Alliance Mar 24 (Esco a/w)

News

Digging deep into construction machinery news

Cats on national service

Thu 07 Nov 2013

Cats on national service

Construction kit is often the unsung hero of any battlefield, living in the shadow of the big tanks, and armoured personnel carriers. They do however perform a very important role for our armed forces, and have done so right throughout history. I’m sure we have all seen footage featuring D7 dozers in action on the beaches of Normandy in 1944. The British Army sources machines from a variety of manufacturers, but in this post we are looking at some items of kit from Caterpillar. The Cat 257B pictured below is an armoured version of the Multi Terrain Loader. It is a 57hp Cat-powered vehicle, with hydrostatic drive and rubber tracks. The windows have been replaced with heavy composite, bullet protecting panels. The area behind, above and below the operator is similarly protected. As you can see this multi-purpose machine is supplied with a whole host of useful attachments, including a hydraulic backhoe, fork carriage and a 4 in 1 bucket.  Its general tasks in the field of action would be digging trenches, drilling post holes and breaking rocks. The two machines shown here are the Cat 938G wheeled loader and the Cat 434E backhoe loader, both of which have been heavily modified for the battlefield by Finning Caterpillar’s in-house specialist military team. The numerous secret modifications that have been made to these machines have already been instrumental in saving soldiers’ lives, in many of the dangerous locations where our brave men and women are currently serving around the world. We are proud to salute our heroes, and those who have fallen in the past, protecting us and our way of life around the globe.                          

Loads more