Construction Equipment articles from March 2008

Construction Equipment archives from March 2008

Self-Sealing Tires Slash Costs for Hauler.
March 1, 2008... By Tom Berg, Truck Editor DuraSeals end most of an Alabama-based fleet's $130 service calls for flat tires Is anything more frustrating and disruptive to hauling operations than a flat tire? Esfeller Construction Co. in Coden, Ala.,...

Where the Rubber Becomes the Road.
March 1, 2008... By Walt Moore, Senior Editor A look at asphalt-rubber's potential to improve pavement performance As the story goes, Charles McDonald towed a small camper-like trailer as he made cross-country trips investigating highway-material...

Excavator Tools at Work.
March 1, 2008... Staff Gradall Staff Uniquely designed for Gradall excavators, the Telestick boom extension increases the reach and range of the XL 4000 excavator model to 45 feet 9 inches. The working end of the Telestick can be equipped with...

Make Room In the Family.
March 1, 2008... By Mike Anderson, Senior Editor Reduced-tail-swing machines are in the medium-sizedexcavator marketto stay The one-size-fits-all approach is about as far removed from the general excavator market today as the use of cables. As...

Buying File Gallery.
March 1, 2008... By Staff Hitachi Mike Anderson Reduced-Swing Model Among Offering The Hitachi Zaxis 200LC-3 and reduced-swing-radius 225USLC-3 excavator models offer such enhancements as Tier-3-complaint engines, faster hydraulics, a...

Recycled Concrete: First Rate in Second Life.
March 1, 2008... By Walt Moore, Senior Editor Recycled concrete from highways, runways and bridges is proving a valuable resource that can help make road-building a greener process Where can you get your hands on some of the best aggregate around for...

Stick It for Safety.
March 1, 2008... Rod Sutton, Editor in Chief Just in time for Conexpo-Con/Agg 2008, we're giving away a free sticker. But it's not a spiff to take home for the kids. No, this sticker serves a serious purpose: It's designed to save lives. The sticker...

Little Toro Takes a Big Grab.
March 1, 2008... By Mike Anderson, Senior Editor Grapple rake attachment is designed specifically for Dingo compact utility loaders Less is more for the Dingo compact utility loader. As such, by ensuring the Toro's mini loader carries a smaller grapple...

Decentralize Decisions, Centralize Standards.
March 1, 2008... By Mike Vorster, Contributing Editor Here's how to use the best of both organizational philosophies to manage an equipment fleet An equipment-intensive organization must decide how to establish its fleet-management structure in such a...

On Site with Bobcat's Biggest...and "Remotest".
March 1, 2008... By Walt Moore, Senior Editor Operators Scott Mennenga and Chris Tomblin run two new Bobcat products - the S330 loader and the radio-remote-control system Place a loader equipped with Bobcat's new loader-radio-remote-control system in...

The Marion Superfront.
March 1, 2008... By Keith Haddock, Contributing Editor Billed as "the biggest breakthrough in shovel design since the first steam shovel," it was based on the strength of the triangle and the lever principal, laws of physics rooted in antiquity It was...

JCB Introduces First Four Models In Redesigned Loadall Line.
March 1, 2008... By Rod Sutton, Editor in Chief P90 Series telehandlers offer stability, upgraded cab and controls JCB's P90 series telehandlers includes a new 10,000-pound unit that reaches to 56 inches and tops out the high-boom Loadall line. Three...

Recipe for Tier 3 Reliability.
March 1, 2008... Larry Stewart Diego Navarro, John Deere's service marketing manager, boiled down the affects of Tier 3 emissions standards on the maintenance of off-road diesel engines for equipment professionals gathered at Chevron's 2007 Construction...

Grove GTK1100 Makes Inaugural Lifts.
March 1, 2008... Staff When Construction Equipment initially reported on the GTK1100 high-lift crane in the February 2007 issue, we quoted the Manitowoc Crane Group (MCG) as saying that the new crane was "launching a brand-new technology for the world's...

Caterpillar Drives It, Then Builds It.
March 1, 2008... Staff Thanks to modern technology, the ability to test-drive an off-highway truck doesn't necessarily mean the truck's even hit the road yet. In the process of upgrading its mechanical-drive mining trucks and rolling out two new AC...

Values Continue Down.
March 1, 2008... Staff Values have declined 3.9 percent in the past six months, with only scissor lifts bucking that trend. Excavator values have fallen 7.6 percent; dozer values are flat. Compaction equipment values have declined 8.3 percent in the...

Stimulus Act Affects Depreciation.
March 1, 2008... Staff The Ecomonic Stimulus Act may encourage equipment purchases in 2008, including bonus depreciation on new equipment. New equipment purchased this year can be depreciated 50 percent. Expensing levels were also increased by the...

Service Intervals: Extend but Verify.
March 1, 2008... Staff "A lot of people call us - especially other equipment owners from here in Connecticut - asking about different maintenance products: bypass filtration, synthetic oils, fuel additives, that sort of thing," says Jim Zambero, vice...

Wet Rocks and Good Advice.
March 1, 2008... Staff Bridgestone Firestone North American Tire (BFNT) recently held an "Off-Road-Tire Boot Camp" for industry journalists at its Bloomington, Ill., facility, which makes a range of large off-highway tires, including the giant 70/70-57...

Adequate Aftertreatment.
March 1, 2008... Staff Excellent article on a complicated topic (Breathing Easier with Aftertreatment,January). There is a lot of controversy about the lack of adequate retrofit devices approved by the California Air Resources Board so far, but there is no...

Status and Forecast.
March 1, 2008... By Jim Haughey, Director of Economics Total Construction Spending Jim Haughey Total construction spending dropped an outsized 1.1 percent in December, bringing the 2007 decline to 2.7 percent. Small declines will continue at least...

It's Not Too Late to Sample Diesel Retrofits.
March 1, 2008... By Larry Stewart, Senior Editor Firms that try emissions-reducing technologies now will know how to bid best in the very near future THIRD In A Series Diesel emissions regulations that require equipment owners to clean up the...

Arctic Cat.
March 1, 2008... By Larry Stewart, Executive Editor Arctic Cat's Prowler XTX 700 is powered by a liquid-cooled, 695-cubic-centimeter engine through automatic transmission and two-wheel/four-wheel drive axles with lockable differential. The compact utility...

Land Pride.
March 1, 2008... By Larry Stewart, Executive Editor Land Pride's 20 Series Treker offers a high-performance CVT clutch and torque converter system that accelerates harder, holds the drive belt on the pulley better for climbing severe slopes, and sustains a...

Polaris.
March 1, 2008... By Larry Stewart, Executive Editor The Polaris Ranger Crew stretches the transportation limits of traditional compact utility vehicles with the capacity to carry six (trim) people at a time and 1,750 pounds of payload. A 700 Twin EFI...

Toro.
March 1, 2008... By Larry Stewart, Executive Editor With four-wheel drive, payload capacity up to 2,725 pounds, and 26.5-horsepower B&S Daihatsu diesel engine, Toro's Workman utility vehicle can be a strong platform from which to work. That's why there are...

Yamaha.
March 1, 2008... By Larry Stewart, Executive Editor Yamaha went to a 686-cubic-centimeter engine with fuel injection for the 2008 Rhino 700 FI Automatic 4x4. The Ultramatic transmission keeps constant tension on the drive belt to avoid unnecessary wear and...

Honda.
March 1, 2008... By Larry Stewart, Executive Editor Coming this summer, Honda's Big Red compact utility vehicle will be powered by a liquid-cooled, 675-cubic-centimeter engine with fuel injection and overhead valves. Three drive modes manage the power, and...

Club Car.
March 1, 2008... By Larry Stewart, Executive Editor The four-seat, SE version of Club Car's Carryall 295 has higher ground clearance and standard all-terrain tires, and offers a bench/bucket combination. Carryall 295s offer a choice of gas or diesel...

Bobcat.
March 1, 2008... By Larry Stewart, Executive Editor The 2300 is the only utility vehicle on the market that offers a joystick-controlled attachment system. Mounted on the front of the 2300, the RapidLink lift arm can be used with various Bobcat attachments...

Cub Cadet.
March 1, 2008... By Larry Stewart, Executive Editor Fuel injection in the new Cub Cadet 4x4 EFI pushes the 748-cubic-centimeter Kohler Aegis engine to 31 horsepower to deliver 100 pounds more payload (1,400 pounds total) than Cub's standard 4x4 and top...

ASV.
March 1, 2008... By Larry Stewart, Executive Editor The 4,600-pound ASV Scout ST-50, powered by a 50-horsepower Perkins diesel, will carry 4,000 pounds of cargo and tow 5,000 pounds. Its pair of 15-inch-wide rubber tracks are nearly 5 feet long, protecting...

John Deere.
March 1, 2008... By Larry Stewart, Executive Editor John Deere extended its Gator lineup with the XUV 4x4, available with either an 854 cubic centimeter, 3-cylinder Yanmar diesel rated at 24.6 horsepower or a 617-cubic-centimeter, electronically...

Feterl.
March 1, 2008... By Larry Stewart, Executive Editor PUG's Frontier 4x4 heavy-duty utility vehicles feature a three person bench seat, 1,200-pound capacity cargo bed, 1,500 pounds of towing capacity, and electronically engaged four-wheel drive. An...

Kawasaki.
March 1, 2008... By Larry Stewart, Executive Editor Kawasaki brought a diesel option to its Mule 3010 Trans4x4 last year and added electric power steering (EPS) to the diesel unit for 2008. The Trans4x4 is designed as a four-passenger compact utility...

Kubota.
March 1, 2008... By Larry Stewart, Executive Editor Kubota's RTV1100 is the first and only compact utility vehicle with a factory-integrated cab with air conditioning, heater, and defroster as standard equipment. RTV900 Worksite Utility and Turf Utility...

Engines Now Mostly Aligned with Trucks.
March 1, 2008... By Tom Berg, Contributing Editor Vertical integration continues to reduce the number of diesels and other components in heavy-duty trucks. Does anyone buy trucks to get a certain engine anymore? Yes, but loyalty to engines - and...

Hybrids and Alternative Fuels Can Save Money, If...
March 1, 2008... By Tom Berg, Contributing Editor If government incentives are factored in, specialty vehicles can be paid forin a reasonable time, and meanwhile they help clean the air. Toyota and its Prius, the country's best-known hybrid vehicle,...

Multiplexed Wiring Aids Truck-Equipment Integration.
March 1, 2008... By Tom Berg, Contributing Editor Plug and run is how it's done, but order them with the correct harnesses. Electronic systems pervade today's trucks. Where trucks of yesteryear had hundreds of electrical circuits, trucks now have...

Shrinking Emissions Gear for Bodies.
March 1, 2008... By Tom Berg, Contributing Editor Builders have come up with some creative exhaust and DPF designs. Diesel-particulate filters (DPFs) needed to meet EPA 2007 emissions limits have posed a packaging challenge to OEMs who want to keep...

Be Aware of Manual 'Regens'.
March 1, 2008... By Tom Berg, Contributing Editor Some drivers will have to park the truck and clean out the DPF. Truck builders have sounded a new alert regarding EPA '07 diesels: Routine regeneration of particulate filters in the exhausts might...

Following the Trail of Tiers.
March 1, 2008... By G. C. Skipper, Contributing Editor Tier 4 is going to be the greatest challenge manufacturers have faced in the emissions era. The off-road engine market has come out of its corner to go another round with the Environmental...

MaxxForce Heavy Diesels... Smooth, Quiet, Gutsy.
March 1, 2008... By Tom Berg, Truck Editor International's upcoming 'big-bore' engines have interesting features, and test fleets offer positive reviews It's interesting, but will it work? That describes the design of International Truck and Engine's...