E Series intro at WoC
Cat introduced its E Series backhoe loaders to North America last month at World of Concrete. I went to the press conference, and you'll find my notes (these are just NOTES, so they're rough -- be kind) pasted below.
Construction Equipment magazine will publish a field test of the 420E IT in our March issue.
For the time being, check out the attached photos from the press kit
Caterpillar found itself in the position of market challenger with its entry into the backhoe loader market in 1980s. They attacked the positions of entrenched leaders, like Case and Deere and JCB, in worldwide markets, with technology. Cat's A Series was the first backhoe loader with variable-displacement piston pumps powering the hydraulic system. The B Series brought the arched, excavator-style boom to backhoe loaders. The C Series included the first integrated toolcarrier versions of backhoe loaders, with parallel-lift loader arms and quick-attach couplers front and rear. And the D Series made excavator-style pilot hydraulic controls standard on the flagship models at a time when many manufacturers weren't offering pilot-hydraulic controls, and those that did were offering the feature as an option only. The new E Series introduces the industry's first factory-installed electronic platform that accommodates an AccuGrade electronic grade-reference system and which promises to be the foundation of automated digging functions in the future.
Product Link and AccuGrade are options on the E Series for the first time. The AccuGrade BHL Site Reference System adds position sensors to the backhoe's hydraulic cylinders which allow it to determine the position of the bucket relative to a known reference point on the site. An inclinometer measures the pitch and yaw of the tractor so it does not have to be set up per-fectly level. This is Cat's entry-level system for the backhoe loader market.
You put a bucket tooth on a point marked with an elevation, like a grade stake, curb, or manhole, and hit the button to set the AccuGrade memory at this known reference and enter the elevation. Before swinging the backhoe to work, you program in the desired grade of the finished work. AccuGrade calculates the bucket position relative to the known reference point and indicates on a monitor mounted in the cab if the bucket is above, below, or on grade. It's expected to be about a $10,000 option.
Cat calls this the "cornerstone for future product growth and enhancements," and plans to introduce the AccuGrade BHL Laser System before the end of 2006. A laser receiver mast on the backhoe loader will integrate the E Series backhoes with laser reference systems, and the laser will replace the known reference point on the site. The system not only improves work accuracy and productivity, but it can also raise utilization on existing lasers.
The E Series is hardly just an electronic warm-over, though. Cat engineered all new frames, booms, sticks and drive trains for the new models. Cat moved the backhoe sweet spot – the bucket position where boom, stick and bucket forces are greatest – closer to the opera-tor, and most backhoe forces increased 10 percent on the 420E and 430E. Backhoe linkages and buckets were redesigned to handle the strain.
A new flow-sharing hydraulic valve stack ensures flow to all functions even when using several at the same time (under different circuit pressures and flow requirements). For exam-ple, engaging boom, stick and swing flow when coming up out of the trench.
All of the E-Series sticks are thumb-ready, and Cat is the first to market with an optional factory-installed hydraulic thumb.
Cat redesigned its extendible dipper stick as an exterior slider to improve the thumb mount-ing and the extending member's structural integrity. Wear pads can be adjusted with common tools in about 30 minutes, compared to the two-hour process necessary with its predecessor.
There are no more controls on the backhoe-operating floor. They've all been moved to roller switches on the joysticks, offering proportional control of the E Stick and other backhoe accessories.
A new axle and gear ratios in the transmission hastened transport speed 25 percent to 25 miles per hour. Cat also stretched the wheelbase 4 inches to smooth out the ride. Sharper wheelcut keeps the turning radius pretty much the same as the D-Series machines.
The difference in pricing of the D and E Series backhoe loaders is expected to be negligi-ble. Cat has already raised its prices with steel surcharges, but the packages of options on the two ranges are different enough that it's difficult to compare the two series.
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