Caterpillar (Cat) has updated the high-performance circle (HPC) design for its 140, 150 and 160 JOY motor graders, increasing efficiency and uptime availability.
Designed with various earthmoving and road building applications in mind, the new HPC design aims to eliminate hours of monthly planned maintenance for frequent inspection, wear strip replacement and circle shoe adjustments commonly seen with conventional circle designs.
Cat’s new HPC features a fully sealed bearing design, which replaces the previous open circle and drawbar and helps reduce operator touchpoints and extends service intervals.
The design was adopted from the Cat excavator swing drive and 14 motor grader worm drive and maintains the same machine connection interface as the standard drawbar and circle.
The new HPC features an innovative pinion gear shape with a large shaft diameter to deliver improved performance and allow the drive to be removed vertically without adjustments. Its centrally located grease bank and accessible ring gear also offers swift and easy servicing.
By reducing the amount of circle maintenance required, users of Cat’s new HPC will see a lower cost of ownership. For example, if the circle teeth have reached their wear limit, they can be rotated 180 degrees to double the component’s service life.
Its dowel locators also precisely position motors for simplified servicing, optimal tooth contact and long pinion life.
“Our new HPC provides more hours-of-service life, to significantly reduce planned maintenance,” Caterpillar product application specialist for Cat motor graders Eric Kohout said.
“Caterpillar’s industry-leading machining capabilities, designed to tight tolerances, help ensure high-precision alignment of the drawbar, drives and circle, so it requires no adjustments for the life of the grader.”
Earlier this week, Cat also announced a new suite of advanced safety technology options for its next generation medium wheel loaders.