Difference in Cat 12G and 120G?

[CountryBoy685]

Can someone please tell me the difference in a 12G and 120G? Same with a 14G and 140G. I've been wondering this for awhile. Thanks!

 

[John C.]

I believe on the 120 and 12 it is a matter of horsepower. On the 140 and 14 the 14 is physically bigger and also has more horsepower.

 

[D11RCD]

Welcome to the forums CountryBoy685:drinkup
The 12 has a 12 Foot moldboard on it, as does the 120, but the 120 has less power and the option for AWD. Not sure if a 12 can have AWD:beatsme

14 and the 140:
140 has a standard 12 foot moldboard, less power and the option for AWD. 14 has a 14 foot moldboard, more power and a physically bigger machine that is heavier.

16 and 160:
The 16 has a 16 foot moldboard and is heavier and more powerful than the 160.
The 160 has option for AWD and has less power and a 12 foot moldboard.

All graders here have the option for a bigger moldboard by using 2 foot extensions.

So to sum up, the equivalent graders are:
12 is a 140
14 is a 160
and a 16 would be a 180 if it existed. Which it doesn't.

Hope this helps!

 

[RDG]

From memory the 120G has the 3304 T engine @ 120 HP, the 12G has the 3306 NA @ 135 HP, there was also the 130 G that had the 3304 T @ about 130HP I think. There is quite a difference in the lugging power between the 12 G and the other 2, 6 cyls v 4 cyls makes for quite a difference as well there is a weight difference between them. A 12G will eat the other 2 with out much effort. Cheers RDG.

 

[Komatsu 150]

For what it's worth I was told by a CAT salesman that "0" series were developed so that Cat could compete price wise with other brands, particularly in the bidding process with government departments. "12 foot moldboard machines are all the same" which seems to be the way a lot of the government bidding seems to work. The Cat graders were very pricey. Our local township replaced their 12 grader with a John Deere 12' grader and bought a backhoe and still paid less than the Caterpillar bid for just a new 12.

 

[Randy Krieg]

I have training class today, which I have to get to so I don’t have time this morning, but I will respond to this tonight after class and explain exactly what the differences are or were.

 

[YellowIorn]

I'm glad that I'm not the only one that has wonderd what the diffrence was. I worked a lot with the fine grade crew at my old job, I run hoe but we alway put all hands on fine grading. Any way, we had a 140G at the time and It was getting time to send the old girl to a good home where some one had the time to care for it so the bosses started shopping. The owner's brothers also have a (much) larger outfit and had bought a new 16H around the same time and our blade hand, and well, pretty much everyone thought that was above and beyound over kill for our needs but he wanted to try a 14H. He had told me that the 14 size machine wasn't really even comparable to a 140 in weight and power but here in Maine, I have never seen one in person, nore a 160/163H size. I have read the specs but I'd have to see to judge. A side note, the boys with the big old 16H bought a 140M AWD last year, which I think is also the only one in state around here. We did try a 143H and 772D but for some odd reason they bought a komatsu, which if the blade dosen't fall off before 3000 hours I'll be surprised, a new machine should be a lot tight and rugged then a 12,000 hour one.

 

[rare ss]

Welcome to the forums CountryBoy685:drinkup
The 12 has a 12 Foot moldboard on it, as does the 120, but the 120 has less power and the option for AWD. Not sure if a 12 can have AWD:beatsme

14 and the 140:
140 has a standard 12 foot moldboard, less power and the option for AWD. 14 has a 14 foot moldboard, more power and a physically bigger machine that is heavier.

16 and 160:
The 16 has a 16 foot moldboard and is heavier and more powerful than the 160.
The 160 has option for AWD and has less power and a 12 foot moldboard.

All graders here have the option for a bigger moldboard by using 2 foot extensions.

So to sum up, the equivalent graders are:
12 is a 140
14 is a 160
and a 16 would be a 180 if it existed. Which it doesn't.

Hope this helps!

agree to a point, I've only ever seen a 140H with a 14ft blade never with a 12Ft blade, that would make it a 12H

 

[plowking740]

i dont think blade length has anything to do with machine size.
seen 12 with 14, and 16 foot blades as well as a brand new 14h with a 12foot Why? dont know why any one would waste a machine that size on a 12 feet just to lay out crush.

140h and 160h are pretty much identical in size. 160 is a little heaver and according to the manual i have , the same motor. im sure there are a few other things but dimensions in the book are REALLY close.

As for the 12,120,130 differencees not entirely sure.

 

[Blacksmoke07]

Just ask this same question at work today and couldnt get an answer. Thanks D11RCD!

 

[John C.]

I have also seen many different lengths of blade on each machine. In this state the counties like the 140 size machines with 12' blades. An operator told me he could dress the shoulders better and not have to worry about how much the other end was sticking out in traffic.

Most of the snow machines had 14' blades to work with the wings. I haven't seen a 120 or a 12 machine anywhere out here in years. It seems the Lee Boy make has taken over a bunch of the parking lot work that these used to do.

I'll be interested in what Randy has to say.

 

[CountryBoy685]

Thanks for the info, I have always wondered about it. Here in eastern Va, most contractors have a 12G or H. I have only seen a few contractors with a 14, you might see maybe 1 16. But most of the time its a 12 and some 120s. But i saw a guy have a 140G, it looked like it had 12Ft blade on her and it looked to be similar size to the ol 12G that I have been running. Its a nice looking machine, I've been told the 140s are a turboed 3306 were the 12s have a 3306NA. Is that true? And is the pshysical size of a 140 the same as a 12?

 

[DPete]

Actually I think the 12 and 140 are the same frame then the frame size changes with the 14, Randy will know. I have 12G 61M7378 and it is a N/A 3306 and like RDG says the 120 is a 4 banger

 

[Randy Krieg]

Nomenclature

CountryBoy685
To answer your original question regarding the G Series; The 12G, 140G & the Custom Products Division 160G all shared the same mainframe and design centerlines. The 120G was built on a totally different (smaller, lighter & shorter) mainframe and centerline design. The 140G was really nothing more than a turbocharged stripped down version of the Naturally Aspirated 12G. Too many government agencies were complaining about the 12E not having enough power when they were equipped with a nose plow and wing. Packing the additional weight slowed the machine down plus the conversion from number 2 fuel to number 1 fuel during the winter months further accentuated the problem. To solve the problem Caterpillars engineers determined they could turbocharge the engine and gain the additional horsepower needed. The original target horsepower for the 140 development program was 140 horsepower. After 2 years of testing (1969 &70) they determined that it still wasn’t enough and the new target became 150hp, but the original nomenclature stuck. One more core had to be added to the radiator when compared to the N.A. 12F. The 140 program carried right over in to the G Series, then into the G series VHP machines and right on over into the H Series. The 140H became the highest selling motor grader in the world. The 160H became the new snow plow market machine. It was basically a high horsepower version of the 140H. They shared the same mainframe design, engine, transmission (except the input gears), hydraulics (except the articulation cylinders) and drawbar. The 160H got a heavier circle ring (5mm thicker & 10mm deeper), the bladebeams were 60mm thicker. The moldboard parent plate was basically a 14H (1”thick & 27” tall) with 12H/140H M Plate rigging welded to the back. The 160H got bigger tandem drive chains and cases to handle the additional horsepower, center to center spacing though (60”) was the same as the 12H/140H.

14G & H (Tier 1 & Tier 2) shared the same mainframe and centerline design. The Tier 3 14Hs got a totally new longer frame. The 14G & H have always had a unique centerline design; longer and heavier (nearly 10,000lbs.) than any of the smaller machines. The only components that were ever common between the 14 and 160 were the engine, cab and moldboard parent plate. In regards to the engine both used a jacket water aftercooled 3306 during the Tier 1 & Tier 2 program and both used the 3176 during the Tier 3 program. As I stated before the 160G was a Caterpillar Custom Products Design and was built specially for Saudi Arabia. That’s why it’s not listed in the “Former Models” section of the PHB. The 12H, 140H and 16OH all shared the same mainframe and design centerline. The front frame on the 143H, 160H & 163H have heavier plates on the inside of the front frame, but from the outside this cannot be seen. The frame looks identical (from the outside) when compared to the 12H/140H frame. There’s way more to this story, but now it’s time to relax!!!
Regards, Randy

 

[mitch504]

Thanks, Randy

Ya know, if you get tired of being cold, you can come south for a couple of weeks, and make a real grader op out of me.



Or, maybe it would take a couple of years?

 

[RDG]

Thanks for all that info Randy, most informative. Cheers RDG.

 

[D11RCD]

agree to a point, I've only ever seen a 140H with a 14ft blade never with a 12Ft blade, that would make it a 12H

Sorry, i was referring to the M series. I didn't realise it was only the Gs. Sorry.

 

[biggrader]

Randy, so well put!!. It's great to have the people on here that can explain things to the 'little people' (speaking of me,not the other members on HEF). Well Done.

 

[CountryBoy685]

Thanks Randy thats quite the explaination! So if I was in the market for a 12G, it sounds like I'd be better off with a 140G since there the same size but the 140 Having more power. Awesome!! Thanks for the all the info.

 

[rare ss]

learn new info all the time.. thats for that info!