but you will have to operate all day with an annoying alarm in your ear. Lose three? You're up S#$t Creek. But hey, the system gave you fair warning. The odds of losing one sensor? Possible. Two? Possible, but unlikely. Three? You'd better go home and hide under the bed for awhile; it's not gonna be your day. If the cab temperature is less than -40 degrees F/164 degrees F, the steering is shut down until cab temperature is regulated. Why? The joystick has a nonreplaceable current-limiting fuse, so the joystick is thermally protected to avoid replacing a joystick due to an electronic fuse (trust me, the joysticks are NOT cheap).
activeorpassive... is this grader front wheel steer or rear wheel steer as well? I was wondering whether rear wheel steering (if equipped) is tied in to the same joystick? I like the sound of the technology and like you say, electronic controls are very reliable. I would be concerned about the cold weather sensitivity though especially in our climates.
No rear wheel steering option available for any M Series Grader in the line. All of the Graders will have articulation, which is controlled by the same joystick that controls steering.
The M-series graders are now up on Cats webpage. All technical data is there. http://cmms.cat.com/cmms/servlet/ca...06&langid=en&rgnid=NACD&view=cat&familyid=468 I really hope some more of the M-series graders make it into 1:50 scale models. The 140M will be released this year but I wouldnt mind a 16M or 24M...
Thanks for the link Metal Dragon Boy:notworthy
:beatsme were do you put the key :lmao sorry had to ask about the little things lol
To the right side of the centre console/dashboard (See Pic) Cheers!
there are alot of great features of the new M series. but there is one i like the most, i ran a simulator at the local Cat dealership and there is a button on the left joystick that automatically brings you back to center when articulating. i like everything on the right joystick felt natural but the left with the steering will take a few days to get use to.
Emergency steering on the Cat M. I hear that Caterpillar wont get a CE sertificat in Europe because of the steering system. If you loose electricity you loose control over the steering. Rumours say they have to install a stearing wheel with an orbitrol that functions everytime. Do anybody of you guy's no anything about this topic?
steering I have also heard a rumor that cat is looking at installing a steering wheel. this came from a sales man at the the local cat dealership here. said that it might have to be done for some of the older operators and government operators. I dont make it up, I just report it. Said that they are also delaying the release of the M till the fall, giving them some more time to sort out little issuses in the machine. That likly why I havent seen one around here yet.
New to this I'm kinda new to this forum stuff. I've got a question about this 140M. Has anybody had any experience in this machine? I run a 94 Cat 140G for the county government here and just recently been informed that my old "G" is getting traded next year for this new machine, "without a steering wheel" How does it handle and how do you like it? Any response or help would be greatly appreciated. I'm a little leary about giving up my old blade!
Welcome to the forum Cat140G :drinkup Some of the guy's have tryed the similators and plowking tested a 14M. I have never tryed/tested/operated any of the M series and probably never will :crying There is a lot of discussion and pictures here on the forum concerning the M series, so just search around a bit. Really, if your department is going to get one for you all I can say is you lucky dog!! Don't be hesitant to give up your old blade, just jump on your new horse and don't look back. You work for the county government huh? Know any government jokes? ointhead
Welcome to HEF Cat140G! :drinkup
Thanks for the hospitality I'm kinda anxious about trying this M out, but on the flip side, I'm nervous as hell. The county I work for has several 140 H's and 12 H's, our Cat rep says the H Series is a thing of the past, that you won't even be able to get a 140 H. I guess I'd better start doing some homework on this new technology. Sorry, I haven't got a good county jokes, but if I hear one I'll pass it on!!:drinkup
Cat M series simulator - sorta. Hi, Cat140G. Firstly, welcome to this little corner of cyberspace, so kindly provided for us by Steve Frazier. Now about the 140M. Almost universally, the feedback from those who have had the chance to try a simulator or use the real thing is that they are great and don't take a lot of getting used to. The extra visibility seems to be VERY popular. If your county, or anybody else local to you, has a 4wd loader with joystick bucket AND joystick transmission/steering controls, I'd suggest getting on that for a while to get the feel of not having a steering wheel to play with. I have not yet been on either an M series simulator or the real thing, but I have had some seat time in all joystick loaders and I loved 'em. You can be ultra-smooth with them with minimal effort. I've run both Cat and Kummagutsa machines and liked 'em both. Mind you, one does tend to become just a little lazier and a little fatter unless one gets out and get some extra exercise to make up for the work one is NOT doing. Trust me to see a downside. LOL.
LOL, I can relate to that, the getting fat and lazy part. I can barely bend over and tie my boots without gasping for air it seems. I asked my foreman about trying out a simulator at the nearest Cat dealership, he was going to do some checking. I just gotta say this, the response I've been getting here is just awesome. You guys on here have been great!! Thanks a million!!!!!!!!!!!!
My question is this, I am plowing snow down the road in 7th gear, I hit a bridge abutment or manhole, or hump in road which stops me fast, will it make my hands go forward and make the moldboard jam down and tear up the blacktop? or the grader? Any body who has ever plowed snow in a blinding blizzard knows you will hit something sooner or later. Just a thought that I dont believe anyone has experienced or thought about yet.
Now take it from me as I have plowed snow with a grader for 25 years or so. If you hit something and fetch up travelling in 7th gear, tearing up blacktop is going to be the least of your concerns. Bridge abutments are pretty unforgiving :OMG
Hi, Grader4me. Quote: "Bridge abutments are pretty unforgiving. " Unquote. How do you know????????????
LOL...I can honestly say I have never hit one, but a manhole cover on the other hand...
I can laugh. Hi, Grader4me. I can laugh about this topic. You see, I've never had the dubious pleasure of having to clear snow and I'm quite happy for it to stay that way. If I hit a manhole cover, it is because some clown has buried it on a new sub-division when it oughtn't to have been buried. At that stage of the proceedings, they usually have a bit of 'give' in them - which can sometimes result in some poor, long-suffering labourer having to get down the hole with a shovel and clean it out.
Ahhh...Then you haven't experienced the pure glorious fun of plowing snow. Maybe you should consider a trip to the great white north (the land of KoO) before you kick the bucket?:wink2
Plowing Snow When I'm out plowing snow, we've got tire chains on the back tires, 7th gear would beat the crap out of you even if don't hit anything. I plow in 5th gear and have hit my fair share of abutments, it hurts like hell!! I'd like to wish everyone a great and safe Labor Day weekend:drinkup
How about bridge expansion joints? Those really put an end to an already long day. I wonder how they will set up wing controls in the new grader? We have a town nearby that has purchased one, can't wait until it comes in.
I have never had to use snow chains. Ive herd that they will beat you sensless if you not careful. I do happen to know about the expansion joint, and what about manholes? you can travel over the same one all winter and then on a mild day, it will have risen that last deadly 1/8,1/4 inch and thats all it takes to bring you to a dead stop. thank goodness that there are none to hit on the highways. I dont want to imagine what it would be like hitting one in high gear. Its bad enough when the wing hits somthing, or gets to low and digs in. I have gotten a 90 degree view of a farmers field in a split second. then comes the trouble of trying to back out of the ditch and getting straight again. As for the controls for the m series wing, there is a 'palm' shaped hand rest that has 4 finger tip controls and I think there was a little 'joystick' for the thumb under the section labeled 'test drive' i think, I posted a few pictures of the controls.
Expansion joints & Chains & Manhole covers Getting away from the orginal topic but... Hey! I can shed some light on the dangers of plowing snow...In case someone is going to plow with a new "M" series grader Okay, first is the deadly expansion joint. These can cause a lot of damage to equipment. Even going very slow if your plow/wing/moldboard catchs it can cause damage. As Deas aked me "how do you know?" in the above post, Believe me I know Next is manhole covers. As PlowKing mentioned the dam things either raise or the road settles down around them during the winter. First time out with my new Champion grader I was plowing along and struck one of these with the new plow in the front. Luckly it did bounce over but not without making a nice bow in the plow first:crying I have also hit them with the moldboard taking the whole top portion of the manhole cover with me, leaving a gaping hole in the road. So back I go and fish it out of the snow bank and wrestle it back in place:Banghead Last is tire chains. I had to use these all the time due to hills. If your chains are constructed with a cross chain in every fourth link then you are going to have a rough ride. When you make your chains put the cross chain in every other link. It makes the chain twice as heavy but levels out your ride and you have better traction. Also if you break a cross chain while plowing, get out and tie it up with haywire or it will beat and flap driving you crazy, and it could also bust a brake line. As I say off topic but I just couldn't stop myself
First "m" Series "cat" Grader In Southern Hemisphere !!! Hello fellow Members worldwide !!! On Wednesday,6th September, 2007, the first "CAT" "M" Series grader in the Southern Hemisphere, a "16M", arrived at my local Dealer, Gough Gough & Hamer Ltd, here in Christchurch, New Zealand. This machine was sold to a Company who have opened up a new goldmine at Reefton in the South Island, I was fortunate enough to be able to view the machine, in the workshop receiving it's pre delivery check prior to delivery. WHAT A MACHINE !!!, I climbed into the cab and sat in the seat, yes it did seem rather unusual with no steering wheel. The grader Serial No is B9H 000112, and is beleived to be No 6 off the production line (service manager checked this out for me), I am sure that the new "M" Series will lead the grader industry through the next 3 decades, as did the "G" & "H" Series has done since the mid 1970's, and set new goals and standards for others to admire but not equal !!! Congratulations to Caterpillar Inc on such a revolutionary machine, to again lead the World with the benchmark that it will set !!!! CONGRATULATIONS CATERPILLAR !!!! Alan T.Lewis Christchurch NEW ZEALAND
Welcome to the forum CAT 24H :drinkup Great enthusiasm! Would it be safe to assume that you are a Cat fan?
Welcome to HEF CAT 24H! :drinkup
140M Videos Hi All, I found some 140M videos I thought I would share, If nobodys seen them yet...... http://youtube.com/watch?v=czgb2sssxhI http://youtube.com/watch?v=p89keHvfoL8
Wow! Thanks for sharing and welcome to the forum! Excellent!:thumbsup
Welcome to HEF 4X4X4RV! :drinkup
Wow! Good videos, thanks for posting and welcome to HEF's :drinkup
I would imagine an impact like this would cause the operator to push the levers forward far enough to activate the right and left float, taking some of the severity out of the impact. Otherwise...OUCH. And I agree with a previous post. The blacktop would probably be the least of one's worries!
those graders are really big compared to the old cat 140h's
140m's haven't arrived in perth yet. my boss priced one last week $420.000 gone up alot on the 140h ii $380.000
controls on a 140m There was a 140m sitting in a dealers yard today so I climbed up and took some pics of the joysticks.
Pike Industries a paving company here , just brought in a 140m to regrade a ski area p-lot that the company used to store grindings in. Very impressive machine. Makes the 140h look very small.
Hi guys! New forum member here...just wanted to say...thanks for the great pics of the 140M. Word has it the highway maintenance contractor I work for up here on Vancouver Island BC, Canada has bought one of these and is going to move it into our area. Apparently it will be used to maintain the west end of Head Bay Road (the Tahsis end). I'm considering taking an operator position on it (love the look of it) if I can get time on a Finning simulator first. I'd like to get a jump on the training offered by the company that way. I've been operating a 14H grader on this dangerous mountain pass road for five or six years now, including snow removal, so I'm pretty sure I can handle the 140M, but the difference in controls should prove to be a bit of a challenge. I did some advanced training with an old-timer not long ago and he said he was on the 140M simulator and it didn't take him long to get used to it, so I'm eager to try it now. Anyway...thanks again for the pics of the controls, etc. I might be operating one of these full-time within the next two or three months.
Welcome to HEF Plowman! Look forward to your posts!
Welcome to Heavy Equipment Forums ThePlowman! :drinkup
welcome here ThePlowman:notworthy,glad to see another member from Canada!
Thanks for the great welcomes, guys! I look forward to good discussions with all of you! I have alot of experience in forums, but have never joined one focussed on heavy equipment (even though I've been operating heavy equipment for years). So this should be interesting!
Awesome!!! I am a retired Finish Blade hand and I saw one of these on the corner by my house . I love the visibility of the machine. The slope on the engine compartment allows better visibility to see ground men and others. I would love to run one of these Blades. Having run everything from a 12 E to the H-Series my hands and fingers would get a workout on the days when I worked overtime hours . The repetitive movements can take its toll on your joints after a number of years in the form of Carpal tunnel . I like the idea of simplifying the steering without a steering wheel. I always felt that the steering wheel got in the way . The only thing I can think of to caution about the front wheel drive configuration is not to have a heavy foot while articulating because I have seen more than one blade hand turn their rig over by doing just that . Easy does it ! Control is more important than speed.
Hi Guys, One time I was plowing snow with a 16G with chains on and hooked a big fir stump at the edge of the project road. The blade made a loud pop and no more circle reverse. Another time on an old model 12, new then, I was late for catching the manhaul for quiting time and hit a solid rock along the edge of the road. The only damage was to me as I was standing up and had a pipe in my mouth. Yes I hit the windshield and 80% of the pipe was down my throat instantly. When I got to town I purchased a new pipe, full bend. My wife asked me why I was talking funny. That was also the last time I ever put the blade on the ground while standing up.
Where do you get time on a simulator never new they even had one
They have had one on a tour of dealers. Don't know if it is still going around, but you can ask at the local dealer. They also have it at the shows like Con-expo, which is where i got to try it.
M Series Cat Blade I wouldn't go as far as to say that in any respect is Cat behind any other design as far as the Blade itself . I have run the 12 E,12 F,140G/14 G, 16G,140 H/14 H over the last 32 years . I am sure that operator preference is at the top of the list for any machine , but Cat has improved the Grader Line in leaps and bounds . They are second to no one in the same given field , however the M-Series offers enough updating to prove that there is always room for improvement . The updated controls are evidence of that for sure . I only wish they had come a lot sooner , as it would have saved many from carpal-tunnel syndrome from the repetitive control use at the end of a long shift . I for one would have appreciated that . I am retired now , but would run one for free just for a chance to enjoy the the next step that Cat Tractor's has made available. No doubt the changes increase safety with the better visibility. I remember the 12 E I started out with and how poor the visibility was , it was all about "the feel" and the blade hands back in the day definitely felt it by noon , if they worked it hard . My safety record over 32 years wasn't easy given the lack of visibility over the back end of the machine . Other tradesmen that work around you never think about the safety of stepping behind a blade. If they only knew what we couldn't see beyond 15 feet from the back of the tractor. There is no "feel" to the new generation blades ,it is all about what you see now.