4 minute read
PRODUCT LAUNCH
The new Cat 6040 is available as a 22-cubic-metre face shovel or backhoe, designed to load up to 4000 tonnes per hour.
Advertisement
LATEST 400-TONNER
David Wylie reports on Caterpillar’s new 400-tonne class hydraulic mining excavator, the mighty 6040
decade after buying the RH
Arange of mining-class hydraulic excavators from Bucyrus, Caterpillar has closed the historic former O&K factory in Germany. These monster miners are now designed in Tucson, Arizona and built at Cat’s Batam factory in Indonesia. In addition to promoting the latest versions of its 300- and 600-tonners at the recent Minexpo show in Las Vegas, Cat took the opportunity to launch the new 400-tonne 6040 model.
The 6040 is designed to load up to 4000 tonnes an hour with a 22-cubic-metre capacity bucket, either as a backhoe or in the classic O&K confi guration of a TriPower face shovel. It can load a Cat 785 in four passes, while it’s a fi ve-pass match to a Cat 789 and a six-pass match to Cat 793 mining trucks. Both types of front-end working equipment have a design life of at least 60,000 hours.
At the heart of the 6040 is a pair of 32-litre Cat V12 engines, which offer a combined gross power of 2079hp (1550kW). Interestingly, this massive twin power pack meets the Stage 5 ultra-low emissions standards without the use of either a diesel particulate fi lter or an AdBlue system.
As has already appeared on the 600-tonne 6060 model, the 6040 receives Cat’s new heavy-duty undercarriage. It features extremely durable rollers and idlers that have duo cone seals, steel-back bronze bearings for increased service life and to eliminate overheating during tracking. Updated track pads and a track tensioning system are also part of the new undercarriage package, which is intended to lower long-term operating costs.
“THE NETWORK OF ELECTRONIC SENSORS AND CONTROL SYSTEMS WITHIN A 6040 GENERATES A HUGE VOLUME OF DATA” CAT 6040 BASIC SPECS
Face Shovel Backhoe
Total Gross Power 2079hp 2079hp Operating weight 404.6 tonnes 407.3 tonnes Bucket payload 39.6 tonnes 39.6 tonnes Bucket capacity 22cu.m 22cu.m Crowd/ tearout force 1791kN 1018kN Max breakout force 1201kN 1123kN
STOP PRESS
As we go to press, further information has been released by Caterpillar about their plans for this product line. They confirm that autonomous and remotely-operated prototypes of the larger 6060 model are currently being evaluated at their Tinaja Hills proving ground in Arizona, with the new 6040 model next in line for such development.
The 6040, 6060 and 6090 are available as tethered electric-drive machines, as opposed to being powered by a pair of massive diesel engines. A new development is that owners of diesel-powered 6090s, the largest hydraulic excavator in the world, will have the option of converting it to electric drive during a planned major rebuild. One would expect this service to be extended to the smaller models, with Cat also confirming that they are evaluating other drivetrain options, including an on-board hydrogen fuel cell.
Above, right and below: The 6040 features a heavy-duty undercarriage for increased durability and lower operating costs, and a host of high-tech systems.
As part of the standard package, the principal access route features shallow angle steps for greater safety, plus an emergency egress ladder adjacent to the cab.
HIGH TECH
The network of electronic sensors and control systems within a 6040 generates a huge volume of data. Cat’s standard mining telematics system has been upgraded to Product Link Elite, which provides simultaneous data transfer both to the cloud and to the mine’s local server. This refl ects a greater use of machine data across the customer’s business, not just to monitor machine health, but also to help plan future workloads and site layout to achieve maximum effi ciency. Product Link Elite is said to be easy to navigate and simple for the operator to create widgets and lay out the screen to their own preference.
The latest Cat 6040 represents a new era for this historic mining shovel, which started back in 1995 with the 340-tonne O&K RH170. As its upgraded undercarriage, engines, hydraulics and main structures are now fully integrated within Caterpillar’s vast engineering and global support network, the new 6040 is a 400-tonner for the future, not from the past.
