With 2020 drawing to a close, it’s time to take a look back at all the top construction and heavy equipment stories that have come up in the last year.
No. 10: Mecalac MCR skid-excavators combine compact excavator design with CTL speed, attachments
From April 2020: Mecalac’s introduction to the North American market came at ConExpo 2017, when it debuted a concept version of what would become the MCR Series crawler skid-excavator, a unique machine that combines a compact excavator with a compact track loader. At ConExpo 2020, the French company unveiled the next generation of the MCR Series, with a new design, cab and user face.
No. 9: Mecalac’s MCR Series “skid-excavators” are in a category all their own
From April 2020: With speeds up to 6.2 mph, the MCR Series of excavators is “the fastest in the world,” according to French manufacturer Mecalac. The company entered the U.S. market two years ago at the 2017 ConExpo, and has 20 North American dealers with a headquarters in Boston.
No. 8: Video: How Caterpillar Changed the Way It Sells Equipment | The Dirt #11
From August 2020: Late last year, Caterpillar announced a new retail strategy that would fundamentally change the way the company sells its machines. Specifically, the company rolled out on-machine sticker pricing at its dealerships and the ability to shop for machines online.
From June 2020: Bobcat‘s next generation lineup of skid steers and compact track loaders is expanding with four new 60 frame size, vertical lift models: the S64 and S66 skid steers and the T64 and T66 compact track loaders.
No. 6: Kubota unveils its first mini skid steer, the SCL1000
From March 2020: While admitting it has taken its time to enter the market, compact equipment giant Kubota unveiled its first model in the mini skid steer/compact utility loader segment, the 1,000-pound rated operating capacity SCL1000, at ConExpo 2020.
No. 5: Case Unveils DL550B: Unique 2-in-1 machine is both small dozer and large CTL (VIDEO)
From March 2020: At ConExpo 2020, Case followed its unveiling of a fully-electric backhoe with the introduction of the DL550B, a machine that represents an entirely new machine category—the compact dozer loader—and one that has been several years in the making under the code name Project Minotaur.
No. 4: Video: Cat’s New D1, D2 and D3 Make Up Revamped Small Dozer Lineup
From July 2020: The Caterpillar small dozer lineup has been rethought. Gone are the D3K2, D4K2 and D5K2 and in their place are the new D1, D2 and D3. In the video below, we break down the differences between the new machines and their predecessors and discuss Cat’s motivation behind the new model names.
No. 3: Cat Unveils New D7 Dozer: Bigger, Stronger, Smarter (VIDEO)
From March 2020: A day before the crowds descended upon ConExpo-Con/Agg 2020 in Las Vegas, Caterpillar unveiled it’s all new D7 dozer model. The new D7 packs more power, more weight, and potentially huge productivity gains over its predecessors.
No. 2: Cat Renamed the D6K2 Dozer to the D4. Here’s Why They Did It (Video)
From July 2020: The D4 is a new addition to the Caterpillar medium size dozer lineup. But it’s not a new machine. It’s the new name of the former D6K2. In the video, we break down the reason behind the name change as well has how Cat’s new approach to naming dozers is part of a restructuring of the whole dozer lineup.
No. 1: New Cat dozers will no longer have letters in their model names. Here’s why.
From January 2020: If you happen to notice that some of the model number/letter designations on Caterpillar dozers are getting shorter, it’s not your eyes that need checking. The company started reformulating its machine nomenclature back in 2017 with the end goal of getting rid of the letter suffixes that follow the numbers.
