posted on April 11, 2011 12:54
As Caterpillar ramps up full-scale manufacturing of machines with Tier 4 Interim emissions reduction technology, the first volume production machine has arrived in a customer’s hands in Texas, delivered by HOLT CAT.
Mark Buster of Paris, Texas has taken delivery of a D6T Track-Type Tractor. Buster is president of Reese Equipment, Inc. He is a veteran contractor, rancher and Cat® machine user, who plans to put his new D6T to work doing land clearing and maintenance around his ranch. “The D6T is big enough to do anything I need, and it gets around well,” he said. “We’ve always liked the versatility of the D6T, and the ability to transport it. It’s just a good fit.”
The tractor arrived from Caterpillar’s East Peoria, Ill., manufacturing facility in early March.
“Today’s D6T has a lot more horsepower than the old D8s my Dad ran,” Buster recalls. Those Cat dozers were among his first machine experiences, as he started in his early teens helping his father do land clearing work. They started on their own farm, and then did work for neighbors, before expanding around the state. He and his father became partners in an asphalt paving business, and Mark Buster eventually went on to be a successful entrepreneur in farming and ranching, asphalt plants, quarries and an equipment leasing company. After selling his paving business in late 2010, Buster is looking forward to “pushing some dirt around and enjoying that new tractor smell.”
The new D6T will have a lot of company on Buster’s ranch. He also owns a Cat backhoe, motor grader, excavator and five other dozers. “We’ve always had a good relationship with HOLT CAT. Product is important, but HOLT has always stood up to their end of the deal with parts and service too.”
“Providing our customers with machines that meet U.S. Tier 4 Interim emissions standards represents the largest research and development project in Caterpillar history,” commented Caterpillar Worldwide Medium Track-Type Tractor Product Manager Scott Johnson. “We also used this project as an opportunity to add features to make the machines more productive and fuel efficient. It’s gratifying to see the new machines arriving in customers’ hands, and it’s very fitting that it should be one of the iconic Cat dozers, and involve the Holt family who has such deep roots with Caterpillar history.”
Caterpillar has engaged in the most aggressive validation program in Cat equipment history to deliver next generation products that are ready to work productively and reliably. More than one million hours of operating data from Tier 4 machines and engines have been captured since the product development effort began in 2008.