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Cover Story/Productivity Guide: Wheel loaders

May 28, 2009 |

When the Environmental Protection Agency’s Tier 3 regulations for 100-175 horsepower off-road vehicles take effect in January, it will mark a transition period for wheel loaders with 135 to <175 net horsepower. In anticipation of Tier 3 standards, several OEMs have either released updated versions, or will do so in 2007.

There are no major cosmetic changes to these machines – their overall structure and mechanics will remain the same – but the engines and combustion technology have been refined.

"Electronics will be modified, particularly in the trubocharging system, fuel injection systems and electronics," says Dave O'Keeffe, product market manager for John Deere's 4WD loaders. "As you talk about different competitors, their execution will be slightly different, but the biggest change will be in the engine and the cooling packages."

As a byproduct, some wheel loader models gained extra engine power and jumped to the next class. The reason for this according to Nick Tullo, Volvo's North American market communicator and product specialist for haulers and loaders, is to give customers productive machines for their jobsites.

"The customer demand is just higher for this size machine and the customer wanted to see these machines do more," he says. "Because of that demand, manufacturers realize more horsepower is better and that is what the customer wants to see."