Starting under a disruptive cloud of fine volcanic ash, Germany’s triennial construction equipment show, Bauma, ended on an optimistic note in Munich last week. Flight bans reduced the show’s visitor numbers, but global equipment sales are reviving, report exhibitors. “What a difference a year makes,” says Mike DeWalt, director of investor relations at Caterpillar Inc., Peoria, Ill. From fast-falling sales in last year’s first quarter, now “demand for our products is rising,” he says. Last week’s show, held on April 19 to 25, was the biggest-ever Bauma in terms of sheer space, say officials at organizer Messe München GmbH. Braving
A recent report from the National Research Council will help guide the federal government as it develops fuel-economy and carbon regulations for medium- and heavy-duty trucks. Congress is looking at this group of previously unregulated vehicles because they use 26% of the liquid transportation fuel consumed in the U.S., and their energy consumption is projected to continue rising for the next 25 years. The 414-page report shows that combining such technologies as advanced diesel engines, hybrid powertrains, improved aerodynamics, low-resistance tires and others could improve fuel economy in work vehicles by as much as 50% by 2035. The cost of
Nearly all the major equipment manufacturers—including Caterpillar, Case/New Holland/Kobelco, Komatsu, Deere, Volvo, Terex and engine specialist Cummins—plan to use a combination of exhaust-gas recirculation (EGR) and a diesel particulate filter (DPF), to meet Interim Tier 4. Image: CNH EGR + DPF Photo: CNH SCR Photo: JCB Related Links: Next Round of Federal Regulations Has Suppliers Retooling Clean Diesel The Future of Clean Diesel Is … Gasoline? The other major technology for Interim Tier 4 is selective-catalytic reduction (SCR), which converts nitrogen oxides to harmless nitrogen and water by dosing exhaust fumes with small amounts of diesel exhaust fluid, an aqueous
Gordon Chew, a handyman in remote Tenakee Springs, Alaska, needed a 12-volt coil to get his Case 686G telehandler up and running again. He called a dealer and was told the part was not in stock. Photo: GCIRON Once a client buys a part, Villella (above) and his team have it shipped from GCIron or the OEM. + Image Image: GCIRON Website offers free diagnostic tools to help contractors identify the source of the problem. “Case couldn’t find it,” says Chew, who notes the price quoted to him was $230. Not wanting to wait for a special order, he typed
The next phase of U.S. regulations aimed at cleaning up airborne emissions from off-road diesel engines will start taking effect in just nine months. The rule, called Tier 4, will all but eliminate the amount of diesel particulate matter (soot) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) that new construction equipment will put into the atmosphere. Photo: Caterpillar Inc. Photo: Caterpillar Inc. Cat’s Clean Emissions Module—the Tier 4 excavator at left uses one—will fit on new and existing engines. The particulate filter can regenerate, or burn soot, without idling the machine. Related Links: Three Ways Manufacturers Will Meet the Tier 4 Standards The
Komatsu Ltd. is testing the North American equipment market with its new PC200LC-8 Hybrid Excavator, a lean, green digging machine that has sold more than 700 times in Asia since production began 19 months ago. Photo: Greg Aragon / ENR Hybrid excavator, now on a road show and shown at the Port of Los Angeles, is the first machine of its kind to go to work in the U.S. It offers up to 40% efficiency over a conventional, non-hybrid model. Related Links: Komatsu Digs into U.S. Market The 22-ton excavator, the first hybrid of its kind in the U.S., was
Welding machines are becoming another low-hanging fruit for jobsite crime. In January and again in March, thieves grabbed a 2006 Miller Big Blue 300 welder off a jobsite along Interstate 495 in Tysons Corner, Va. The machines are each valued at about $10,000, according to the National Equipment Register. Thieves snatched so many engine-driven welders and/or generators during the winter months that this category now ranks in NER’s top-10 list of most frequently stolen construction machines. Experts with the Jersey City, N.J.-based crime database recommend locking up welders, disabling trailers by removing the wheels and displaying company logos and phone
A New Orleans contractor tried and failed four times to drive sheet piles through a dense soil layer with progressively larger vibratory hammers and an impact hammer. The fifth attempt is succeeding, thanks to the right tool: a hydraulic press that slides the steel in with great force, rather than banging it down. + Image Photo: Giken Seisakusho Co., Ltd, Tokyo Workers use hydraulic-reaction press to drive steel sheet piles into difficult ground. Related Links: Sheet Driver Tackles Tough Project In late 2005, as part of emergency repairs after Hurricane Katrina, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers let a contract
Until contractors are back on jobsites in full force, commercial vehicle makers are in a holding pattern—waiting for contractors to buy new gear instead of repairing their old kit. Photo: Nissan, GM, International Nissan’s new NV-series commercial vans ride more like pickup trucks. Photo: Nissan, GM, International GM’s diesel Denali now leads the heavy-pickup pack. Photo: Nissan, GM, International International’s TerraStar tackles the medium-duty space, which GM exited last summer. Manufacturers at this year’s Work Truck Show didn’t need to be reminded that 2009 was a bad year. Total truck sales plummeted 24% in 2009, reports IHS Global Insight. “It
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