The tires were taller than me. It ran like a locomotive - diesel generator driving electric motors. Hybrid too. Everything including steering was by joystick. It was a monster. A cool million.
The bizarre thing is that this 1 million dollar machine had a cheap, Deere, AM FM radio in it. I think they should sound proof the heck out of the cab, and put a Mark Levinson audio system inside, with sub woofers, high powered amps and 8 speaker surround sound.
Bose noise cancelling headphones will do. Then you can't hear the screams from the old lady in a Prius who followed you to the gravel pile you scooped from.
Strange thing - that radio was probably an option. No Cat loader, even one costing 3 times the price of that Deere, would come with a radio or sound system in it. The options catalogue for audio probably runs to a couple of pages. As Mick Dundee would say - "That's not a loader. THIS is a loader." $3.2m to you sir, at least it was when the customer bought it last year. First things electronic to go in the cab of that one were 2 comms radios, the GPS & dispatch system, and the controls for the fire suppression. It measures 60ft nose to tail and sits 24ft high to the top of the ROPS.
Never mind the loader, I want those tire chains!
So Emmett, when are you taking deliver on it? Might work good plowing the driveway this winter!
Just like the radio - "that'll be extra sir". $60k each IIRC. Actually even the tyres weren't included in the purchase price, the customer supplied them.
That's funny when the tire is an oversized load to plan for.
If this is a new size and model for deere, i wouldn' want one for a couple years until they get the bugs worked out. Never buy the first of a new model anything unless you like being a guinea pig
Wether the CAT or DEERE, cardio workout just getting in the drivers seat! What I find amazing is what man can build /achieve, and yet we can't cure or fix certain cancer(s) etc.
They all look nice for the first week or two of working. The measurement of the machine though is done with the numbers on the spreadsheets and data bases after eight or ten thousand hours.
I take it these are used in a quarry? Life span of the machine and do the companies that purchase these trade them in or just run till they die?
Capital Quarries is the pits I run out of the most, they run the loaders until cost prohibitive to repair then are scrapped. Current Loaders are primarily Deere 944K series. 1& 2/3 buckets nets my truck 20+ton, digital readout for operator, can get within a few hundred pounds of absolute load.
Holy Crap! And how many hours day do they run????
Even in loaders, size matters.
10 to 12, five days a week unless drop a wall for crushing then 12-14 per day/six day weeks.
capital quarries - Google Search They also use 988 Cats and a few Excavator series either Deere Hitachi or Cat.
Is it a 994? Florida rock had a couple of them feeding and taking away from the crusher in Bay side NB
Can't even fix the machine. Everything is computer controlled. Computer fails, you're screwed. Might have been ten people knew how to fix the year manufactured, a few years later, two in the country.
Deere seems to be kind of funny about that repair stuff. Most of the field wrenches though are happy to show you the guts of the diagnostic stuff.
At risk of derailing the thread, my new to me backhoe is back from the "Authorized Case Servicing Dealer" Until very recently they were a sales & service dealer. It had been in alarm mode for several issues. Fuel gauge drops out when the tractor is sharply pitched on steep ground. Water sensor at fuel filter seems bad. It was giving several transmission related codes, and wouldn't go into first gear. Dealer solved the transmission problems with a reprogram of the computer, ordered parts for the water sensor, and fuel gauge sender two weeks ago, they haven't arrived. We picked it up (80 miles each way trip). Before loading it, drove it around a minute or two, sure enough, it flashed two new trouble codes. The road mechanic was there, he came out to the parking lot with his laptop, cleared them. It's my belief that computer controlled machines are NOT for buyers of used machines. As they age, the people able to fix them will fade into non existence.
Just saw it in another thread. When new there were 10 guys in the country that knew how to fix it. After retirements and moving on to other jobs there might be 2 left in a few years. It is by design.