Big Cat purred in Malaga

Wed 15 Mar 2017

Big Cat purred in Malaga

The successor to Caterpillar’s outgoing D series is an impressive piece of kit, and during a walkaround one cannot fail to be impressed by its build quality. At the heart of the machine is a Cat C.18 Acert engine, which is now stage IV emissions compliant and offers a power rating of 391kw (532hp) @1700rpm. Of great interest to those that pay the fuel bills will be the news that these new engines are said to be 10% more fuel efficient than the outgoing stage IIIA engines, whilst still offering improved productivity performance.

Hydraulics wise, new on the F series models is Caterpillar’s Adaptive Control System valve (ACS), described by Cat excavator product specialist Cedric Masson, as the brain of the hydraulic system, which electronically manages flows and restrictions to exactly match the hydraulic response to the operators joystick movements. This new system, which shares some commonality with the technical components in the E Series Hybrid machine, is also said to further increase fuel savings, in addition to making hydraulic operation far smoother. When climbing into the cab of a new F series excavator as an operator, one will instantly notice that it is actually just an E series cab. Those of us who have spent time in E series excavators since their introduction in 2011, will recall that there is increased visibility thanks to a 12% increase in glass area compared to the old D series machines. The now familiar LCD monitor, with its 40% larger screen, is easy to use in terms of navigating around the various menus, and of course doubles up as a rear and or side view camera, when camera mode is selected. Up to three cameras can be mounted on the new F series machines, with viewing of two at a time available via the monitor. These monitors are programmable in 42 different languages, just in case English isn’t enough!

All the usual switches and controls that we have become accustomed to on the E Series cab are situated predominantly along the right hand side of the cab, including the multi position throttle dial. Just behind this dial, the operator will find a bank of ten push button controls, which includes amongst others, tracking speed selection button, auto-idle selection, wiper/wash button and working light settings. To the rear right of the cab one finds the radio and climate control units, personally I find the location of those two control units awkward to use.

Being a short operator, I have to have the seat quite far forward to enable me to reach the track pedals, this makes the aforementioned units situated a long way to the back of the cab, making it difficult to use them without shuffling around in the seat to gain a more comfortable reach and view of the units. A more remote set of controls to the fore would be a great idea for future models in my opinion. New in cab features include a larger drinks storage compartment at the front, a new storage compartment just below the 12v power outlet, making it an ideal place for the operator to store his mobile phone whilst on charge, and improved storage to the rear of the cab for the operators lunch bag and hot and cold drinks. In cab noise levels are a very pleasant 3 db (A).

Externally on the cab, Caterpillar have added a new parallel wiper blade system , which they claim offers 44% increased coverage compared to the traditional side mounted wiper motor systems. Visibility can be further increased with the optional fitting of a one-piece windscreen, which seems to be a bit of a departure from the recently more popular spilt screen scenario. As an operator I prefer the split screen, with the option to remove the lower section when working on things such as deep drainage, when a clear view down a shadowy trench is vital.

Work lighting from a standard fitment view comprises of cab and boom mounted lights, with the optional roof fitting of Cat’s High Density Discharge (HID) also available on request. As with the E series, the lighting system offers a 90 second time delay when shutting down the machine during hours of darkness, allowing the operator a clear view of his egress route at the end of his shift. This is a very useful function, as I discovered myself recently whilst operating a Cat 316E in a remote location in Buckinghamshire. After shutting down, I had plenty of time to make it back to my car before the lights went out, a very useful addition that I am sure would be appreciated by a majority of operators last thing at night. So what was the machine like to operate I hear you say?! Well the first challenge was making it up into the cab of this large piece of kit. Not a problem though, as Cat have placed steps and grab handles in all the right places. Once you are up at cab level, there are decent sized walkways located along the side of the machine, allowing the operator to gain access to all those important places for his daily fluid checks. Once in the cab, I adjusted the seat for my own comfort and lowered the adjustable arm rests to suit too.

On turning the key, I was greeted by an awesome sounding engine, which was surprisingly quiet in cab, but had that real feeling of power waiting to unleash itself. The machine was already set up in its full power HP mode as one would expect for a prime moving machine such as the 390F, although there is the option to work in economy mode if so required. Without further ado I cranked up the dial, pulled on the right hand joystick and the machine came to life, as its massive 6 cubic metre bucket raised from the ground. I dove the bucket into the ground to carve out my first swipe, the power this machine had was quite simply awesome, as it made light work of cutting through the dry Malaga clay type material, a quick slew to the right and my first bucketful was deposited.

Having been more used to operating 14 to 21 tonners most of my life, this machine did seem very slow compared to them, but with bulk earthmoving it is of course all about the quantities you are dealing with, so I had to take that into account. I often recall veteran machine operators, including my late father, telling me the bigger the machine, the easier they are to operate, as everything is so much slower, and generally the work is not so technical as it is with smaller machines; very true words in my humble opinion. By this time I was gouging out a fair sized trench with the 390F and I was keen to see just how much power the new kid on the block had beneath that bonnet. I dove the bucket in once more and halfway through my stroke I noticed that the machine was actually pulling itself along towards the dig.

This well-balanced machine handled its full bucket very easily, and even with its loaded bucket hung out over the side of the undercarriage, it remained rooted to the spot. After another period of excavating, I figured it was time to backfill the trench and tidy up the area for the next journalist to take to the controls during Caterpillars designated “stick time”. The machine made light work of the backfill operation, as I tried hard to pack in the material in layers. It has to be said that despite this machines size, one very quickly becomes accustomed to the way it reacts, the controls are super smooth and very precise in their movements. Visibility from the cab was excellent to the fore, and the placement of large rear view mirrors give the operator a good view back along both sides of the machine, these new large F series machines somehow don’t look so obtrusive at the backend as some of the smaller E series models appear to, and with the fitment of the rear view camera, or three if you specified the optional extras, provide a great view to the rear and sides from inside the cab via the monitor.

If you are in to bulk muckshifting day in day out, then the big new Cat would be a great place to spend a shift, for those of us who prefer work that is a bit more challenging and technical, it’s probably best to remain on the smaller kit. With the hole backfilled I started to compact the top layer by “tracking-in” the material having left it high to allow for some compaction. The machine was already in high speed tracking mode and its speed took me back a bit, for such a large machine it was surprisingly nimble on its feet. With the machine weighing in at around 92,020kgs and running on narrow tracks, the machine put down plenty of weight to compact the material and in no time at all the area was flattened and ready for the next person to take to the seat.

Sometime later after the madding crowds had left the machinery demonstration area, I returned to take another look at the finer points of the machine. Climbing up onto the upper deck of the 390F, I was pleasantly surprised to see how much thought has gone into the servicing and day to day maintenance of these big excavators. Once you have climbed up, you notice that you are fully enclosed within guard rails to prevent any falls from height, which as we know is one of the biggest killers in the construction industry today. In addition, the 390F features a service walkway featuring a punched plate design for improved grip underfoot, which is accessible via a latched panel along the right hand side exterior walkway.

Once in this service area, the operator or service technician can perform all daily checks or full servicing, from within the safe enclosed access walkway. Spin on filters for all major fluids are also accessible from this walkway, making servicing a very easy job to do from a point of safety. The engine bonnet and front panel are also accessible from this point.

Large service doors to the rear provide good access to the side by side cooling cores, which are located on the left hand side just behind the cab. As well as easy manual cleaning, an interesting feature that Caterpillar has added is the inclusion of a reversible fan option, which can be selected by the operator from the cab which will blow out any debris build up at the flick of a switch.

On the right hand side, the large service door opens to reveal the hydraulic pump and quick oil drain ports, with convenient fluid taps, for rapid and safe draining of lubricant’s during servicing. In addition, all grease points are conveniently grouped for ease of lubrication and of course the machine can be supplied with automatic lubrication systems, which is the preferred method on such large machines. Taking a look just under the right hand side walkway, one comes across a hatch which can be the storage point for the rapid fuel fill point, similar to the systems used in formula one cars, this port can be used to re-fuel the machine in just a couple of minutes compared to the usual 10-15 minutes it might usually take, keeping the machine in the dig for longer and improving production and profitability. This particular machine didn’t actually have the system in place but you can still see where it would normally be located.

At ground level you get a good view of the heavy duty undercarriage, which features three top rollers and nine bottom rollers, all boxed in behind sturdy looking track guards. This really is where the business end of the machine starts, providing a wide stable platform for the rest of the machine. This article first appeared in Earthmovers in 2014, it was an interesting experience getting to grips with the big Cat machine and I am looking forward to seeing more F series models rolling out in the future.

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