Safety
- Enhanced access and egress with 45-degree rear-facing electro-hydraulic boarding stair; non-slip stairs, platforms and walkways; non-skid material on roof surfaces; and an additional stair from the platform to the roof for a second means of egress.
- Operator training seat that facilitates safe operator training.
- Safer maintenance with deck-mounted crowd machinery that allows the majority of crowd maintenance to be completed with protection from machinery house deck and stored energy locations that are clearly marked.
- Safety-enhanced electrical system, with high voltage DC bus located in the back of the drive cabinet; centralized control rack that keeps personnel away from high voltage components when troubleshooting; and shielding blocks induced currents that eliminate the need for high frequency bonding.
- Additional safety options including a safety lighting package, remote drum control for safer rope change-out, immobilization cables to ensure ropes won’t swing when the brakes are set, and fire suppression locations around the machine.
Operator Cab
- Ergonomically positioned controls and adjustable joysticks to reduce operator fatigue, plus efficient layout for easy access to storage and workstations.
- Motorized seat, console, and footrest, plus flip-up armrest with height and angle adjustment.
- Rheostat lighting control for optimum light levels, and reduced sound levels from 74 to 80 dba.
- Touch-screen display for real-time information, plus on-board phone communications.
- Enhanced in-cab training environment, with adjacently positioned trainer seat that facilitates communication during training.
Reliability & Durability
- IGBT electric drive system with robust welded drive cabinet designed to withstand severe and consistent vibration; isolated, positive-pressure room that protects drive/controller cabinet from dust and debris; and mine-grade components that ensure performance and long, trouble-free life.
- Robust front-end design with fully stress-relieved impact resistant steel; enhanced structure configuration that reduces weld-related stress concentration and extends life; 100% penetration and UT quality welds that secure all main splice joints; crack-resistant one-piece, forged dipper handle; rotating handle design that transmits torsional stress into the hoist ropes, extending boom and dipper handle life; and crowd and retract ropes or hydraulic fluid to absorb kickback force and reduce wear and cracking at the boom/dipper handle junction.
- Traditional Rope Crowd system for outstanding performance and high reliability proven in operations around the world, with tubular handle design to reduce rack and pinion misalignment challenges; reduced front-end cracking thanks to retract ropes that absorb shock; and elimination of torsional stress thanks to rotating dipper handle, reducing cracking and extending component life.
- Reliable dippers that reduce downtime: LatchFree Dipper that eliminates maintenance on the latch assembly, and FastFil™ Dipper that is manufactured from cold-weather, impact-resistant, high-strength steel.
- Stretch-resistant crawler links made from heat-treated cast alloy, with induction hardened pins, manual hydraulic take-up adjustment and manganese bushings available for hard rock applications.
Efficiency & Productivity
- Faster swing times resulting from reduced swing inertia of lighter front-end plus improved left-hand line-of-sight with deck-mounted crowd machinery that reduces components on the boom that would impede visibility.
- Wide-set boom point sheaves for more productive and efficient digging. with twin hoist ropes that balance dipper pull in the bank and automatically distribute digging force where it is needed most.
- LatchFree Dipper design, which increases efficiency by reducing lost loads.
- Improved fill factors with FastFil Dipper, thanks to trapezoidal shape that accommodates the natural configuration of the load.
Ground Engaging Tools & Wire Rope
- Hammerless G.E.T., featuring Whistler style adapter matched with CapSure retention — making installation and removal faster, safer, easier and less complicated than hammered alternatives.
- Lip systems delivered ready to work, with fully machined lip surfaces that ensure a perfect fit, reducing wear and extending lip lifecycle.
- Adapter that is secured to the lip with either hammerless or traditional C-clamp and wedge retention, plus hammerless wedge retention assembly that is often reusable, helping to lower your operating costs.
- Multiple tip profiles designed for a broad range of applications; superior penetration and lip protection with hammerless shroud system.
- Quality Cat wire rope options for hoist, retract and crowd and well as dipper trip ropes and suspension strands; manufactured using thermal injection process that provides complete penetration of plastic into the rope to resist the unwanted effects of abrasion and impact damage by encapsulating the strands to reduce steel-to-steel contact and seal in lubricants that prolong wire life.
Technology
- AccuLoad, which improves productivity by providing real-time dipper load feedback directly to operators and allowing the operator to monitor load and shift performance; also reduces machine and truck overloading.
- Bearing Temperature Monitoring, which enables better maintenance predictability and reduced risk of failure by monitoring bearing temperature and alerting operator of high temperatures; helps predict maintenance through bearing temperature trending and reduces risk of major failure
- Machine health back-office solution, which monitors machine performance and provides productivity reporting.
Serviceability
- Automated maintenance procedures, including an automatic lubrication system that covers all regular lube points.
- Extended maintenance intervals and elimination of the daily hassle of maintaining a latch bar thanks to LatchFree dipper.
- Easier maintenance activities thanks to walkways and platforms, factory-installed ladders inside boom, easy-to-remove roof hatches, an electro-hydraulic crowd rope take-up system that simplifies crowd rope tightening, and an onboard accessible diagnostic system.
- Streamlined AC system design with a single, centralized control rack that reduces parts requirements, and simplifies maintenance; single, compact drive cabinet that houses the controller and drives to simplify assembly, troubleshooting and maintenance; and elimination of fuses, circuit breakers and line filters.
- Dual output swing pinions that provide even wear and eliminate the need to rotate the rack, plus design that allows for minor roller maintenance and single roller replacement without removing the upper works.
- Easy take-up tumbler access for inspection and maintenance.
- Improved machinery house layout designed with efficient shovel maintenance in mind: Completely enclosed, self-supporting steel panels with built-in framing and Dynavane air filtering and pressurizing system to inhibit influx of dust and dirt.
Sustainability
- Entirely electric machines, which are more efficient than diesel powered machines, resulting in less heat loss and lower operating costs.
- Regenerative braking technology, which converts kinetic energy from shovel motions into electrical energy when braking, feeding that electrical energy back to the grid.
- Less waste thanks to change-out intervals that are generally longer than those for similar-sized hydraulic machines — leading to fewer component change-outs.
- Motors and gearcases that can be rebuilt, preserving raw materials, conserving energy and reducing the emissions generated when manufacturing new.
- Cat Reman and Cat Rebuild programs, which return end-of-life components to like-new condition.