Dozers Doing Double Duty (p.2)

"We have a family of dozers here," says Drescher. "An operator can get on a 700 and jump right over onto an 850, and they basically operate identically. Within our product line, we've pretty well standardized on the way machines operate, and that is a plus to the contractor. They don't have to do a lot of cross-training. Once you get used to one John Deere machine, you're pretty much used to all of them, and it makes it easy to switch machines back and forth.

"There is no industry standardization yet, but at least the way ours run, it's very, very common between tractors."

At Case, the new 144-horsepower 1650L offers the electronic blade control feature introduced two years ago on the 118-horsepower 1150K Series 3 model, providing simultaneous multi-function application. "That gives you precise control of that blade," says Hughes. "If you need to grade within that quarter-inch, you can adjust that blade accordingly with that electronic controller."

When Case undertakes product development, the three primary areas of concentration are productivity, operator comfort and serviceability, says Hughes. The electronic blade control feature, he says, arguably achieves all three: "It gives the operator much more control of that machine and can make him much more productive than, say, a mechanical controller. From an operator-comfort perspective, with an electronic controller you don't have to use as much lever effort, so that doesn't fatigue you. And from a serviceability perspective, because it's electronic, you don't have the adjustments that you typically would have with a mechanical-style control."

At Komatsu, the introduction of the 130-horsepower D51 to its Dash-22 finish dozer product line likewise reflects a muscling up of the fine work traditionally reserved for smaller dozers. The D51-22 models are upgrades from the 110-horsepower D41-6C machines, "and it's a night-and-day difference between the tractors," says Scott. "Our D41 was a direct-drive, clutch-brake-steering-system unit and it was relatively antiquated, whereas the D51 switched over to being totally hydrostatic, with our cab-forward design for unrivaled visibility."

Scott relates the feedback from customers through Komatsu America's internal field days at the Cartersville, Ga., demo site. "Since we introduced the 51, we've probably put 2,500 customers through there," he says, "and everybody who gets off of that machine just shakes their head and says they just can't believe the visibility of the blade, and how easy it is to operate and finish-grade. People who are not dozer operators get off it and say, 'I can cut a pretty good grade now.' It's just amazing."

When it comes to a single designation meaning many different things, Caterpillar's D6 is king. Within the 100- to 200-horsepower range, three different D6 machines are offered, each with undercarriage configuration options. At one end, the 125-horsepower D6K is the first-ever hydrostatic-drive dozer in the D6 offering; at the other end, the D6T offers an earthmoving force at up to 200 horsepower; in between, the 150-horsepower D6N offers production for customers not requiring the horsepower of the D6T.

And, within the D6T product line alone, four configurations are available:

• Standard offers the shortest-length tracks with standard-width shoes for the lowest wear and cost;
• XL offers extended-length track for improved flotation and stability;
• XW offers a longer, wider undercarriage for good flotation and stability, without the accelerated wear associated with low-ground-pressure machines;
• and the low-ground-pressure LGP offers a long, wide undercarriage with very wide track shoes for best flotation and finish-grading capabilities.

The D6N and D6K are available in either XL or LGP configurations.

The industry has choices in the 100- to 200-horsepower crawler dozer range that reflect the coming together of two worlds — precision and power. With such recent product introductions as Deere's 764 High-Speed Dozer and Topcon's 3D-MC² machine-control system that can increase the smooth grading speed of dozers by 200 percent or more, it's become possible to not only connect but integrate the two worlds.

Look for larger dozers to increasingly do the work formerly dedicated to their smaller brothers.

"I believe so," says Komatsu's Scott, "especially with the innovation of 3D machine control. That will help push that end of the range up, because if the operator couldn't control the machine well enough, certainly the 3D machine control can do a pretty good job."

PREVIOUS PAGE1 | 2The Cost of Ownership Size List Price *Hourly Rate * Hourly rate represents the monthly ownership costs divided by 176, plus operating cost. Adjusted operating unit prices used in the calculation are diesel fuel at $3.96 per gallon, mechanic's wage at $44.79 per hour, and money costs at 4.75 percent. Source: EquipmentWatch.com, phone 800/669-3282 85 – 104 horsepower $113,975 $56.86 105 – 129 horsepower $165,757 $71.30 130 – 159 horsepower $235,480 $88.36 160 – 189 horsepower $277,971 $103.84 190 – 259 horsepower $343,426 $124.15 Crawler-Dozer Specifications (100 to 200 horsepower) Model Operating Weight (lb.) Net Power (HP) Track Frame Ground Pressure (psi) Blade Type Blade Width Blade Capacity (cu. yd.) Source: Spec-Check Xpanded Specs (as of June/08) Dressta TD-10M DD STD 19,395 101 Standard 5.6 6-way (PAT) 9′3″ 2.66 Dressta TD-10M STD 19,395 101 Standard 5.6 6-way (PAT) 9′3″ 2.66 Dressta TD-10M DD LGP 19,645 101 Low Ground Pressure 4.7 6-way (PAT) 9′3″ 2.66 Dressta TD-10M LGP 19,645 101 Low Ground Pressure 4.7 6-way (PAT) 9′3″ 2.66 Komatsu D39EX-22 20,834 105 Standard 6.19 7-way (VPAT) 8′11″ 2.89 Komatsu D39PX-22 21,804 105 Low Ground Pressure 4.69 7-way (VPAT) 10′8″ 3.0 Komatsu D41E-6C 24,140 110 Standard 4.98 6-way (PAT) 10′0″ 3.4 Komatsu D41P-6C 25,400 110 Low Ground Pressure 3.41 6-way (PAT) 10′0″ 3.4 John Deere 700J LT 26,102 115 Long Track 6.8 6-way (PAT) 10′0″ 3.44 John Deere 700J XLT 27,125 115 Extra Long Track 5.9 6-way (PAT) 10′0″ 3.44 John Deere 700J LGP 28,290 115 Low Ground Pressure 4.6 6-way (PAT) 11′0″ 3.75 Case 1150K XLT 27,858 118 Extra Long Track 5.7 6-way (PAT) 10′0″ 3.8 Case 1150K WT 28,665 118 Wide Track 5.0 6-way (PAT) 11′0″ 4.2 Case 1150K LGP 29,365 118 Low Ground Pressure 4.23 6-way (PAT) 11′0″ 4.2 Caterpillar D6K XL 28,409 125 Extra Long Track 6.16 7-way (VPAT) 10′1″ 3.5 Caterpillar D6K LGP 29,690 125 Low Ground Pressure 4.74 7-way (VPAT) 11′0″ 3.8 Komatsu D51EX-22 27,778 130 Standard 6.40 6-way (PAT) 10′0″ 3.5 Komatsu D51PX-22 28,881 130 Low Ground Pressure 4.78 6-way (PAT) 11′0″ 3.8 Dressta TD-12C-XP 32,866 142 Standard 6.8 6-way (PAT) 10′4.4″ 3.6 Dressta TD-12C-XP DD 32,866 142 Standard 6.8 6-way (PAT) 10′4.4″ 3.6 Dressta TD-12C-XP LGP 33,105 142 Low Ground Pressure 4.4 Straight 11′2″ 3.5 Dressta TD-12C-XP DD LGP 33,105 142 Low Ground Pressure 4.43 Straight 11′2″ 3.5 Case 1650L XLT 35,203 144 Extra Long Track 6.2 6-way (PAT) 10′6″ 4.12 Case 1650L WT 36,691 144 Wide Track 5.62 6-way (PAT) 13′1″ 4.12 Case 1650L LGP 37,578 144 Low Ground Pressure 4.63 6-way (PAT) 13′1″ 4.2 John Deere 750J 32,585 145 Standard 7.24 6-way (PAT) 10′10″ 4.23 John Deere 750J LT 34,395 145 Long Track 6.45 6-way (PAT) 10′10″ 4.23 John Deere 750J WT 36,425 145 Wide Track 5.24 Semi-U 12′4″ 5.9 Caterpillar D6N WH Waste Handler 38,224 145 Long Track 7.93 VPAT with Trash Rack 10′9″ 8.4 Caterpillar D6N XL Tier 3 36,497 150 Extra Long Track 7.48 7-way (VPAT) 10′8.8″ 4.16 Caterpillar D6N LGP Tier 3 39,112 150 Low Ground Pressure 4.8 7-way (VPAT) 13′4.6″ 4.13 John Deere 750J LGP 36,725 155 Low Ground Pressure 4.45 6-way (PAT) 13′0″ 4.98 Liebherr PR 724 L 36,768 160 Long Track 6.83 6-way (PAT) 10′6.1″ 4.15 Liebherr PR 724 XL 38,003 160 Extra Long Track 6.26 6-way (PAT) 10′6.1″ 4.15 Liebherr PR 724 LGP 41,230 160 Low Ground Pressure 4.41 6-way (PAT) 12′5.2″ 4.43 Komatsu D61EX-15 36,839 168 Standard 7.68 6-way (PAT) 10′9″ 4.5 Komatsu D61EX-15 Long Track 39,242 168 Long Track 6.54 6-way (PAT) 10′9″ 4.5 Komatsu D61PX-15 41,248 168 Low Ground Pressure 4.83 6-way (PAT) 12′8″ 5.0 Case 1850K LT Series 3 44,269 184 Long Track 9.46 Semi-U 11′2.6″ 7.3 Case 1850K XLT Series 3 46,649 184 Extra Long Track 8.4 Semi-U 11′2.6″ 7.3 John Deere 850J 40,165 185 Standard 7.61 Semi-U 10′8″ 7.29 Caterpillar D6T 40,550 185 Standard 8.74 Semi-U 10′8.3″ 7.34 John Deere 850J WT 41,285 185 Wide Track 6.26 Semi-U 11′8″ 7.62 John Deere 850J LT 43,015 185 Long Track 6.87 6-way (PAT) 12′2″ 5.15 John Deere 850J WLT 44,225 185 Wide, Long Track 5.65 6-way (PAT) 13′2″ 5.57 John Deere 850J WT Waste Handler 44,665 185 Wide Track 6.83 Semi-U with Trash Rack 11′8″ 14.5 John Deere 850J WLT Waste Handler 47,432 185 Wide, Long Track 6.11 PAT with Trash Rack 13′2″ 12.7 Dressta TD-15M Extra 44,335 190 Standard 10.9 Semi-U 11′3″ 7.45 Dressta TD-15M LT Extra 44,665 190 Long Track 9.5 Semi-U 11′3″ 7.45 Dressta TD-15M WT Extra 45,779 190 Wide Track 6.5 6-way (PAT) 12′1″ 5.0 Dressta TD-15M LGP Extra 46,451 190 Low Ground Pressure 5.4 Straight 12′8″ 4.7 Dressta TD-15M LA Extra 51,764 190 Standard 12.4 Semi-U with Trash Rack 11′3″ 14.3 Case 1850K LGP Series 3 49,450 199 Low Ground Pressure 5.4 Straight 12′10″ 4.8 Caterpillar D6T XL 44,420 200 Extra Long Track 8.9 Semi-U 10′8.3″ 7.34 Caterpillar D6T XW 45,723 200 Wide Track 6.72 Semi-U 11′8″ 7.35 Caterpillar D6T XL VPAT 46,690 200 Extra Long Track 9.36 7-way (VPAT) 12′8.8″ 6.19 Caterpillar D6T XW VPAT 47,276 200 Wide Track 7.45 7-way (VPAT) 13′7.8″ 6.67 Caterpillar D6T LGP 48,024 200 Low Ground Pressure 5.15 Straight 13′4″ 4.9 Caterpillar D6T LGP VPAT 50,968 200 Low Ground Pressure 6.35 7-way (VPAT) 13′7.8″ 5.65 Liebherr PR 734 L 45,161 200 Long Track 10.1 Semi-U 11′0.8″ 7.27 Liebherr PR 734 XL 46,290 200 Extra Long Track 9.1 Semi-U 11′0.8″ 7.27 Liebherr PR 734 LGP 48,986 200 Low Ground Pressure 5.97 Straight 13′1.3″ 5.36 John Deere 850J LGP 45,375 200 Low Ground Pressure 4.83 6-way (PAT) 14′0″ 5.87 John Deere 850J LGP Waste Handler 48,906 200 Low Ground Pressure 5.15 PAT with Trash Rack 14′0″ 12.9