More KWs and more

 More visits from Earl Paddock Kenworths in recent days. These always good looking trucks from Stoney Creek, ON (near Hamilton) are usually seen hauling military vehicles, but this time they were hauling Caterpillar 320 backhoes.

One of the KWs (named for B.D.Baum) is painted in the standard Paddock black and red but the other, operated by a contractor, J.Syvret + Co Ltd, is named also, but I could not read the name from a distance. 

Caterpillar equipment is usually carried by Bellemaire trucks, so this may be a change.

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Down in the dumps

 Some big dump trucks have been moving through the port of Halifax recently - both new and used.

Sandvik mining trucks are common enough sights, as they seem to be the most popular underground trucks.

This new Toro TH663i was riding on a big Aspen trailer. The model number indicates a 63 tonne capacity. It also has a Volvo 565 kW (758 hp) Stage V engine.

Intended for above ground work, this used Cat 773E (59.36 tonne capacity) was headed west behind a JNB Western Star. I have seen several pieces of used equipment from VINCI - a large French construction company, with many interests in Canada.

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Cats and Stars

 

I always like to see trucks from the Bellemaire Group. They are invariably clean, which shows off their distinctive orange and yellow colours. I spotted this one the other day with a Cat 962M wheel loader on a jeep and trailer combo, hauled by a Western Star. According to Caterpillar's product info the 960M has an operational weight of more than 44,590 lbs (that is with full fluids), so might be slightly less as seen, but enough to deploy the fourth axle on the trailer.

Bellemaire is based at Ste-Catherine, QC, south of Montreal on the mainland, and are oversize and heavy load specialists. They also apparently have a contract with Caterpillar, as I discovered previously.

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New Cats in Town

I don't know when they got here, but they have arrived.

The long awaited new Caterpillar trucks are at the local dealer now, and a selection are on view out front, complete with dump boxes, fifth wheels, etc.,

Designated by Cat as a vocational truck (which means construction, trash hauling, transit mix and flatbed trailer work and just about everything else except maybe long distance over the road work) they certainly look the part of heavy duty trucks.

With the recent demise of Sterling, one had to wonder if there was room for another truck brand in the North American market.

The competition as I see it:

Volvo - has own engines, and has Mack as its vocational arm.

Daimler/Freightliner has Western Star with its vocational line, and has its own engines.

International has all sorts of model lines and its own engines, but is apparently somehow tied into the Cat truck.

PACCAR (Kenworth/Peterbilt) have their own vocational lines too and use Cat or Cummins engines as the customers requests.

Aside from some small independents, that is really it. Cat has a huge dealership network already and seem to be well placed to make a mark.

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Blurring the Lines

1. International now.

2. Big lawn mower. Deere is spreading into Cat territory.

Navistar International and Caterpillar are due to roll out a new line of trucks under the CAT banner -to be sold and serviced by Cat dealers. This will be a line of vocational trucks- transit mix, refuse, dump trucks, etc.,

The trucks are already on the road in Australia, but are not due to be unveiled in North America until March. These are to be heavy tucks, and from what I have seen are not likely to be very adventurous in terms of appearance. They will look like Internationals, except for the large CAT logo on the rad.

From my casual unscientific observation Western Star and Volvo/Mack seem to have this market pretty much to themselves for the past few years. With the demise of Sterling, perhaps there is room for still another player. Even so it represents a major investment from Cat into new territory.

With incursions into Cat's traditional machinery range from a variety of sources, including John Deere, perhaps it is time for Cat to trade on its high brand recognition and spread out. They certainly did this in August 2010 when they acquired Electro-Motive Diesel from Greenbriar/Berkshire. The former Electro-Motive Division of GM, which manufactures diesel locomotives in La Grange IL and London, ON is now set to take a run at industry leader GE. Cat will build a new plant in Muncie, IN as part of this move.

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Clean KW

Clean Transport of Morris, MB certainly lives up to its name with this superclean Kenworth T800. I passed this rig yesterday on my way back from Moncton and caught up to him this morning at the Fairview Cove container terminal.

The Cat D400D Dumper on the back came from a Ritchie Brothers auction and is headed overseas.

Morris, MB is between Winnipeg and Pembina, ND and is a bit of a transportation centre. However I can't find any more information about Clean Transport. This truck is unit#10 and it is hauling a pretty clean looking Fontaine Magnitude trailer too.

Based on the number of bug splats I got on the trip, this truck has been washed since it arrived in Halifax.

Random Shots#5

Peterbilts were still pretty rare in these parts in November 1977. So when these two showed up on the waterfront they were worth a shot. Operated by Dallas-Mavis, they were running out of Peoria for Caterpillar.