I'm trying to figure this out and it has been a bit challenging.I understand that it has been said the ctl's are made in south Carolina but what does made mean ? For instance is there parts cut from steel made and welded and painted there or is everything shipped in as some say and just assembled there.It doesn't really matter to me but I would just like to know the answers. Another competitor says their parts are all made in China then shipped to South Carolina and assembled.Is this true ?
Moved this over to the Compact Track loader Forum. I have 2 - 279D's that are made in the USA. Not sure about all the parts though. Have been to the track type tractor plant in Peoria back in the mid 2000's and they take (or did at the time) steel plate at the beginning and rolled out finished tractors on the other end. Competitors will say pretty much anything for a sale.
I worked for Cat in 2007/2008. I was in Supply Chain at the Decatur assembly plant. We had parts coming in from other Cat facilities in the US, components coming in from outside vendors in the US, and parts coming in from out of the country, all to be assembled on motor graders, scrapers, and haul trucks. So, short answer, it varies drastically, depending on where they can get the best quality and value for each part. Like @CM1995 said, we had raw plate steel come in at one end of the plant, parts were cut on lasers and sent to the welders to be assembled. Then frame assemblies went to paint, then on to final assembly where various sub-assemblies and parts were added to build a machine. At the time, most of the Cat engines we used came from the Lafayette, Indiana engine facility. A large chunk of the castings were all poured in the mid-west at various foundries and shipped to the plant. Tires may be US made, may be China made, etc, they varied a lot. As for the CTL's, they're going to be a mix of US made and foreign made parts, assembled at the North Carolina plant.
Did you get to see a finished tractor in the paint booth when you were there? They were spraying the tracks on a D9 while we were there. Jack the tractor up, put it in gear and start slinging the paint on the tracks while they idled past. In Decatur, we received paint by the skid with (4) 55 gallon drums per skid. We would receive several skids of paint per week, I forget the exact number, but it was a lot.
This…..
Yes! Went to the engine plant as well. All of it was fascinating.
I'm surprised with only one color they didn't buy it in totes at least, bulk in tanker trucks would have been my guess.
I was just at a local CAT dealer to pick up a bucket for the 306 (Kubota engine) and took a quick look at some of the compact stuff on site. Dang that new 265 is a nice rig, cab is huge! I took a look at the new engine, which I hear is a Perkins unit but I could not see the info tag on the CTL engine to confirm country of origin. I checked a 303.5 mini and it had a Perkins engine and it for sure said ”assembled in china” on it! Super lame for sure and I will buy a Tak, Kubota or Deere with an Yanmar / Bota power plant before I buy a CAT with a chynah engine ! Can anyone confirm details on the CTL engines?