At a Hunter Valley Mine site in New South Wales, Cat® 637 Wheel Tractor-Scrapers have been hard at work maintaining haul roads and assisting with bulk earthworks around the mine.
Known as a workhorse of a machine, Cat Scrapers are among best in class when it comes to cutting and filling of earthworks projects, generally clocking up tens of thousands of hours across their lifetime.
One particular machine operating at this Hunter Valley Mine site, owned by Daracon, recently hit 16,000 hours and while this Cat Scraper is still in relatively good condition, the decision was made to rebuild.
After recently investing in a couple of new machines for its fleet, Daracon opted for a Cat Certified Rebuild to breathe new life into this scraper.
“The decision to rebuild was based on a couple of things,” says Daracon Maintenance Operations Manager Mick Hingerty.
“Rather than make the investment in another machine, we've elected to rebuild this one.”
Daracon is no stranger to Cat Certified Rebuilds – in 2022, the business engaged with WesTrac to complete a CPT rebuild on one of its Cat 825H Soil Compactors.
The company purchases its Cat machines from WesTrac knowing they have the capability to carry out market-leading rebuilds. Daracon also ensures maintenance and care for its machines are above and beyond.
“You have to pick a machine that has some in-built rebuild ability within it from new,” Mick explains.
“Then, the machine you're considering rebuilding, you need to absolutely understand the life cycle of the components and all those critical areas."
“[The] pre-rebuild discipline of machine inspections, understanding life cycle, getting all the analytics done with oil sampling and things like that to give you a bit of a window inside the machine."
“They're all critical in determining whether that's the right machine to rebuild cost effectively or not."
“In this case, this machine ticked all those boxes, and we knew we would go into this with WesTrac working up a work scope that was going to be relatively risk free.”
This scope was tailored by the team at WesTrac to suit Daracon’s machine and work application, as some of the components and parts were still in top shape.
WesTrac Customer Support Manager Lyle Murdoch worked with Mick to make sure the Cat Certified Rebuild worked within Daracon’s timelines and budget.
Having worked with Daracon for the past 10 years, including as a WesTrac field service technician for Daracon’s fleet, Lyle has extensive experience with the business’ needs and expectations.
“We have a pretty good knowledge of the way Daracon run their business, their maintenance and he way they do things day-to-day, including the standards at which they keep their equipment,” Lyle explains.
“Daracon has a fleet Cat 637 Scrapers which are special because they have collectively amassed the highest hours and kilometres of this model anywhere in the world.
“The number of hours their scrapers have achieved is evidence that Daracon are the leaders with these machines and know how to get the most value out of them.”
Developing a custom solution for Daracon’s rebuild was a priority for WesTrac, as part its promise of 'Making Everyday Easy' for businesses.
WesTrac aims to ensure quick turnaround times for Cat Certified Rebuilds, with the experienced maintenance and repair team completing Daracon's rebuild within eight weeks.
For Mick, this meant his machine would be back on the ground and operating quickly to avoid interruptions to the business.
“You're taking it out of service for a period, so it's not generating revenue,” Mick says
“Being able to get it into the shop and turn it around and get it back into production is key.”
A Cat Certified Rebuild not only reduces downtime, but it also saves the company money, with a rebuild costing up to 40% less than a new machine.
But for Mick, it was WesTrac’s open and honest communications during the rebuild process that gave him peace of mind.
“It's not necessarily always about the cost of the rebuild, but the timeline of the repair, the communications during the course of the repair and how quickly we can react to the inevitable things that you find during the rebuild journey,” Mick says.
“Some of those conversations need to be very open and honest and it's at that point you set the rebuild up for success – this is why our relationship with WesTrac is critically important.”
The benefits of a rebuild goes even further than saving time and money for a business – it also reduces the impact on the environment by reusing materials which would otherwise be discarded.
“Being able to offer that sort of rebuild solution goes hand-in-hand with WesTrac's commitment to building a more sustainable future,” Lyle says.
“A Cat Certified Rebuild is a massive step in the right direction in reducing environmental impact - you can purchase the machine and know that, if you want to, you've got that option to give it another life without having to invest in brand new iron or worry about where the old ones going.”
Since 1985, Caterpillar® and their dealers together have rebuilt more than 50,000 machines, powertrains, and components around the world.
As WesTrac works towards Building Better Together, rebuilding and remanufacturing capabilities will be expanded and improved to reduce waste, water consumption and emissions generation.
