Cat Creature Comforts

Wed 02 May 2018

Cat Creature Comforts

When I got my first drive opportunity on the Cat 320 I was first offered a standard Cat key to unlock the door and was duly told that it would be the only time I would need it as a standard fit keyless push button start system is included on these machines.

Climbing into the spacious cab through the wide entrance door the operator is greeted by what is apparently an all new fully adjustable seat from Grammer, and I’m delighted to report that it’s a very comfortable place to be, this will be good news for fellow operators I have spoken to in the past who have complained of getting a bad back in the older E series models.

Cat offer a choice of 3 cab packages across this 20-tonne range, Comfort, Deluxe or Premium, the 320 is available with either deluxe or premium. The first thing that strikes you when seated in this cab is the minimalistic fitment of control buttons, there is just one bank of 10 push button controls to the operators right hand side controlling such things as two speed tracking, work lights, front screen wiper, screen wash, radio mute, and cab temperature to name a few, these buttons are linked to the real magic gizmo in the cab, which is a large 203mm full colour touchscreen pad with which you can control and adjust a myriad of different settings for the machine.

These various settings within the pad can be adjusted using the jog dial keys, a rotary dial style multi-function switch on the right-hand console. Alternatively, you can navigate the various menus by using your finger on the touch screen. This set up initially blew my mind, but it is certain to appeal to the new young breed of operators coming through who have been brought up with iPads and tablets. I have to say that after few minutes playing with the system it very quickly became easy and intuitive to follow.

As for the rest of the cab, well as previously mentioned you get a larger back window and the offside glazed area is huge reaching nearly to the floor of the cab at the front. A large polycarbonate sunroof is fitted with retractable sun visors in place for those sunny mornings and a rain shield is fitted to the front top of the cab. The front windscreen is a two-piece 70/30 split screen affair, which can be stored in the roof as is popular for lads working in close proximity with ground crew especially on deep drainage jobs where communication and unrestricted visibility is vital.

To the rear of the cab there is good storage space for the obligatory lunch bag and flask which will be held in place by the fitted cargo netting. A clutter free floor with an easy to clean washable mat is a welcome feature as is the various air vents situated around the cab providing a decent flow of hot or cool air depending on the climate you are working in.

This new promotional video from Caterpillar gives you further insight into the spec level available for operators.

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