The Caterpillar D11T is a large

bulldozer A bulldozer or dozer (also called a crawler) is a large tractor equipped with a metal #Blade, blade at the front for pushing material (soil, sand, snow, rubble, or rock) during construction work. It travels most commonly on continuous tracks, ...

introduced by

Caterpillar Inc. Caterpillar Inc., also known as Cat, is an American construction, mining and other engineering equipment manufacturer. The company is the world's largest manufacturer of construction equipment. In 2018, Caterpillar was ranked number 73 on the ' ...

in 1986 to replace its D10. Weighing , it is Caterpillar's largest and most powerful bulldozer. Mainly used in the

mining Mining is the Resource extraction, extraction of valuable geological materials and minerals from the surface of the Earth. Mining is required to obtain most materials that cannot be grown through agriculture, agricultural processes, or feasib ...

industry, it is also employed to push-load

scraper Scrape, scraper or scraping may refer to: Biology and medicine * Abrasion (medical), a type of injury * Scraper (biology), grazer-scraper, a water animal that feeds on stones and other substrates by grazing algae, microorganism and other matter ...

s, and rip rock overburden. D11s are manufactured in

East Peoria, Illinois East Peoria is a city in Tazewell County, Illinois, United States. The population was 22,484 at the 2020 census. East Peoria is part of the Peoria metropolitan area, located across the Illinois River from downtown Peoria. It is home to many Ca ...

History

D11N

The D11N was introduced in February 1986 to replace the D10. The D11N had some major improvements over the D10: it includes a bigger track and blade, and a longer track by . The U blade was just under wide and high. This increased the blade capacity to . The D11N's weight was . It was powered by a , 3508 V-8 diesel engine. The D11N's improvements made it over 10 percent more productive than the D10. In 1987 a hydraulically powered impact ripper was added to the D11N which raised the weight up to . This would become known as the D11N Impact Ripper.

D11R & D11R Carrydozer

The D11R and D11R Carrydozer were introduced in

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

, at

MINExpo International MINExpo International is a trade show sponsored by the National Mining Association. The show exhibits the latest mining and minerals processing technologies, and state-of-the-art machinery and equipment for the coal, metal and nonmetal mining pro ...

in 1996. Both were and that would be increased to later in 1997. Other improvements made to the D11R were fingertip controls and electronic clutch and brakes. The finger tip controls (FTC) allowed the D11R to be steered with small fingertip clutches on the left hand side. The D11R now weighed . The Carrydozer version has a special blade with a curvature that allowed 57 cy ( 43.6 m³) to be pushed. This blade design was introduced by Komatsu on their D575 A-2 dozers in 1995 as the Superdozer version. The deeper curvature of the Carrydozer/Superdozer blades literally carry the dirt moved, and the weight of the load increases pressure on the undercarriage and is thereby increasing the traction of the bulldozer. The increased weight on the undercarriage means also higher contact pressure between rollers and track links, which can increase wear significantly. These higher undercarriage costs must be considered when opting for a Carrydozer version. Komatsu developed a lengthened Superdozer undercarriage with two additional rollers per side to reduce wear, a step that Caterpillar avoided for their Carrydozer machines. The Carrydozer had the structure strengthened considerably for the extra weight and the much bigger blade that it carried up front, also, the ripper was fitted with an additional counterweight block. Both D11R and D11R CD received a new Caterpillar 3508B EUI

electronically controlled unit injector An electronically controlled unit injector (EUI) sometimes referred to as a mechanical electronic unit injector (MEUI) is a unit injector (UI) with electronic control. It performs the same function as a conventional unit injector in an internal co ...

diesel engine with electronic controls at . The Carrydozer's weight is just over at .Orlemann, Eric C., (2006). - ''Caterpillar''. - St.Paul, Minnesota: MBI. - According to Caterpillar, by the year 2000 over 3,000 D11s had been produced at their plant in East Peoria.

D11T & D11T CD

The current D11T was introduced in early 2008 and is also . It comes as a regular bulldozer and a Carrydozer like the previous model. As with the D11R, the D11T Carrydozer can push while the regular D11T can push of earth. A new D11T was on display at the Caterpillar display at Minexpo during the 22 to 24 September 2008 expo in Las Vegas, Nevada. The D11T and D11T CD are both powered by the CAT C32 engine with ACERT technology. The D11R and the D11T differ in the configuration and layout of their operator controls; several levers have been changed into electronic switches, and several controls have been moved for increased visibility. Another difference is that the D11T has its exhaust mufflers closer to the front of the cab, similar to the D10T. They stand taller than the ones on the D11N/D11R. In November 2018, a number of enhancements were introduced and announced for the current D11T/D11T CD machines.

Shipping

These machines are so big that they must be partially dismantled for shipment to most sites. Some are shipped in the United States by railroad flatcars with the blade, push arms and ripper frame removed. Others are dismantled into several units for transport by multiple

semi-trailer trucks A semi-trailer truck (also known by a wide variety of other terms – see below) is the combination of a tractor unit and one or more semi-trailers to carry freight. A semi-trailer attaches to the tractor with a type of hitch called a ' ...

.Orlemann, Eric C., (2002). ''Colossal Caterpillar: The Ultimate Earthmover''. St. Paul, Minnesota: MBI.

Blade options

The dozer

blade A blade is the Sharpness (cutting), sharp, cutting portion of a tool, weapon, or machine, specifically designed to puncture, chop, slice, or scrape surfaces or materials. Blades are typically made from materials that are harder than those they a ...

on front of the tractor usually comes in three varieties: * A straight blade ("S-Blade"), which is short and has no lateral curve, no side wings, and can be used for fine grading. * A universal blade ("U-Blade"), which is tall and very curved, and has large side wings to carry more material. * A semi universal ( "S-U" Blade ) combination blade, which is shorter, has less curvature, and smaller side wings. There is also a special "Coal U-Blade", capable of carrying . These are only attached to bulldozers that work solely on coal.

Applications

D11s are primarily used for moving large quantities of material (dirt, rock, aggregate, soil etc.) short distances in relatively confined places. For example, they are often used in quarries. The D11 is most commonly found in use in large scale forestry, mining, and quarry operations. D11s can be adapted for agricultural and rock ripping by fitting a ripper, a long claw-like device on the back of the tractor. Rippers can come singly (single shank) or in groups of two or more (multi shank rippers). Usually, a single shank is preferred for heavy ripping. Ripping rock allows the ground surface rock to be broken into small, easy to handle and transport rubble which can then be removed so that grading can take place. Agricultural ripping allows rocky or very hard earth to be broken up so that otherwise inarable land can be used for agriculture. For example, much of the best land in the

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

wine country consists of old

lava flow Lava is molten or partially molten rock (magma) that has been expelled from the interior of a terrestrial planet (such as Earth) or a Natural satellite, moon onto its surface. Lava may be erupted at a volcano or through a Fissure vent, fractu ...

s. Ripping shatters the igneous rock, allowing the growth of wine grapes. Hard earth can also be ripped and decompacted to allow the planting of orchards which otherwise could not grow on the land.

Competition

The nearest direct competitor to the Caterpillar D11 is the Komatsu D475. The Caterpillar D11 can be distinguished from the Komatsu D475 by the elevated drive sprocket, or "High Drive" system, which results in a triangular, rather than oval, shaped track. The updated version of the Komatsu, the D575A, is the world's largest production bulldozer at and .''Earthmovers Magazine'', October 2008, Page 17, - author Keith Haddock ISSN 1743-0372 A bigger machine, the

Acco super bulldozer The Acco Super Bulldozer is the largest and most powerful tracked bulldozer ever made. It was built in Portogruaro in northern Italy by the Umberto Acco company. The Acco super bulldozer was constructed mainly of Caterpillar parts; however, many ...

, was built by Italian firm ACCO, with twin Caterpillar diesel engines giving a combined power of , and weighing , in the 1980s, but this was a custom built model.Haddock, Keith, (2000). - ''Colossal Earthmovers''. - Osceola, Wisconsin: MBI. -

Image gallery

These images are of a Caterpillar D11R III. File:Cat D11 View 2.jpg, Front-quarter view File:Cat D11 View 1.jpg, Side view File:Cat D11 View 3.jpg, Rear-quarter view

References

*Orlemann, Eric C.(2006). ''Caterpillar.'' St. Paul, Minnesota: MBI. .

External links

Caterpillar D-Series Track-Type Tractors
— Official Caterpillar website

{{Caterpillar Caterpillar Inc. vehicles Tractors Tracked vehicles Bulldozers over 100 tonne Bulldozers with powerplants larger than 500kW Vehicles introduced in 1986