Thompson Tractor's Guests Line Up to Try D6N Dozer

Sitech South, Caterpillar and Cat Financial representatives joined Thompson Tractor staff to help make the dozer expo a huge success.

Tue September 27, 2016 - Southeast Edition #20
Construction Equipment Guide

Saiia Construction Company, Birmingham, Ala., attended the demo to learn more about the new Cat GRADE technology. (L-R) are Johnny Pipp, Landon Colafrancesco, Jay McGinnis, Connie Hardin, Rob Massengale, all of Saiia Construction Company, with John Smith, the company’s Thompson Tractor salesman.

(L-R): Jonathan Dunlap, Sitech South; Seth Brock, Minuteman Construction, Cullman, Ala.; Chad Davis, Sitech South; and Phillip Cofield and Tyler Brock, also of Minuteman Construction, engage in a hands-on demo of some of the Trimble products.

Travis Wilker, Sitech South, demos the new Cat D6N dozer.

Charlie Stevens (L), Thompson Tractor, and Sam Meeker, Caterpillar, provide preliminary information on the D6N machines with integrated advanced Cat GRADE technologies before the demo began.

A crowd assembled in Alabaster, Ala., to find out more about the newest dozer technology from Caterpillar.

(L-R): Sam Meeker, Caterpillar, speaks to Clint Carter and Tim McKinney, both of MS Industries, Wolf Springs, Ala., about the capabilities of the newest D6N dozers during the demo.

(L-R): Lin Roberts, Thompson Tractor, Montgomery, Ala.; Matt Rosenbalm, Sitech South, Smyrna, Ga.; and Brian Self and Brandon Owens, Wiregrass Construction Company, Dothan, Ala., look over the control of the Trimble UX5 survey drone.

Contractors and staff members talk about the advantages of the Cat GRADE technology built into the Cat D6N dozers.

(L-R): Sam Meeker, Caterpillar, goes over all functions displayed on the grade control monitor in the cab of a Cat D6N with Saiia Construction’s Connie Hardin and Jay McGinnis.

(L-R): Jeff Flake and Cory Mason, both of Elm Services, Helena, Ala., and Grady Burchfield, Thompson Tractor, discuss their experience with grade control machines.

Matt Payne of Goodgame Co. Inc., Pell City, Ala., exits the cab of the D6N dozer and said, “that’s a nice machine.”

(L-R) are Dale Vaughn, H.N. Donahoo Contracting, Birmingham, Ala.; Sarah Williams, Caterpillar; Greg Bethune, Cat Financial; and John Hedrick, Thompson Tractor.

Thompson Tractor hosted a D6N dozer technology expo on Sept. 14 at a site near Thompson Tractor's Alabaster, Ala., branch facility. Guests were eager to see the new Cat D6N dozers with advanced Cat GRADE technologies built in.

Sitech South, Caterpillar and Cat Financial representatives joined Thompson Tractor staff to help make the expo a huge success.

Sam Meeker, Caterpillar product applications specialist of dozer and track loaders, based in Peoria, Ill., conducted a comprehensive machine walk around, Q & A session and was instrumental in helping with the hands-on demonstration. After the presentations, guests were treated to a barbecue lunch and then escorted back to the demo area for more time with the D6N dozers.

Matt Payne of Goodgame Co., Pell City, Ala., tested the machine and said, “It just takes a few minutes to get used to, and I believe it's really going to save someone a lot of money. It's very smooth, easy to adapt to and it basically does all the work for you. When you flip it to automatic it just picks right up. Very nice machine, it's definitely on my Christmas list.”

Other customers, including Dale Vaughn, H.N. Donahoo Contracting, Birmingham, Ala., also were impressed with the machine. His company already uses grade control, and he is interested in the Cat integrated system because the company can still use any of the add-on components. “If you want to get a grade down to pinpoint accuracy, I could see where this machine, with the plug and play system availability, would be an advantage on the job site,” said Vaughn.

Cory Mason of Elm Services, Helena, Ala., said this was his first time he had tried the D6N with Cat GRADE technology and was very impressed. He said, “The learning curve was not nearly as long as what I thought it would be. I had never operated a machine with GPS capability until now. I could see the labor savings and savings in fuel and time. It will enable crews to avoid overcutting and having to come back to fill in. I also like to be able to drop the dozer blade wherever I want and know where my grade is with an automatic read on the display screen. It's just a really nice tractor and I really like the system. I see us having one some day.”

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