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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."

Wheel loaders excel in construction applications such as material handling, digging, load-and-carry, road building or site prep. Some models even come in waste handling versions. They use either the Z-bar or the tool carrier linkage. The Z-bar has a single bell-crank hydraulic cylinder that maximizes breakout force at the tip of the bucket. They tend to be high production machines with faster cycle times than those with tool carrier linkage. This allows operators to get into a pile, raise the load and dump it faster.

"The strengths of wheel loaders in this class are the maneuverability and versatility to perform multiple tasks along with low costs," says Cedric Gold, product marketing manager for medium wheel loaders, Caterpillar. "This is a bread-and-butter machine; a daily machine and a great start for new contractors. This machine will do what it was designed to do, and the best way to maximize the return on investment is to have the correct equipment size to meet production needs."

"The main thing is the big demand for this size wheel loader," adds Dave Wolf, product manager, Case Construction. "They are the wheel loaders with the highest industry demand because they are maneuverable and have great lift capacity and versatility."