The New Generation Cat D6 Dozer

Less time, less cost on maintenance with the new Cat® D6

Caterpillar’s new D6 and D6 XE dozers are said to have been specifically designed to reduce service and maintenance costs by up to 12 percent.

With updated components, longer service intervals and fewer scheduled maintenance tasks Will Allam, Service Supervisor at Hastings Deering said this New Generation D6 Dozer will save significant cost and time for owners compared to the previous model.

“The new machine design for the Next Generation D6XE, has almost 90% fewer rotating parts than the traditional powertrain this means up to 70% reduction in 10,000 hour powertrain rebuild cost and major service intervals have been increased from 1,000 to 2,000 hours.”

Mr. Allam said that the reduction in rotating parts enables owners to save on powertrain rebuild costs and expand the intervals for powertrain oil interval changes on the D6 XE.

“This is huge for customers who only do around 1,000 hours per year, they’re now only needing to plan and schedule for this major service work every two years.”

Not only do the increased service intervals allow for great flexibility with scheduling downtime for maintenance, it could also mean customers will no longer have a component change-out within the life of their machine.

“For a lot of our customers they might be looking at upgrading or selling a machine at around 10-12,000 hours,” he states. “With the XE powertrain the increased component re-bearing and re-seal is typically between 10,000 to 15,000, so this may eliminate the need for many owners to plan for this within their ownership of the machine.”

While these service intervals and reduction in rotating powertrain parts can help with lowering the overall maintenance costs, the savings do not stop there.

The new design of the D6 dozers further provide easy access to grouped service points with a standard rear ladder that puts fueling, filter changes and rear window cleaning within easy reach.

“There is a new ladder on the back of the machine to help access these maintenance points. Technicians no longer need to stand on the tracks or reach over from the operator step to be able to access them, it is a much safer and quicker solution,” he said.

Significant savings also come into play with core clean-outs, with the inclusion of a standard reversing fan and advanced cab filtration meaning less dust for reduced system wear and tear.

“Our field service teams are often called out to clean the HVAC units where the dust is getting in. The HVAC system in this machine will register high pressure and potential blockages and reverse at full speed to blast it out of the system.”

“This will reduce the need for service call outs, and repair around air conditioning systems combined with advanced filtration, increases the air filter change outs to 500 hours.”

Fewer filters and service points, along with longer service intervals and advanced filtration will save time and money on routine maintenance, whilst increasing operational up-time, machine availability and production hours.