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D6T on skidpan test

DPete

DPete

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Joined
Feb 21, 2007
Messages
1,677
Location
Central Ca.
Total lack of respect for equipment and they probably think it's funny to abuse a new machine that somebody will spend alot of coin on. I'd like to get that guys car and slam it from forward to reverse and see how he likes it.
 
L

LawnDart

Active Member
Joined
Jun 22, 2010
Messages
36
Location
Oklahoma
My thought exactly. A skid pad? I could see where they might use it for testing function with low friction, but what they are doing is just abuse.
 
diggerop

diggerop

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Jul 18, 2008
Messages
159
Location
QLD , Australia
Occupation
Plant operator, coal mining/ 25 years
A low friction skid pad, minimal shock loading from forward to reverse, bearly took the paint off the tracks. The slack only just comes out of the tracks when it goes into reverse. If I was buying one of those machines I'd want it thoroughly tested and if it couldn't take that I wouldn't want it.
 
2stickbill

2stickbill

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 1, 2009
Messages
677
Location
Romayor Texas
Occupation
Sniffin diesel fumes.
Digger I'm with you there.I have seen Cat miss treated and still run for years.I'm glad they test them before putting them on the market.
 
DPete

DPete

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Joined
Feb 21, 2007
Messages
1,677
Location
Central Ca.
OK if that's a legitimate test then I am wrong, it looked like some kids ram assing new tractors to me.
 
S

Scrub Puller

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Joined
Mar 29, 2009
Messages
3,481
Location
Gladstone Queensland Australia
Yair . . . I agree with DPete. Just what would they be "testing" with that kind of B/S? . . . It bears little resemblance to any thing the little tractor may do in the real world . . . although as others have said the lack of traction would hopefully preclude any real harm.

Cheers.
 
J

JBauer

New Member
Joined
Sep 2, 2012
Messages
1
Location
Bakersfield, Ca.
Occupation
Heavy Equipment Operator
You'd be amazed how many Caterpillar techs and mechanics can't even find the zerts on these machines. But in their defense they have put out the best for a whole lot longer than I have been running them. I mean lets be honest if a machine is down, we usually don't have a problem figuring out exactly how it got that way.
 
G

Gavin84w

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 29, 2007
Messages
554
Location
Australia
Looks like Chichubu facility in Japan. I have seen Cat test machines with 20 times more abuse than that, you have to test them and hard because operators will be just as abusive but not show and tell you. "Honestly, i was just in 1st gear at 1/2 throttle" and meanwhile there is a drive shaft in a 1000 pieces. It,s at the Cat factory so i am sure it is a regulation test
 
JTL

JTL

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Dec 2, 2008
Messages
761
Location
Pacific Nortwest U.S.A.
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IUOE Local 302
That looks fun! Reminds me of the times I used to slide all around frozen log landings and skid roads just trying to make a dollar.
 
S

Swamp rat

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Joined
Apr 16, 2009
Messages
114
Location
La / Ga
Good to see them being put thru some Odd test , my machines dont operate according to a textbook style everday. Sometimes we are in a situation that may require a seemingly bad style, but you want to have confidence that it will work to get you out of it and back to normal work. This test doesnt seem to be much abuse compared to daily work. It better be able to accept this and keep on smiling. I think that operator is having a Blast doing his job.
 
W

wosama931b

Senior Member
Joined
Sep 24, 2011
Messages
444
Location
Fayetteville, NC
Occupation
Real Estate Broker/ Ret.
Hi, That does look like nonsense but is a quick way to see if it will stay together, back in the old days we used to put the chopers through a flight test, running
them as hard as possible to make sure that the ship would not fly apart before we sign them back to the company. They probably have some sort of recorder
that takes readings on the machine, to make sure it is within limits, or maybe that guy driving can tell if something is not right, who knows. sam a
 
I

ih100

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Joined
Feb 27, 2009
Messages
731
Location
Peterborough UK
Scrub Puller said:
Yair . . . I agree with DPete. Just what would they be "testing" with that kind of B/S? . . . It bears little resemblance to any thing the little tractor may do in the real world . . . although as others have said the lack of traction would hopefully preclude any real harm.

Cheers.
Click to expand...

It can be a huge mistake to watch a few second long clip on YouTube and form an opinion about the operator. We've all done things we'd rather not show to the world. In this case, I'd guess they're doing vibration testing on internals, checking some new kind of mounting, underhood thermal testing, response testing, MVP software validation, any one of a hundred tests or checks. If that guy didn't know what he's about he'd have slid through the perimeter. And if that's a Cat facility, if he was a###ing around, he'd be off the job faster than I can one-finger type this.
 
B

ben46a

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 11, 2007
Messages
773
Location
Waverley NS/Fort Mac AB
If there's no room at a facility (like in japan) to have a proving grounds stulle test area, then this is the best you can do otherwise. How else will one get final drives up to temp to check them out without running them. I would imagine this not being too hard on gear at all being that its flat and low friction. Let's not forget that cat used to test dozers in peoria by chaining them to an anchor and running the tracks in oil filled steel troughs.
 
JDOFMEMI

JDOFMEMI

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Joined
Jan 3, 2007
Messages
3,074
Location
SoCal
At first glance it looks abusive, but notice how smooth the machines transition from forward to reverse. I bet at least part of the test is to be sure the transmission and torque converter modulates the shifting. It looks like it is dialed in pretty good to go from forward to reverse at full throttle and no jumping and banging.
Steel on steel like that has about the same amount of traction as ice, so there is little chance of harm if it is not right and needs to be sent back in for more work. The surface is not abrasive, so I bet there is not any measurable wear on the pads either.

I expect my dozer to be able to run hard, and keep at it for a long time under any possible conditions, so I am glad they get a good workout at the factory to make sure I am getting a good one

If that looks abusive, go watch a pair of D-10 pushcats on a California dirt spread. Many of them run that hard, on dirt with full grouser penetration.
 
Seabass

Seabass

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Joined
Sep 5, 2011
Messages
78
Location
Canada
Never seen anything like that before. Didn't make any sense to me as I cringed watching it.
 
T

tctractors

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 9, 2007
Messages
2,412
Location
Worc U.K.
If you think that bit of skidding about is savage you need to check out the test bed set up for large tractors years ago, it was all done at full bore ??, if the tractors cannot stick a small bit of slip and slide, they ain't going to be any cop on a Site under hard graft, years ago the tractors were chained up from the drawbar to the immovable beam, then set loose building up to warp factor flat out through all speeds to make sure they had a bit of poke in em, I am told it was hell of a test to see and hear.
 
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