surfer-joe
Senior Member
Kiewit is a big and kind of lumbering giant owner of heavy equipment, but their maintenance and cost records are pretty good. At the time I worked for them, mid 90's, they had no Komatsu's that I was aware of. They did have an extensive number of smaller Volvo loaders on hand. I was told that they figured the much lower cost of the Volvo's over Cat's negated the long term advantage and that when the Volvo's were worn out, they could toss them and get another. This is again, indicative of new technology vs. long term brute strength. Which do you want to pay for?
I don't know what Kiewit is doing with their equipment today, don't see them much here.
I do believe that with decent operators and a good PM program, Komatsu and other than Cat equipment can last quite a while, certainly up into the 8-10000 hour range and beyond that for the rubber-tired loaders. I've seen WA600 models in the 15-16000 hour range that were still remarkably tight and powerful. But once past these two areas, depending on the model, the value drops off fast and the rebuild/maintain costs goes up quickly with no end in sight. If you look at Ritchie's auction results and compare Cat to Komatsu it quickly becomes evident where the value is. Cat really seized on a good thing with their certified rebuild programs, but they do have the platforms that are able to be totally reconstructed.
Surprisingly, in the late seventies in Detroit, I helped with a similar program where a slag producer bought up severely used Euclid R35's and R50 end dumps from all over the Midwest. These were taken to our main shop in Detroit and stripped down to the bare frame. We than installed rebuilt engines, radiators, transmissions, differentials and finals drives -- all done in our own rebuild shops, and then brand new and updated cabs -- with air conditioning -- were bolted on. Electrical systems were all new. The hydraulic systems were upgraded, and the dump beds -- which were also totally rebuilt and specially strengthened in our weld shop, were then installed. All new fastener hardware was used throughout. This took quite a while and wasn't cheap, but it penciled out over the cost of a new haul truck, particularly in a slag operation. One wouldn't ordinarily think of an old Euc as being a rebuildable unit in this fashion, but we did maybe fifty of these trucks over several years.
In Kentucky and West Virginia, the major use of large Komatsu dozers is in surface coal mining. The soil and rock there is soft and not particularly abrasive, and the rock degrades quickly if left exposed to the open air. (compared to some other places I've been) However, one does have to move a lot of overburden to get to the coal and that requires a lot of movement. Land clearing operations are tough as it's all straight up and downhill, so a cat is on it's nose most of the time doing that. Reclamation is just the opposite, you have to push mostly uphill, and in most places, track the slope in after grade is obtained. After a shot however, there is a large amount of overburden laden with huge slabs of solid rock that must be moved by loader & truck or dozers. Most mines run double shift so the hours pile on fast.
Many of the mines in this region didn't think much of spending money building good haul roads, so when I and some others from outside the area first went in we called them goat tracks, usually not even wide enough to allow the haul trucks inner duel rear tires to touch the ground. Dozers were kept busy clearing, benching, and reclaiming. But I digress.
Point is, good maintenance and proper operation are huge factors in extending long life to equipment, but there has to be an underlying commitment by the manufacturer to build long term value into the big iron and that's what I haven't seen much of in foreign designed and built machines.
Hey, there's daylight in the swamp! Got to go.
I don't know what Kiewit is doing with their equipment today, don't see them much here.
I do believe that with decent operators and a good PM program, Komatsu and other than Cat equipment can last quite a while, certainly up into the 8-10000 hour range and beyond that for the rubber-tired loaders. I've seen WA600 models in the 15-16000 hour range that were still remarkably tight and powerful. But once past these two areas, depending on the model, the value drops off fast and the rebuild/maintain costs goes up quickly with no end in sight. If you look at Ritchie's auction results and compare Cat to Komatsu it quickly becomes evident where the value is. Cat really seized on a good thing with their certified rebuild programs, but they do have the platforms that are able to be totally reconstructed.
Surprisingly, in the late seventies in Detroit, I helped with a similar program where a slag producer bought up severely used Euclid R35's and R50 end dumps from all over the Midwest. These were taken to our main shop in Detroit and stripped down to the bare frame. We than installed rebuilt engines, radiators, transmissions, differentials and finals drives -- all done in our own rebuild shops, and then brand new and updated cabs -- with air conditioning -- were bolted on. Electrical systems were all new. The hydraulic systems were upgraded, and the dump beds -- which were also totally rebuilt and specially strengthened in our weld shop, were then installed. All new fastener hardware was used throughout. This took quite a while and wasn't cheap, but it penciled out over the cost of a new haul truck, particularly in a slag operation. One wouldn't ordinarily think of an old Euc as being a rebuildable unit in this fashion, but we did maybe fifty of these trucks over several years.
In Kentucky and West Virginia, the major use of large Komatsu dozers is in surface coal mining. The soil and rock there is soft and not particularly abrasive, and the rock degrades quickly if left exposed to the open air. (compared to some other places I've been) However, one does have to move a lot of overburden to get to the coal and that requires a lot of movement. Land clearing operations are tough as it's all straight up and downhill, so a cat is on it's nose most of the time doing that. Reclamation is just the opposite, you have to push mostly uphill, and in most places, track the slope in after grade is obtained. After a shot however, there is a large amount of overburden laden with huge slabs of solid rock that must be moved by loader & truck or dozers. Most mines run double shift so the hours pile on fast.
Many of the mines in this region didn't think much of spending money building good haul roads, so when I and some others from outside the area first went in we called them goat tracks, usually not even wide enough to allow the haul trucks inner duel rear tires to touch the ground. Dozers were kept busy clearing, benching, and reclaiming. But I digress.
Point is, good maintenance and proper operation are huge factors in extending long life to equipment, but there has to be an underlying commitment by the manufacturer to build long term value into the big iron and that's what I haven't seen much of in foreign designed and built machines.
Hey, there's daylight in the swamp! Got to go.
