Product development is a continuous process in Caterpillar

- Amit Bansal, Sales & Marketing Director-Building Construction Products, Caterpillar India The current market for Skid steer loader (SSL) in India is estimated to be about 500 units per annum. 'We expect the market growth to accelerate with growing awareness about the machine and more focus on infrastructure development, clean India campaign, etc,' says Amit Bansal, Sales & Marketing Director- Building Construction Products, Caterpillar India. He shares more... Where do you find the applications of SSL the most? SSL is a highly versatile utility machine. It is ideal for moving materials in general construction and buildings, for material handling and movement in heavy construction - bridges, elevated roads, metro rail, tunnels, besides in industries like cement, brick, paper, sugar, glass, steel, recycling industries, etc, and offers a practical solution for waste collection and management. Besides the bucket, they can also be fitted with attachments like pick-up brooms, augers, pallet fork, grapple bucket, hammer, planer, depending on the requirement. What are the advantages of skid steer loaders in terms of design, use and maintenance? SSL comes with a mechanical quick coupler and auxiliary lines, making it highly versatile as it can be fitted with a lot of attachments easily with little effort and time. The machine is compact in terms of length, width and height, and is light weight. Further, the turning radius of an SSL is less, and can rotate about its own envelope. Also, the cabin is closer to the work tool and the operator has excellent visibility to work tool edges. In terms of maintenance, due to Caterpillar's design philosophy, accessibility to the components is easy in 216B3, making it an easy to maintain machine. The cost of maintenance is significantly lower for Cat skid steers. Tell us about your range of skid-steers and its features. In India, we have 216B3 skid steer loader having 635 kg of rated operating capacity, which belongs to the category which constitutes approximately 70 per cent of the SSL industry in India. We also have other models in our SSL portfolio. Distinguished features include: Hydraulically operated joystick controls: This standard feature in 216B3 makes it easy to operate and also requires less effort. All the machine controls are hand controlled. Anti-stall hydraulic system: This ensures the engine does not get stalled when the load is high. Unique side-by-side cooling package: The engine radiator and hydraulic cooler are placed side-by-side, which vastly increases the cooling efficiency, allowing the machine to operate for longer hours. Product Link: The Product Link technology gives information like that can be monitored by the user. Hand-foot throttle: The engines rpm can be adjusted in two ways - by hand lever or foot throttle, allowing the operator to perform tough jobs and saving fuel. What are the safety features inbuilt in your range? The machine has a lot of features in terms of operator safety. Few of these are: The canopy or cab of the machine is Roll Over Protection System compliant; Arm rest bar - Unless it is pulled down, the engine cannot be started; Spring activated hydraulically released brakes ensure effective and fail safe braking; Operator presence seat mounted sensors automatically engage the parking brake if it does not sense a minimum of 22 kg after a few seconds; Dead engine lower valve helps in bringing down the loader arm in case of engine shutting and hydraulic system malfunction; Backup alarm; Optional beacon. (Communication by the management of the company)