DEF fluid in heavy equipment !!

[1strodeo]

They even have it on diesel forklifts. They come standard on everything now

[sparkycuda]

I'm a technical instructor for the Komatsu distributor in Kentucky and Indiana. Tier 4 Final (with DPF and DEF) has been standard on most new machines for over a year. Actually, we have found the Final versions to be less troublesome than the Interim engines. BUT, customer acceptance and willingness to learn the newly-required maintenance and upkeep continues to be a real headache. Some operators keep pushing the "Delay Regeneration" button until the DPF is so clogged it can't regen. They think if they ignore it, it will go away.

Shoe-horning all the "stuff" under the hood of loaders, excavators, trucks, dozers, graders, etc., reminds me of what we do with our models. Some machines have gotten bigger hoods just to get everything inside.

It's here, and we are stuck with it! I heard Europe is considering a Tier 5 engine and the US wants to reduce diesel fuel consumption. Estimates are $12,000 to $15,000 more per engine to get where the Feds want to go.

Have a great day!

Ken

[Supermario]

That's a good point Kent. It is just like stuffing all our gear in the RC's.

It's when I see something as simple as a valve set turns into a major tear down to accomplish......sorry, it's the old school in me .
The first tier 4 final I saw was a 980 about a year ago. So far so good because none of the ones in our neighbourhood has been in the shop. So far, feild service is able to deal with them.
This is the first grader I've seen. Everything so tight and awkward.....reminds me of underground equipment!!

Getting customers up to speed will definitely be a challenge. It reminds me of the change in hydraulic systems. When tolerances became tighter, orfices and resolvers became smaller and yet nobody cared about getting dirt in a system. Heck, you could pour sand in a D8K hydraulic tank and never know it, what's different now?
So much self inflicted abuse on equipment due to not keeping the dirt out then, as we will see with the new way of doing things today.

That's my rant.... I'm done