What’s clearer than the smoke still belching out of California’s vintage earthmoving machines? The state’s “in use” air-quality rule is getting retooled. The Associated General Contractors of America and the California Air Resources Board have reached an agreement to postpone the off-road diesel rule until 2014. What happens next may very well depend on the upcoming elections. Photo: Tudor Van Hampton For ENR New data from AGC-sponsored study led to revised off-road diesel deadline. In a joint Oct. 7 announcement, Mary Nichols, CARB chairwoman, and Michael Kennedy, AGC’s general counsel, agreed to resolve technical details attached to a complex set
Case Construction Equipment is launching a new line of loader-backhoes that the Racine, Wis.-based manufacturer says will boost sales as the economy rebounds. Production of the new line was informed by a strategy of its parent firm, Fiat Group, which places a high priority on client involvement early in the design phase. Photo: Courtesy of Case Construction Equipment Case used Fiat’s product-development process to create a new line of loader-backhoes that has been designed with the customer’s needs in mind. While Case says it always has used customer feedback to guide product development, this higher level of interaction was initiated
Ford Motor Co. is the only Big Three manufacturer that currently does not offer a six-cylinder engine in a full-size pickup. For next year’s F-150, however, Ford will reintroduce a V-6 as its base-level engine; to show it is really serious about V-6 power, the company will also offer a twin-turbocharged EcoBoost engine that claims to have the capability of a V-8 with the fuel economy of a V-6. Does this sound too good to be true? As with any engineering exercise, performing multiple feats becomes a balancing act. We discovered as much during a Ford-sponsored test drive this month
Ford Motor Co. says its new 2011 F-150 pickup truck, available later this year with four new engines, is targeting best-in-class fuel economy with its basic model, popular among construction fleet owners. Ford's base pickup, the 2011 F-150 XL series, will come standard with a 3.7L V-6 gasoline engine, 6-speed automatic transmission and 12-volt electric power steering that help the truck hit up to 23 mpg. Though official testing is still in the works, Ford hopes to certify its new base V-6 engine soon at 23 mpg for highway driving, says Mark Grueber, F-150 marketing manager. Across the board, Ford
At first glance it looks like a normal construction site. Earthmoving equipment proceeding orderly toward a pesky hill slated for removal, and workers in fluorescent vests waving operators past the caution tape and barriers toward the jobsite. The only incongruity is a bright, lime-green 1959 Euclid TC-12 bulldozer rolling past an orange 1928 Wilford Model B shovel. And for every familiar CAT logo there is a Bucyrus Erie or a Cletrac, with the odd Oliver thrown in the mix. In fact, this one hill has at least two-dozen machines working on it at once, with a growing ring of spectators
While the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration plans to revamp its outdated silica-dust standard, a voluntary partnership of asphalt-paving groups is closing in on recommended methods to cut down the amount of airborne silica dust generated by road-milling machines. Photo: Courtesy of Association of Equipment Manufacturers Members of an asphalt partnership last month evaluated different methods of reducing road crews’ exposure to airborne silica dust kicked up by milling machines on a highway resurfacing project near Shawano, Wis. A similar effort in the 1990s brought changes that cut fumes emitted by paving machines. “The goal is to determine exactly
The California Air Resources Board admitted recently that today’s off-road diesel equipment will easily meet the state’s emission goals for many years to come. However, the board is not giving up on pushing forward its regulatory agenda of monitoring and controlling the emissions of the industry’s construction fleets. Photo: Tudor Van Hampton For ENR What may console the construction industry, however, is an expected series of delays to CARB’s nitrogen oxide (NOx) and particulate matter reductions, which were scheduled to kick in this year for large fleets (over 5,000 hp), in 2013 for medium fleets (2,501 to 5,000 hp) and
Over the past year, ENR has tested and reviewed the all-new 2010 Ram Heavy Duty, the 2011 Ford Super Duty and the 2011 Chevrolet Silverado HD/GMC Sierra HD, but our friends at PickupTrucks.com have taken evaluating these workhorses to another level. Photo: Courtesy of Pickuptrucks.com The Ram 3500 and Ford F-350 heavy-duty pickups tackle a 16% grade with 12,000 lb in tow at General Motors’ Milford proving grounds, near Detroit, during the 2010 Heavy-Duty Shoot-Out. Photo: Ford Motor Co. While GM outperformed Ford in the diesel class, Ford’s Super Duty was evaluated as being the best overall heavy-duty pickup for
Heavy-machinery producer Deere & Co., Moline, Ill., has inked a deal to sell John Deere Renewables LLC, its wind-energy business, to Chicago-based utility giant Exelon Corp. for up to $900 million. Expected to close in the fourth quarter of this year, Deere initially gets $860 million plus up to $40 million more when planned construction projects start up. Deere formally entered the wind business in 2005 to help landowners develop wind farms. To date, Deere has installed 735 MW of wind capacity and has gathered leads on another 1,468 MW. Deere had sourced turbine gear from India’s Suzlon Energy Ltd.,
Caterpillar Inc. is ramping up for several new capital construction projects following a record-setting second quarter of earnings. Photo: Courtesy Caterpillar Inc. Caterpillar’s Model 336 excavator is one of the machines that will be produced at a new plant in Victoria, Texas. Fueled by industrial market strength in mining, energy and infrastructure, the Peoria, Ill.-based company, the world’s largest construction and mining equipment maker, saw second-quarter profits increase 91% to $707 million, up from $371 million a year ago. Cat previously trimmed staff last year, cutting 20,000 jobs, or about 18% of its workforce. “We have streamlined our organization from
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