First UK ‘Certified’ Off Highway truck fleet rebuild

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 03 RD, 2015

 

In a nod to the expected upturn in mining and quarrying, Finning has just completed the first ever UK fleet rebuild. The project, a Caterpillar Certified Powertrain Plus rebuild of four Cat 777D off highway trucks, took just nine weeks instead of the expected 13 weeks.

Talking about the project, Marcus Pitt rebuild expert for Finning said, “Rebuilding four Cat 777D trucks to the same specification is a real demonstration of our capability and project management.”

Each of the four trucks was originally manufactured in 2005 and had worked for around 25,000 hours. With the Caterpillar ‘Built for it’ engineering philosophy, each chasis would expect to last much longer than this, potentially up to 90,000 hours, making rebuilds a cost effective alternative to buying new equipment for many customers.

The Caterpillar Certified Powertrain Plus option involves rebuilding the entire powertrain plus other selected parts, which in this case included refurbishing the cabs, overhauling the hydraulic systems and reconditioning the skip linings.

Each rebuild included the replacement of 7,000 parts as standard, plus additional serviceable parts as required to give each machine a new life. The process also brings each machine up to the most recent specification of a Cat 777D.

Supporting Our Industry

To satisfy market requirements during the long waited upturn, Finning UK took the decision to have the four Cat 777Ds rebuilt for its own customer support fleet.

Grant Pearce, support fleet manager for Finning, “When these four trucks became available, we had a choice as a business; we could have sold them, exported them abroad or have them rebuilt for our customer support fleet.

“We decided that now is the right time to invest in the rebuild of this fleet. It allows us to make it available to our customers either individually or as a package, or to provide a cost effective off balance sheet solution for those not ready to commit capex.”

For this project the four trucks were rebuilt to a standard specification, but for other customers a bespoke engineering team can also be bought in to add extra elements according to a specific customer’s needs.

Pitt adds: “Rebuilds are increasingly popular for many customers, where they provide a great option for lowering operating costs, compared to buying new. They are also an important off balance sheet solution. Often customers with older equipment, who are not ready to replace their entire fleet, want to match them with the same generation of trucks to maximise the productivity life cycle.

“Typically a Certified Caterpillar Rebuild equates to around 60 percent of the cost of purchasing new equipment, with a Certified Power Train rebuild being around 30 percent. A Certified Power Train Plus rebuild is generally somewhere in between these two figures.”

The new four-truck fleet of Cat 777Ds all received a complete cosmetic refurbishment; new identity graphics and new serial/product identification number and come with a 12-month warranty. Extended warranties are also available for the machines on request.

Finning has five rebuild centres around the UK capable of rebuilding 777Ds, supported by dedicated component rebuild centres that specialise in powertrain and hydraulic components.