A Caterpillar 320 CL: Construction machinery up close at Fifth Avenue & Liberty Street

Posted on Tue, May 25, 2010 : 10 a.m.

A Caterpillar 320 CL: Construction machinery up close at Fifth Avenue & Liberty Street

By Edward Vielmetti

Construction in downtown Ann Arbor on South Fifth Avenue on Monday introduced me to the Caterpillar 320 CL, a crawler tractor with a variety of attachments - including this distinctive hydraulic hammer attachment - which is part of the construction crew's arsenal of tools.

Since we expect to see a lot of this particular vehicle over the next few days at AnnArbor.com, today's roundup of tracks down details on this particular machine.

Specifications

Ritchie Specs

The Ritchie Specs information on the Caterpiller 320 CL gives the basic breakdown of weight and dimensions. The vehicle weighs 47972.6 pounds, and a 138 horsepower engine gives it a top speed of 3.4 miles-per-hour.

Safety considerations

Caterpillar

The operator safety manual and the before operations checklist for these excavators are online, part of Caterpillar's comprehensive set of online safety information. There are dire consequences if you don't pay attention.

These can be yours

There are two easy sources direct from Caterpillar if you want to buy one of these honeys for your very own construction project. The Caterpillar ssed site has equipment from dealers all over the country. The Michigan Caterpillar focuses on equipment closer to home.

Note that you don't measure wear and tear on this kind of equipment in terms of "miles on the odometer;" the relevant age measure is "hours worked." The equipment I looked at for sale had no more than 12,000 hours in service for a late 1990s model, and you can pick up a 2007 beauty with only 1340 hours of service for only $120,000. Lots of good life left in the treads.

For comparison shopping, the article Caterpillar kungen i stort nordiskt test was the only relevant Consumer Reports style source (in Swedish) I found for comparable products. It focused on the European models available at the time.

Maintaining your new ride

Your excavator may have a bucket.

Caterpillar

This maintenance manual gives essential instructions prior to vehicle operations. If your excavator has a bucket, you'll learn how to maintain it and check for wear.

What else can you do with it?

You can level a parking lot or dig a pond with this kind of equipment.

Caterpillar doesn't market directly to those who are cleaning up after a volcano, but the good folks at Volvo do. This product pitch for the EW170 and EW180 models invokes the use of similar models in the cleanup of the Mt. Pinatubo eruption in the Philippines in the summer of 1991.

Smaller versions

There are models on the market in plastic in 1/50 scale and in brass in 1/48 scale ("kind of pricey"). Both of these are roughly "O" scale for your model railroad layout.

Finding kindred spirits

A Heavy Equipment Forums discussion thread has job site photos of similar models, plus an active and well-moderated set of posting boards for all of your heavy machinery questions: www.heavyequipmentforums.com.

Edward Vielmetti writes about motorized construction equipment for AnnArbor.com, remembering the day when watching videos of European street sweepers on YouTube was a way to keep a 5-year-old entertained for hours. Contact him at edwardvielmetti@annarbor.com.

Comments

usteveu

Tue, May 25, 2010 : 10:50 a.m.

not just for five year olds but a great way to keep some of us fifty-five year olds entertained. thanks.