Fri April 13, 2018 - Northeast Edition #8 Construction Equipment Guide
The Caterpillar M316F excavator is a popular and highly used model in the five boroughs of New York City.
H.O. Penn held a Technology and Equipment Showcase event March 24 at the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 15 Union Training Center in Queens, N.Y., near JFK Airport.
Local 15 members and their families, as well as H.O. Penn and SITECH Metro Northeast representatives, gathered at the training center to operate and experience machine control technology on Caterpillar equipment outfitted with Trimble technology. Caterpillar machines on site included a D6N XL dozer, M316F excavator, a 320 excavator, a 323F excavator, a 12M motorgrader and a 420D backhoe.
H.O. Penn's Local 15 event marked the fifth one of its kind the company has hosted and was the first one held for Local 15 members. Other International Union of Operating Engineers Technology and Equipment Showcase events included ones for Local 478 in Connecticut; Local 14 and 137 in Westchester County, N.Y., Local 825, in the Hudson Valley, N.Y.; and Local 138, on Long Island.
Marty Callahan, H.O. Penn's Corporate Sales Manager for paving products and technology products, was among the many H.O. Penn and SITECH Metro Northeast representatives on hand to help guide Local 15 members through machine control technology.
“We're hosting this event to showcase every aspect of construction technology that's available to our contractors and operators in the field,” Callahan said. “We have a D6N dozer and a 323F excavator with GPS technology, an M316F with a GCS flex package — the GCS flex package is a technology unit that can move from machine to machine which will indicate depth and grade on any machine. We have a 12M motor grader working off of a Trimble Total Station, which gives you the highest level of accuracy on any job site.
“We also are demonstrating a laser package on a Cat 420D backhoe, which is the most basic of technology configurations but enables people to understand what is available to utilize technology on the job sites to be most productive. And lastly, we have a Cat 320 “Cat Grade” machine, which encompasses just about all of the technology here today in one machine. The machine has grade and slope and a feature called 'assist,' which enables a contractor to dig a hole to a prescribed depth, allowing the operator to program in a depth and not go below it, or setting a boom/stick height limit for working under wires or overhead structures. Assist also allows you to program a desired slope into the machine and just pull with the boom joystick in toward the machine and it will fully automatically give you that slope. It's the latest technology coming out of the factory and, we feel, the most technologically advanced piece of construction equipment in the marketplace”
Callahan added the Cat 12M graders are easier to operate than they ever have been before due to advancements in operator controls. Prior to this technology advancement, a grader's performance was heavily based on operator proficiency. Now, he said, training is much easier and operators can be much more accurate and productive on a grader.
Callahan also pointed to the Caterpillar M316F excavator's popularity among New York City contractors.
“The rubber tires, on the M316F, won't impact paved roadways as opposed to tracked machines and the four outriggers allow contractors stability and lifting power with a higher degree of mobility within urban jobsite applications.” he said.
Throughout the event, which ran from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., Callahan along with other H.O. Penn and SITECH Metro Northeast representatives worked with approximately 150 Local 15 attendees.
Among the attendees was Patrick Peterson, director of training of Local 15, who was pleased with the event.
“It's fantastic,” he said. “This technology is what everybody needs to learn and we have it for our apprentices and our members, and it's just going to enhance the industry.”
Feedback from members was positive, he added.
“They love this,” he said of the Local 15 members. “They get to experience all of the new equipment that has come out, right here. They get the training; they get the expertise from all the representatives from the companies to explain to them the new enhancements in the industry.”
For more information, visit www.hopenn.com/ and www.sitech-metronortheast.com.
