Setting up Remote Field Shop for Earthmoving and paving equipment

[Mark250]

hi ,Fulatora in your machine list above you have given general machine types ,machine model designation would help to determine tooling more accurately eg the 966 can vary from mechanical fuel system to fully electronic this goes for the hydraulics and transmissions as well.
as for tooling, I would include a hydraulic hose press with an assortment of hoses and fittings to suit, I would also include a nitrogen freezing set up for installing bushes and bearings, you will also need nitrogen charging equipment for accumulators, add hydraulic test gauges and adapter fittings for orfc and jic as the majority of cat equipment will use these.
you will also need fuel pump timing gear for the machines with the cat engines eg 120m (timing pins, pump timing brackets etc)
don't forget suitable hard standing areas for jacking etc
the list can go on, just supply more machine details serial numbers and models
Mark

 

[Nige]

Maybe taking one step back before moving forward, I would look at the machines that are going there first and what exactly the owner/operator is planning on doing with them while they are on site if it is for a period of 12-18 months as per the OP.

New or used..? if used how many hours on them..? For machines with higher hours consider overhauling them before sending to site.
What is the aim of the maintenance facility..? Preventive & corrective maintenance only or is it envisioned to do anything up to major repair/overhaul of equipment..? The requirement for resources will be vastly different depending on the "mission statement" (for want of a better expression) of the maintenance facility.

Basically what I'm saying is that you need to figure out what work will be done on the fleet before you can figure out the resources necessary to do that work.

 

[kshansen]

And just my opinion if there a multiples of an equipment type, say front end loader, I would try to get all in the same model and serial number range. This would make stocking some parts like pre-made hoses easier to justify. One set of hoses spread over 6-8 966K's would not be too bad. Also in the worst case there is a major failure of one machine it could be used as spare parts for the others until it was able to be repaired.

Also on the hose front, why not just do a routine change out of most if not all hoses? Better to take the time to do it in a nice clean shop as opposed to in the middle of a sandstorm.

 

[fulatoro]

Maybe taking one step back before moving forward, I would look at the machines that are going there first and what exactly the owner/operator is planning on doing with them while they are on site if it is for a period of 12-18 months as per the OP.

New or used..? if used how many hours on them..? For machines with higher hours consider overhauling them before sending to site.
What is the aim of the maintenance facility..? Preventive & corrective maintenance only or is it envisioned to do anything up to major repair/overhaul of equipment..? The requirement for resources will be vastly different depending on the "mission statement" (for want of a better expression) of the maintenance facility.

Basically what I'm saying is that you need to figure out what work will be done on the fleet before you can figure out the resources necessary to do that work.

Machines that will be used will have between 3000-6000 hours usage. What is the number of hours above which you would advise an overhaul ? I am sure that will depend on the machine. The job is building a new runway and supporting facilities. The soil is not rocky, more like dry sandy clay.

The aim of the maintenance is preventive and corrective. No overhaul intended because of lack of suitable facilities. Corrective also has many degrees, here again we would not be able to do engine rebuilds, undercarriage work, etc...Corrective maintenance will also be limited to fuel injection systems, hydraulics, track repairs, belts, and minor engine repairs. There will be some amount of machine redundancy. Dozers will each have 1 extra machine available, 1 extra grader. We won't have any extra wheel loaders as we can mobilize some locally in case of a catastrophic failure.

Several people mentioned hose replacement before shipping. What should I expect cost wise ? Also i realize we will need infrastructure for hose repair and replacement.

 

[fulatoro]

After how many hours is hose replacement usually recommended ? How long does that usually take ? We will need to have that capability on the ground regardless.

 

[fulatoro]

Thanks Mark for the detailed answers. Machines will be procured in the next few weeks. Which brings up an interesting point. We have. 2007+ requirement on the machines. Based on that, any advice for which machine years are better/more reliable ? Also, we prefer Tier 3 engines because our diesel is 50-500ppm sulfur. We did talk with cat emission engineers and they basically stated that Tier 4 engines from the 7.1 up Allan handle higher sulfur content diesel because of the active after treatment that burns at higher temperatures thereby being able to oxidize the high sulfur content (or something like that ....).

Tier 4 engines like the 6.6 (120M, 924) do passive after treatment. CAT has conversion kits for overseas markets. Anyhow, this was just a side note.

I would say less electronics would probably be less complex to deal with ...Or maybe not.. Don't know

 

[Nige]

You have to be very careful regarding the emissions issue. I have recent experience on the Caribbean of used equipment shipped out of the US that would not operate reliably on the locally-available diesel fuel because it had 1600ppm of sulphur. Most people I came across were the "diesel fuel is diesel fuel all over the world" kind of people, they had no idea that fuel varied from country to country and even less idea that an engine equipped with the latest and greatest emissions equipment in the US wouldn't run for more than about 30 minutes on 1600ppm dulphur diesel before throwing in the towel.

Cat sell machines all over the world and believe it or not the markets such as the US & Europe that are emissions-regulated are much smaller in terms of units sold than those that are not. Cat refer to it as the LRC (Less Regulated Countries) market and even manufacture machines in the US destined for said market. These machine do not meet US emissions standards and must be exported outside the US immediately after manufacture. TBH if you are taking machines to a high-sulphur fuel environment I would not even consider sending used machines from the US, I'd be enlisting the help of the manufacturers like Cat to identify used LRC machines that are available in other countries. From personal experience I'd not consider anything higher than TIER 2, but if you buy LRC machines they are most likely to have TIER 2 engines in them anyway.

Edit: Thinking a little more about this issue I think if it was up to me I'd be looking at buying new equipment with an extended warranty for the period of the contract and get the manufacturers/dealers on board to provide full support for the duration of the contract. Buying used is likely to produce a mish-mash of makes, models, and suppliers - it only makes the maintenance department's job more difficult that it would already be bearing in mind the already adverse conditions of the location and also the probability that equipment uptime will be critical in avoiding penalties for non-completion of the contract on time. Agreed it would be more money to be paid up front (although finance could ease the pain somewhat) but the resale value would be much better at the end of it all. Maybe even a guaranteed buyback of the used equipment at the end of the job..?

 

[fulatoro]

You have to be very careful regarding the emissions issue. I have recent experience on the Caribbean of used equipment shipped out of the US that would not operate reliably on the locally-available diesel fuel because it had 1600ppm of sulphur. Most people I came across were the "diesel fuel is diesel fuel all over the world" kind of people, they had no idea that fuel varied from country to country and even less idea that an engine equipped with the latest and greatest emissions equipment in the US wouldn't run for more than about 30 minutes on 1600ppm dulphur diesel before throwing in the towel.

Cat sell machines all over the world and believe it or not the markets such as the US & Europe that are emissions-regulated are much smaller in terms of units sold than those that are not. Cat refer to it as the LRC (Less Regulated Countries) market and even manufacture machines in the US destined for said market. These machine do not meet US emissions standards and must be exported outside the US immediately after manufacture. TBH if you are taking machines to a high-sulphur fuel environment I would not even consider sending used machines from the US, I'd be enlisting the help of the manufacturers like Cat to identify used LRC machines that are available in other countries. From personal experience I'd not consider anything higher than TIER 2, but if you buy LRC machines they are most likely to have TIER 2 engines in them anyway.

Edit: Thinking a little more about this issue I think if it was up to me I'd be looking at buying new equipment with an extended warranty for the period of the contract and get the manufacturers/dealers on board to provide full support for the duration of the contract. Buying used is likely to produce a mish-mash of makes, models, and suppliers - it only makes the maintenance department's job more difficult that it would already be bearing in mind the already adverse conditions of the location and also the probability that equipment uptime will be critical in avoiding penalties for non-completion of the contract on time. Agreed it would be more money to be paid up front (although finance could ease the pain somewhat) but the resale value would be much better at the end of it all. Maybe even a guaranteed buyback of the used equipment at the end of the job..?

On the emission's issue, after talking with CAT engineers in Peoria and looking at some of the available information, Tier4 Interim and Tier4 engines are usable overseas as long as they are the right size or after they have been modified to work with high sulfur diesel, I am attaching an email correspondance with the Tier4 transition lead at CAT. There are kits available in LRC countries for retrofit.

Regardless, our aim it to stay with Tier 3 and we have confirm that the local diesel is < 500ppm.

Buying new is not an option...This would make our offer non-competitive as new CAT equipment is expensive overseas and has long lead times which we cannot afford to meet the project schedule. Decision has been made to buy used in the US. Now our task is to make sure we can operate reliably. We have operated US imported equipment in Africa before and have high confidence that it will work and can be adapted to the local conditions when needed.

We intend to keep the equipment, so resell is not really on the table for us (We are a construction company active in that region). Unfortunately, not being a dealer, I do not have access to the information below.



CAT REP EMAIL Quoted below

Thank you for the phone call and email on this topic. I would like to direct you to some information on Tier 4 Interim/Stage IIIB used equipment migration. Also note that I have looked at the list of products that you have provided, and I noticed that you have a variety of machine types and emission standard levels ranging from Tier 3 / Stage IIIA to Tier 4 Interim/Stage IIIB. You will want to verify by serial number what emission standard the specific product meets (via TMI and/or the emissions certification group) and whether or not it was built with aftertreatment. If the product does not have any aftertreatment, you do not need to look for a migration kit. If the product does have aftertreatment, please reference the following information to find supporting information.

We have a section within dealer.cat.com where we store various Tier 4 Interim/Stage IIIB used equipment migration information. The link to that section is https://dealer.cat.com/en/products/...s-technology/T4-used-equipment-migration.html. Within this section you will find many supporting files such as Factory Authorized Kit releases, position statements, training material, Brainshark training module, as well as third part fuel maps.

On the Product Support Information tab in this section, you will find various files for the Factory Authorized Kits that have been released. Please see the screen shot below.

 

[td25c]

We will soon be engaging on a project for a customer where we will have to setup a preventive and corrective maintenance shop.


I am involved with procurement and need advice on the key pieces of equipment needed to provide maintenance and repairs for a year.

Any and all advice on possible available solutions or advice on resilient equipment will be greatly appreciated.

For example we anticipate the need for a repair truck with a crane.

Thank you

Absolutely fulatoro , I would at least want a single axil two ton truck set up with service bed & hydro crane . Might even add a tandem oil field truck with winch & jen poles to assist the single axil .
http://www.truckpaper.com/listings/trucks/for-sale/5928935/1977-kenworth-lw900

You guys building a military airbase ?

 

[ericscher]

Also ericsher, who is Thoreau?
Regards, Bob

A writer.

It'd be simplest to google him and read the wiki page for an overview.

 

[simonsrplant]

This sounds like a real nightmare i am a hour and a half away from a Big City and it takes more than 3 to 5 days on most easy stuff.

This sounds like a real cool project. Please update us with how you go!

I have worked out of expanding shops (way, way up north) before, I'll try to upload an image when I get in... Expensive but could work for you.

 

[John C.]

As far as I'm aware Cat recommends rebuilds in the 12,000 hour plus ranges but that will vary depending on all the variables such as climate, operating conditions and materials, quality of labor and so on. I've seen plenty of iron run in the 20,000 range without total overhaul but there isn't much left at that point. Your biggest issue in your specified hour range will be damage more than actually wearing out depending on your material. You have stated that you have experience there already so you can go back to any prior documentation. How many times did you have to replace cutting edges? Do you have a history on undercarriage life? Four thousand hours is really good on most dozers in light soft materials. Less than 3,000 hours can be expected in hard highly abrasive stuff. What are the conditions with dust? I didn't see a crane on your list but would think that at least a thirty ton would be necessary to set up the quarry or asphalt plants. You will be maintaining equipment and not accomplishing major overhaul which means you will rely on exchange components in the event of a catastrophic failure. Dust an engine, order an exchange in and go back to work in a couple of days of receiving it. Bust a final drive and something is going to have to pick it off the side of the machine and stab the new one in. Most times a service truck 8 ton unit is all you need but what everyone seems to forget is the reach / load chart for one of those units. It may extend to twenty feet but will only pick 500 points at that point. Maybe picking a cab off something will be pretty dicy at that extension. I know a transmission in a 740 haul truck is a stretch and a heavy pick for an 8 ton unit on a service truck. You also didn't mention anything about fire safety. I take it you are in a hot environment. I've seen the results of fires that got the hydraulic oil going. When it is hot it can ignite like lighter fluid. Might think about fire suppression for your machines. I would also highly recommend auto lube systems for that environment. You don't want to be having to address sloppy joints because someone didn't want to grease a fitting that was hard to get to.

 

[theironoracle]

Tools: 100-150 track press, I like my otc 100 ton twin ram style because I can use the ram by itself to pull in bushings in booms. I would also recommend a hydraulic torque wrench or two 1" or 1-1/2" drive. Lots and lots of Orc
Jack stands. Tool b for removing cat finals. Lots of different sizes of chain com a longs. Dry ice mold for making bricks of dry ice for bushing installs, you'll need co2 bottles to go with it..... TIO

 

[theironoracle]

Hydraulic caps and plug kits. A set of kit for every guy. At least 8 of every cap and plug ad each style found on each machine. With sand around everything has to be cleaned before removal and each side capped or plugged.

Wheel loaders: loading a 740 with a 966 is do able but definately on the small side, just my two bits on that.

A real good set of hydraulic test gauges. A flow meter of about 100 gpm, t fittings to tap inline for testing.

Are you wondering about types/ kinds of compressors and welder a etc?

Are you going to use your 924 with forks for removing and installing tires? You have lots of tires that fit inside of fenders that can't be vertically hoisted into place.

A good nitrogen charging kit for your accumulators but mostly for the struts on the haul trucks.

I'm going to say hydraulic torque wrench again just so it's not forgotten!

30,60,100 thru hole Rams all double acting. 30 and 60 ton Rams standard. Good power pack to operate them. Can be the same one for your track press.

Lots of different sizes of rigging for lifting 2 ways 4 ways 3 ways, I bolts, bolt on links of every size. Straps for lifting.

TIO

 

[theironoracle]

100-150 ton shop press

A couple sizes of magnetic bearing heaters

 

[fulatoro]

Thank you for all the suggestions. I will come up with a list and post here In due time. Looks like we have a lot of procurement to do.

Any advice on places to source this ? I know there is the CAT parts store but a lot of the hydraulic caps/plugs and presses probably don't need to come from there. Ditto for stands and nitrogen/dry ice kits.

 

[fulatoro]

Hydraulic caps and plug kits. A set of kit for every guy. At least 8 of every cap and plug ad each style found on each machine. With sand around everything has to be cleaned before removal and each side capped or plugged.

Wheel loaders: loading a 740 with a 966 is do able but definately on the small side, just my two bits on that.

A real good set of hydraulic test gauges. A flow meter of about 100 gpm, t fittings to tap inline for testing.

Are you wondering about types/ kinds of compressors and welder a etc?

Are you going to use your 924 with forks for removing and installing tires? You have lots of tires that fit inside of fenders that can't be vertically hoisted into place.

A good nitrogen charging kit for your accumulators but mostly for the struts on the haul trucks.

I'm going to say hydraulic torque wrench again just so it's not forgotten!

30,60,100 thru hole Rams all double acting. 30 and 60 ton Rams standard. Good power pack to operate them. Can be the same one for your track press.

Lots of different sizes of rigging for lifting 2 ways 4 ways 3 ways, I bolts, bolt on links of every size. Straps for lifting.

TIO

Thanks for the tips. Yes, advice on compressors and welders. We are currently using Lincoln Electric inverter based welders desert duty. They have held up pretty well.

 

[catfixer]

sounds like quite the adventure, ain't hunting a shop foreman are you? lol

 

[fulatoro]

100-150 ton shop press

A couple sizes of magnetic bearing heaters

Can you elaborate on scenarios where you would use the 100-150 ton press?

Same thing for the bearing heaters. This is for my education and also because we have to be careful not to overdo it and not be able to support the infrastructure in the field. If it is an item that might get used once or twice then it does not make sense due to the logistics costs and efforts needed.

Moussa

 

[Cmark]

Yes. Let's not get carried away with worst case scenarios. Thing positive people!

It's only a one year job in what sounds like fairly easy conditions, ie. no rock or scrub. My advice would be to spend money getting the machines up to scratch before you ship them out.

My spending priorities would be, in descending order;

1. Prep the machines before they go. New U/C for the TTTs. New rubber for the tyred machines. Repair buckets as necessary and new GET all round. 2000hr PM services plus oil samples. Replace any dodgy looking hydraulic hoses. Replace all engine coolant hoses. Clean the coolers. New batteries.
2. Good PM servicing facilities on site, paying extra attention to contamination control.
3. Tyre changing equipment.
4. Hydraulic hose fabrication equipment. Bear in mind that modern Cat equipment has standardised on a fairly limited range of fittings, so to tool up for common hose failures isn't as daunting as it sounds.
5. Other workshop equipment as you see fit.

If you cover the above bases, I think you would be fairly unlucky to have any major downtime. One year passes pretty quickly when you're having a good time you know!