SPECIAL ADAPTATIONS // CAT 6015B altered to provide either maximum horizontal reach or maximum digging depth. When finished, this will be done hydraulically, but at the time of our visit the boom was pinned mechanically. There was no need to make any changes to the excavator’s engine, as the 813hp Cat C27 block provides plenty of power. The standard 1700-litre diesel tank was deemed to be sufficient, as was the 956-litre hydraulic oil tank. But when the excavator arrived it was all hands on deck and there were several seven-day weeks, and the workshop lights often burned until late in the evening. One of the first of many big jobs was to separate the excavator’s H-frame from its track frames. The running gear was then removed and the track frames sandblasted to remove the paintwork. It sounds incredible, but the brand new components were then cut in half. An additional
metre of metal was then inserted, one result of FINAL ASSEMBLY which was that the lengthened 8m-long tracks The most challenging part of the whole project gained additional bottom rollers and an extra was meeting the non-negotiable three-month top one. The 6015B’s standard track pad width deadline. Given extra time, the Snijder team is 700mm, but would like to have widened the cab and Cat also offers increased its height, principally both 900mm to accommodate the barrage of “THE WORKSHOP TEAM and 1000mm computer screens the excavator HAD TO PULL OUT ALL THE will carry in its new role. But versions. Naturally, STOPS JUST TO COMPLETE they did not have time and, as Snijder chose it was, the workshop team had THE JOBS THAT HAD TO for the widest to pull out all the stops just to option for complete the jobs that had to BE DONE ON TIME” maximum be done on time. stability. All told, We were sworn to secrecy each track unit now weighs around 25 tonnes. until now, but with kind permission from The track frames are connected to each the Snijder family we were invited to follow other by a pair of substantial nine-tonne the most exciting part of the project, the beams, which provide an overall track width final assembly process that began in the last when using 1000mm pads of just over 7m. few days of July.
The first job was to tow the 48-tonne upper-structure out of the workshop and lift it on to its new undercarriage. The excavator’s H-frame was rotated by 90 degrees and bolted to the top of the track widening beams. It was a flawless lift, and all 72 of the M36 securing bolts were quickly put in place. The same bolts were used to connect the two new widening beams to the track frames. Each one weighs nearly 4kg, that’s nearly 600kg in undercarriage fastenings alone! The next job for the day was to fit the new boom base that, complete with three main lift cylinders, weighs around 17.5 tonnes. Previously a counterweight extension frame had been fabricated and welded to the rear of the excavator. This provides space for a pair of additional 13.5-tonne wafer weights. With these weights bolted in place the excavator’s standard 17-tonne counterweight was lifted
From start to finish the conversion took just three months and the 200-tonner is now at work on a remote site in the Indian Ocean.
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EARTHMOVERS DECEMBER 2016
Snijder Cat 4 r sp l.indd 2-3
DECEMBER 2016
EARTHMOVERS
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