Caterpillar D11

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The first Caterpillar D11 was the D11N which was introduced in 1986.The D11N had some improvements over the D10.It includes a bigger track and blade,a longer track by 21 inches.The U blade was just under 21 feet long and 7-7 inches high.This upped the blade capacity to 45 yards.The D11Ns weight was now 204,517 lbs.It was 770hp powered by a 2,105 cubic inch 3508 V-8.The D11Ns improvements made it over 10 percent more productive then the D10.In 1987 an hydraulically powerd impact ripper was added to the D11N which raised the weight up to 225,950lbs.The D11R and D11R Carrrydozer were introduced in Las Vegas at Minexpo 1996.Both were 770hp and that would be raised up to 850 later in 1997.Once again their were improvements to the D11R.Some of these were Fingertip Controls and Electronic Clutch and Brakes.The FTC allowed the D11R to be steered with a on the left hand side by a single lever.The D11R now weighed 216,963lbs.The Carrydozer had a special blade with s inside curvatures that allowed 57 yards to be pushed.The D11R Carrydozer had a structure strenghtened considerably for the extra weight and much bigger blade that it carried up front.Both D11Rs got a new 3508B EUI diesel engine with electronic controls at 915 gross hp.The Carrydozer weight is just a shade under 120 tons aty 239,550pounds.According to Caterpillar by the year 2000 over 3,000 D11s have rolled out of their plant in East Peoria.The current D11T was introduced in early 2008 and is also 850hp.The D11T comes as a regular bulldozer and a Carrydozer.As with the D11R the D11T carrydozer can push 57.9 yards while the regular D11T can push 45 yards of earth. The Caterpillar D11s were designed for massive dozing and pushloading of scrapers on mine and construction sites around the world.

D11s are primarily used for moving large quantities of material (dirt, rock, aggregate, etc.) short distances in relatively confined places. For example, they are often used in quarries. The D11 is most commonly found in use in large scale forestry, mining, and quarry operations.

D11s can be adapted for agricultural and rock ripping by fitting a ripper, a long claw-like device on the back of the tractor. Rippers can come singly (single shank) or in groups of two or more (multi shank rippers). Usually, a single shank is preferred for heavy ripping.

Ripping rock allows the ground surface rock to be broken into small, easy to handle and transport rubble which can then be removed so that grading can take place.

Agricultural ripping allows rocky or very hard earth to be broken up so that otherwise unarable land can be put to use in agricultural applications. For example, much of the very best land in the California wine country consists of old lava flows. Ripping shatters the lava, allowing practical agriculture for the wine industry. Hard earth can also be ripped and decompacted to allow the planting of orchards which otherwise could not grow on the land.

The dozer blade on front of the tractor usually comes in 3 varieties:

A Straight Blade ("S-Blade") which is short and has no lateral curve, no side wings, and can be used for fine grading.
A Universal Blade ("U-Blade") which is tall and very curved, and has large side wings to carry more material.
A "S-U" combination blade which is shorter, has less curvature, and smaller side wings.

The nearest direct competitor to the Caterpillar D11 is the Komatsu D-475. The Cat can be distinguished from the Komatsu by the elevated drive sprocket or "High Drive" system which results in a triangular, rather than oval, shaped caterpillar track.