Special Report

SUMMER 2009
Why is this
man smiling?
See page 18.
MAXIMIZE UPTIME
Special Report
Finning boasts new and revamped
services to keep you up and running
Take Command
Expose your machine's secret life
Placid Lake
One B.C. family business faces
the downturn with serenity
Power Points
Planned maintenance readies
backup generators
www.finning.ca
!
DO IT our
tY
Protec Train
Power
A FINNING (CANADA) PUBLICATION Non-deliverable mail should be directed to: 10259 105 Street, Edmonton, AB T5J 1E3 Canadian Publications Mail Product Agreement #40020055
Unrivalled
Product Support
We’ve expanded our service infrastructure to ensure you receive
the best service in the business. With our investment in the Centre
of Excellence facility, located centrally in Red Deer, Alberta, we have
optimized our new equipment preparation process, resulting in
improved shop capacity at all 50 service branch locations throughout
B.C., Alberta, Yukon and Northwest Territories. This increased shop
capacity means reduced downtime and quicker turn-around from
shop to field.
At Finning, we have the people, experience and capacity to
make sure your equipment is in top condition, ready to support
your business.
Contact your local Finning representative for more details.
1-888-finning | finning.ca
(346-6464)
uptime issue
Summer 09
Contents
28
21
Columns & Departments
4 Finning Focus T&T’s new design:
How do you like us now?
5
6
On the Cover
Andre Lavallee of Alta-Fab Structures
Photograph: Kelly Redinger
Features
12 Radical Upgrade
18
Find out what's on the horizon for
Finning’s fluid analysis program
18 Built to Last
Regular maintenance can increase the
lifespan of your yellow iron
21 Don’t Fight the Power
Finning is minding backup generators
in the Lower Mainland
24 Placid Lake
A sibling team keeps business running
smoothly
26 Keep It Up (and Running)
17
www.finning.ca
A new Finning program swaps out
engines needing overhaul in a flash
28 Meeting the Challenge
Sparwood Mine Rescue Competition
Letters Finning friends speak
Groundbreaker Refurbish My Ride;
The Clipper Project; Track your iron;
Gotta get GET; D series cool facts;
Dredger with the heart of a Cat
PLUS! Essayons, by the numbers
11 Safety First Great safety programs
reward top practitioners
14 Operators’ Tips How to protect your
power train
15 Managers’ Tips Is your shop
floor efficient?
16 Tech Spotlight A fluid solution
17 Equipment Spotlight Attachments
turn one tool into many
30 Yesterday/Today Cat faced the last
recession by branching into pavers
31 Portrait Bob Fritchey, 36 years with
Finning and still going strong
32 Yellow Iron New products and
services from Finning
33 Bill’s Business Bill tries some R&R,
only to find a worksite at the campsite
34 Count on Us
tracks & treads
Summer 2009
32
How Do You Like Us Now?
We decided to shake things up
a little with a fresh, new look;
tell us what you think
by Jen Janzen
associate editor
Welcome to the new improved Tracks & Treads!
We’ve done some tweaking to our story lineup and
given our appearance a bit of a facelift, stopping just
short of infusing the magazine with natural goodness
from the rainforest. Our stories are snappier and
speak directly to you and your business. The result?
In our opinion, a fresher, livelier information source
for iron enthusiasts. What do you think? Let me know
at jjanzen@finning.ca. This issue also represents my
first contributions to T&T – it’s nice to meet you. In
this issue, our theme focuses on uptime: how owneroperators are getting more of it and what you can do to
increase your own share of it.
In some ways, uptime boils down to a simple
concept: preventive maintenance. Proper lubricants,
filtration, oil sampling and overall condition monitoring
can make the difference between uptime and downtime.
If you perform diligent maintenance, you should
be rewarded with more hours of use. Think of it as
scheduled downtime that increases your overall uptime.
Another bonus is that by performing regular preventive
maintenance, you catch problems before they become
catastrophic, especially when your efforts are supported
by Finning’s various product support programs. And
tracks & treads
Summer 2009
catching trouble right before it rears its head means
you decrease the risk of pulling your machine off duty
too early.
Finning (Canada)’s product support marketing
manager Stu McLeod agrees that finding the optimal
repair before failure date can be difficult.
“It’s the Holy Grail of all maintenance programs,” he
said, “and the fulfillment of a machine owner’s ultimate
goal of maximizing component life.”
But hitting this elusive target does not mean
scheduling repair before it’s necessary. Every owneroperator wants to keep a machine performing at its
top capacity, but replacing components before they’ve
expired – when you could have gotten many more
hours of use out of them – ends up costing your
business more money.
Ultimately, Stu says, a machine is eventually going
to need repair whether it’s had a strict preventive
maintenance regimen or not. But preventive
maintenance, along with a healthy dose of advice from
Finning’s seasoned product support pros, will extend
the life of your machine, maximizing your uptime by
helping you make sure you aren’t shutting it down too
late – or too early.
www.finning.ca
sUMMER 2009 Volume 49, No. 2
Publisher
Ruth Kelly
rkelly@venturepublishing.ca
associate Publisher
Daska Davis
Executive Editor
Jeff Howard
jhoward@finning.ca
Associate editor
Jen Janzen
jjanzen@finning.ca
Editor
Mifi Purvis
COPY CHIEF
Kim Tannas
Editorial Advisors
Danna Beatty, Michelle Loewen, Patrick King
art director
Charles Burke
cburke@venturepublishing.ca
ASSISTANT ART DIRECTOR
Rodrigo López Orozco
Production COORDINATOR
Betty-Lou Smith
circulation coordinator
Andrea Cruickshank
circulation@venturepublishing.ca
Advertising representative
Anita McGillis
amcgillis@venturepublishing.ca
Contributing Writers
Robin Brunet, David DiCenzo, Katherine Fawcett,
Keith Haddock, Noémi LoPinto, Lindsey Norris,
Rick Overwater, Lisa Ricciotti, Jesse Semko, Jim Stirling
Contributing PHOTOGRAPHERS and illustrators
Jody Crawford, Scott Dutton, Ricardo Alberto Leiva,
Darren Nisbet, Heff O’Reilley, Kelly Redinger, Chip Zdarsky
Tracks & Treads is published to provide its readers
with relevant business, technology, product
and service information in a lively
and engaging manner.
Tracks & Treads is published for
Finning (Canada) by
Venture Publishing Inc.
10259-105 Street
Edmonton, Alberta T5J 1E3
Phone: 780-990-0839
Fax: 780-425-4921
NOT FINNISH YET: It was with keen interest that I found the picture and
caption “Log Day Afternoon” in the fall 2008 issue of Tracks & Treads. In my younger years, I often heard the name “Tomsum EE-Larky.” Both my
grandfathers, Olaf and Hugo, were Finnish and both had worked for
Thomsen and Clark. Like many new immigrants to Canada, they struggled with English. Both grandfathers have long since passed away. I remember some
of their logging stories and I know they worked for more than one outfit.
I asked my father if Olaf and Hugo had talked much about Thomsen and
Clark to him. Dad could not shed any new light on the situation, but he
called up a family friend who could, Leonard Tournquist. His father (also
Finnish) worked for Thomsen and Clark. Leonard thinks Thomsen and
Clark had been logging near Harrison Lake. He also said there was a book
called Harrison Lake Challenge that might have information about
Thomsen and Clark. I’d appreciate if you could forward to me any
information that you might find on Thomsen and Clark.
Doug Vitick, Mildred Lake, Alberta
DETECTIVE: I am writing to let you know that I am familiar with the surroundings in the photo on page 42 of the fall 2008 issue. It was taken at
an area near Hunt Creek, on Vancouver Island, on a Thompson Clark spur
line off of the Horne Lake line. There were two of these machines:
Caterpillar tractor and hoister arch. This was approximately 1935. I very
much enjoy my T&T subscription.
D.S. McMillan
THUMBS UP: I used to live in Edmonton and work for Finning. I have been
retired for eight years now. When I write that, I wonder where the time has
gone. Have just finished thumbing through the latest issue of
T&T spring ’09 and had to write and
congratulate you and the rest of the T&T
staff on what has become a high-quality
publication. I read every issue and have
been meaning to write for some time.
The last few years, with the introduction
of “Bill’s Business,” has really seen the
magazine shine. Good job.
Dave Floyd, Vancouver, B.C.
Tell us what you think
Tracks & Treads would love to hear from you. Tell us what you think
of the magazine’s stories, columns and look, so that we can improve
it and make it a more interesting read.
Send your comments to executive editor Jeff Howard by email at
jhoward@finning.ca or the old-fashioned way to: Jeff Howard, Tracks & Treads,
Finning (Canada), 16830 – 107 Avenue, Edmonton, Alberta T5P 4C3
Contents © 2009 by Finning (Canada)
No part of this publication should be
reproduced without written permission.
www.finning.ca
www.finning.ca
tracks & treads
Summer 2009
32
by david dicenzo, Jeff Howard and Jen Janzen
“Get me eight engines, stat!”
The US Army Corps of Engineers helps keep shipping channels open on the
West Coast of the USA by operating two hopper dredges. The larger of those two
dredges, the Portland-based Essayons, recently had eight state-of-the-art Cat
marine engines installed which, in dredge parlance, is a heart transplant for the
monster vessel.
“The new engines have greatly improved our operational efficiency,” said Captain
Essayons
By the Numbers
James Holcroft, in charge of the Essayons for six years.
“With the old engines, when dredging upstream and
going against a strong current, we barely had enough
power to maintain forward motion. With the new
Caterpillar engines, we have an extra 2,000 hp enabling
us to get the job done, even under difficult conditions.”
The length of the
Essayons, in metres.
106.7
4
The number of Cat
C280-12 main engines
used in the Essayons‘
“heart transplant.”
1982
0
The number of
kilowatts produced
by the eight new Cat
marine engines.
The number of
medical doctors
required.
15,000
24
The number of
crew members
on the Essayons.
The number of Cat
3512C generator
sets installed.
3
40
The number of Cat C18
emergency gen sets.
tracks & treads
Summer 2009
The year the Essayons
was built by Bath Iron
Works in Bath, Maine.
The weight,
in tons, of the four
C280-12s alone.
1
www.finning.ca
Connected Fleet
Refurbish
My Ride
As one of the richest
people on the planet,
billionaire philanthropist
Dennis Washington
doesn’t scrimp on
quality. The Spokane,
Washington native and
owner of a consortium
known as Washington
Companies is an avid
yachtsman. When he
needed to power up a
ride he’s refurbishing
in North Vancouver, his
people got in touch with
the Finning branch in
Richmond.
A Caterpillar C9
generator set will
provide some of the
juice for Washington’s
Attessa IV, which will be
fully refurbished by the
summer of 2010. The
fully electronic, 250KW
C9 comes in at a cost
of about $95,000 (US).
That might seem steep
to most folks but, as a
regular fixture on the
Forbes list of really rich
people, Washington
can swing it.
www.finning.ca
New Caterpillar technology is helping to provide a
world-class solution to fleet management for pipeline
contractors. And PipeLine Machinery International,
partly owned by Finning, is the Cat dealer providing
this solution to its pipeline customers.
Approximately 500 machines in PLM’s rental fleet
have been activated on EquipmentManager and
Product Link systems, two remote asset management
solutions developed by Caterpillar. Here’s what those
solutions look like:
EquipmentManagerTM
• A secure, web-based software application
• Uses key indicators such as hours, location and diagnostic codes
• Combines with powerful tools such as map-
ping, maintenance scheduling and troubleshoot-
ing instructions to quickly sort data and identify what items need attention
Product Link
• Hardware that uses satellite technology to enable information to flow between onboard systems and the web-based EquipmentManager
• The remote management system provides basic
level readings, including the location of machines
and hourly readings
• Additional levels include time fencing and geo-
fencing (meaning machines shut down outside
authorized operating times or geographic areas),
diagnostic code alerts and fuel level alerts
Did you know?
PLM can do an
advanced search on
EquipmentManager,
identifying all machines
within a 160-kilometre
radius that might require
scheduled maintenance in
the next two weeks.
“It helps all of us and
goes a long way to making a cohesive team of
the customer (pipeline
contractor), the supplier
(PLM) and the service
provider (Finning or other
local dealers who cover
the project territory),” said
Lindley Imeson, PLM’s
equipment operations
manager. “This is what we
were aiming for when PLM
was conceived – a better
Caterpillar solution for
the pipeline construction
industry.”
tracks & treads
Summer 2009
32
Gotta Get GET
As a Finning customer, you put a lot of thought into buying a new machine, studying fuel efficiency, productivity and cost per hour to run. But if you’re working your
machine without dressing it up, you’re not getting the most out of your investment.
Ground engaging tools (GET) are commonly referred to as "sacrificial iron." That’s
because they help protect expensive components by taking the wear for them.
Using the right GET for the application also helps maximize productivity. The result?
A machine that’s always working at its peak. When old GET wears out, it’s simply
replaced with new GET.
“Cat GET is designed to work with Cat machines,” says Dave Zesko, Finning’s
product manager of wear products. He notes that designing GET is more than “fitting a cavity.”
“Cat does a lot of research on the development of the machine,” he explains. “It
looks at the way to build a bucket to make sure the machine is getting its highest
productivity, and designs GET to enhance the machine’s performance.”
A machine is a big investment, Zesko adds. “If you don’t protect it, it will cost
more money in downtime and repair costs. That’s why you need to dress it up properly the first time.”
“That's why
they call GET
‘sacrificial iron.’”
– Dave Zesko
tracks & treads
Summer 2009
Q. How
do ground
engaging
tools wear?
A. According to Dave
Weiss, staff metallurgical
engineer for Caterpillar’s
Research Department,
the two modes of wear
are scratching (low
stress abrasion that
GET encounter most)
and gouging (caused by
heavy impacts or blows
to a surface). Metal must
be very hard to resist
scratching, though the
same does not apply to
gouging. Metal that is
too hard will be brittle
on impact, so it must be
softer, yet still strong.
The Clipper
Project
A new pipeline, extending through three provinces will help distribute
Alberta’s petroleum
products.
The complex Enbridge
Alberta Clipper Project,
which began in the
summer of 2008, will
eventually have a 36-inch
pipeline running from the
Camrose, Alberta area
all the way to Gretna,
Manitoba, a town just
north of the U.S. border,
and connecting with
the Enbridge Southern
Access Pipeline in the US.
Contractor WillbrosMidwest is in charge
of the 170 kilometres
of pipe in the Alberta
stretch. It’s tough work,
but with a wide array of
yellow iron on the job,
the project is moving
along. Finning supplied
much of the traditional
iron, including D8 and
D6 dozers, 330 and 345
excavators. PipeLine
Machinery International,
partly owned by Finning,
provided some traditional
pieces and all of the
pipelayers – 572s, 583s
and 587s – used on the
project.
According to PipeLine
Machinery’s equipment
services coordinator, John
Bilawka, there is about
75 kilometres of cleanup
remaining in Alberta, to
be completed by October.
www.finning.ca
D Series Uncovered
Caterpillar’s D series line of excavators sets the bar higher for
heavy diggers. New safety features, comfort and improved
efficiency mean that your business won’t be without one
for long. Go ahead, kick a track:
cost reducer:
Caterpillar-exclusive,
ACERT Technology
lowers operating cost
without sacrificing performance or durability.
It’s less polluting, and
harmful sulfur, soot,
heat and moisture are
not reintroduced into
the engine.
Efficiency boost:
The D series has eight
to 12 per cent more
horsepower than
previous iron, meaning
better performance
and productivity.
Hot seat:
An air suspended heated seat helps operators
manage long workdays
comfortably. May keep
“mature” operators on
the job longer.
Comfortably safe:
Improved air flow for
heat, A/C and ventilation makes for safer
operation through less
operator fatigue and
better visibility.
A joy to run: The
D series has direct joystick response, faster
combined movement,
easy levelling ability
and lower lever effort.
lift and dig: Higher
hydraulic pressures
mean more lifting
capacity, drawbar
pull, and stick and
digging force.
Not camera shy:
Full color, graphic and
camera-ready if a rear
camera is installed.
reminder:
Maintenance intervals
can be programmed
and the machine will
warn you when services are required. It
monitors its own prestart fluid levels, filters,
water separators and
temperature.
www.finning.ca
Talking iron:
It can speak 27
languages to meet
the needs of a
diverse workforce.
Communication is in
text, not arcane codes.
Power Levels: Set power at high,
medium or economy, as needed by
the task, reducing fuel consumption
to lower operating costs and negative
environmental impact.
I Spy: Product Link
and Asset Watch
tell you where your
machines are and how
long they’ve been operating – you don’t have
to leave the office.
tracks & treads
Summer 2009
32
A New
Vocation
Finning improves
its service promise
You could say the
engines were so
popular Cat decided
to build the trucks to
go with them. After
several months of percolating in the rumour mill,
the news is official: Caterpillar
is entering the vocational truck business.
Vocational, or severe service, trucks are certified for highway or off-road travel to
support construction, mining, waste management and logging.
Cat and heavy-duty truck manufacturer Navistar will work together to produce
Cat-branded vocational trucks in North America. The initiative comes as a response to
other manufacturers pursuing vertically integrated drivelines – making and installing
their own engines to be placed inside their own trucks.
The initiative gives Caterpillar the ability to design trucks tailored to the needs of
customers, taking advantage of the legendary support capabilities of dealers such as
Finning. Vocational vehicles are the core of the Caterpillar market and Cat hopes to
leverage Navistar’s scale and history in the on-highway truck business.
The two companies have separate North American and global strategies. In North
America, Cat and Navistar will create a new design for vocational trucks. Overseas,
Navistar trucks will be Cat-branded and distributed with emphasis on Africa, China
and Australia. The first Cat Navistar truck will be introduced next year.
10
tracks & treads
Summer 2009
When you contact Finning for service, you have some basic needs.
That’s why Finning, throughout
its 76-year history, continually
strives to improve its serve. In
addition to the recent move to
add service capacity at branches
throughout Western Canada, thanks
to the addition of its massive Red Deer
new equipment prep and overhaul facility, Finning is refreshing its Customer Service
Commitment.
Long the backbone of its service offering,
Finning’s Customer Service Commitment is
designed to address your most pressing concerns – “Will I get my machine repaired on
time? Will there be any surprises in my invoice?
And what happens if my machine fails again?”
“The Customer Service Commitment takes
care of these three most basic customer issues,”
explains Ken Nordstrom, general manager of
Finning West Edmonton location. “And this
year we’re enhancing our commitment to
customers – instead of six months no-cost warranty repairs on any service work we perform,
they’ll now receive 12 months. That adds a lot
of peace of mind.”
There are other improvements, including
money in your pocket, should your Finning
service team miss a promised completion
date. “That’s right – we’re accountable to our
customers,” says Nordstrom. “We’ll issue an
account credit or a cheque to the customer to
a maximum payout of 20 per cent of the total
repair price when we don’t meet a promised
completion date.”
Along with the improvements in the
Customer Service Commitment policy,
Nordstrom says customers should notice a difference in the service they receive at Finning
branches. “We want to make sure we ask
the right questions up front so customers get
exactly what they need. And as repairs proceed,
if we find that additional repairs are needed,
we will discuss these with you and get your
authorization before proceeding.”
In a classic win-win, Finning customers are
already benefitting. And many more are making the decision to put Finning’s Customer
Service Commitment to the test.
story By Rick Overwater
Its Own Reward
Focusing on the positive
with a recognition program
can yield results
Water might not seem that dangerous. But when you’re
blasting it out at 40,000 psi, it’s a different story. “You can cut a car in
half,” says Marilee Rainville, director of Health and Safety resources at
the Calgary office of CEDA International, which provides specialized
industrial maintenance to oil and gas and other industrial clients.
“We regularly use high pressure water to cut holes in tanks or cut the
tops of vessels off.” The potential for injury is significant, and this is just
one of the many hazards employees of CEDA’s six subsidiary companies
deal with in the course of providing industrial maintenance and turnaround services.
Rainville says it became obvious that protecting employees required
an above-average safety management system. And a particularly
effective component of that system has been the awards program.
“It’s easy to fall into the trap of an always-punitive kind of system,
where incidents happen and someone is disciplined,” says Rainville.
“But there’s the other side – where you recognize and promote good
performance.”
Indeed, when it comes to keeping employees interested in health and
safety, an awards component can be an important piece of an effective
safety program, says Rose Ann McGinty, an effective practices specialist
for the Occupational Health and Safety branch of Alberta Employment
and Immigration. “Awards are a nice carrot to help employers get staff
interested in health and safety,” she says. “But an awards program isn’t
going to fix a bad health and safety system.” McGinty says that if a
safety program is not effective, some employers mistakenly create an
awards component as a Band-Aid solution.
Recognizing safety efforts is important but, first, you must have
the eight fundamentals of a good program up and running. You need
leadership and organizational commitment. Then you need systems for
hazard identification, hazard control, workplace inspections, orientation
and training, and emergency response planning.
The next components are investigation and, finally, administration,
which encompasses auditing and reporting. “Then you can look at those
and say ‘What areas do we need to focus on?’’’ says McGinty. “Step one
is ‘What do you reward?’ and step two is ‘How do you reward it?’”
Careful forethought about how management should reward employees was vital for CEDA. “I would definitely do an employee perception
survey on the subject,” says Rainville. The initial idea of rewarding
teams was not popular; CEDA employees wanted a program recogniz-
www.finning.ca
ing individuals. From there, safety leaders developed a system that
awarded points for each hour worked without incident. But both
Rainville and McGinty stress that rewarding someone simply for
not getting hurt is not enough. Instead, rewards should encourage
proactive thinking. CEDA awarded points at a higher rate to recognize efforts such as attending safety meetings and workshops.
Focusing on such preventive activities helps minimize perceived
unfairness in the program, says McGinty. The last thing you want
is the guys on the shop floor grumbling about the office workers,
who are less likely to be exposed to injury-inducing hazards. And
rewarding all individuals for their efforts, as CEDA does, is just
as important.
“As far as perceived fairness goes, smaller gifts to everyone
who deserves it are much better than the one in 100 chance of
getting something big and glamorous,” McGinty adds. “You don’t
want your program to become about competition as opposed to
acknowledgement.”
At CEDA, employees cash in their points when they’ve accumulated enough to “buy” one of the many things offered in a special
catalogue. They don’t get useless certificates or discounts on
company merchandise, either. They get items that the average
consumer actually wants, such as mountain bikes, iPods, fish
finders and more. The Workers’ Compensation Board rebates that
many firms get for good safety performance initially funded their
prize purchases.
It has worked well for CEDA employees and Rainville is pleased
with the uptake of the safety message, citing better safety meeting
attendance and a lower number of incidents as just two indicators
that they’re on the right track. “We’re glad we did it the way we did
because it creates an awful lot of discussion, which keeps the program
alive,” she says. “They love it and pay great attention to it. I know that
because of all the emails and questions I get at award time.”
tracks & treads
Summer 2009
32
11
Take Command
By Jeff Howard, with files from Lindsey Norris and Lisa Ricciotti
New software and lab tests help reveal
your machine’s secret life
Find Out More!
For more information
on Finning fluid analysis,
contact your Finning
representative or call our
fluid sampling experts
Katrina Ostrikoff
(604) 881-2959 or Jody
Exell (780) 443-7231.
12
tracks & treads
No one gets closer to understanding
hidden equipment mysteries than the oftenunsung fluid analysis interpreters. Whether
it’s copper or chromium, sulphur or silicon,
oxidation or nitration, these heavy equipment
scientists can pinpoint potential problems that
might otherwise shorten your component’s
lifespan.
So it’s wise to get their advice early. It can mean
the difference between a simple tune up or a major
repair and unwanted downtime. And, in some cases,
they’ll even be able to tell you if Rusty, your new
operator, is riding the brakes a little too hard.
For 30 years, Finning’s fluid analysis team, which
is affiliated with 147 Caterpillar fluid sampling labs
worldwide, has been helping keep Cat equipment in
the field and out of the shop.
And this fall, Finning labs based in Surrey and
Edmonton will take a big step forward when they
unveil a new lab management system – Equipment
Commander – a web-based software tool that promises to significantly improve your fluid sampling and
reporting experience.
“This will be a serious upgrade to our system,”
says Katrina Ostrikoff, manager, fluid analysis sales,
Finning (Canada). “Combined with our thorough
understanding of component metallurgy and
knowledgeable interpreters, we’ll be able to provide
customers with a whole new range of fluid analysis
services. I’d ask customers to give us a try this fall.”
Ostrikoff says the new system will offer a range
of advantages for customers looking for a reliable
and in-depth sampling service. The system makes
sample reports and interpretive comments available
online, giving customers access to their information from anywhere, at anytime. Also, Equipment
Commander can send sample notifications how
you like them – via email, instant messaging, fax or
snail mail.
“The program is user-friendly and there is no
Summer 2009
Analyze This
Last year Finning
(Canada) scrutinized
more than 240,000
fluid samples, analyzing
oil, coolant and fuel at
its two labs in Surrey
and Edmonton. Surrey
averages 275 samples per
day; Edmonton about
600 daily. Samples split
equally between Cat and
non-Cat equipment of
all types, both mobile and
stationary.
installed
software,”
adds Ostrikoff,
“so little training will
be required.”
The system offers other
advantages. Equipment
Commander can print
labels that include barcodes to speed sample registration. And it keeps
all user data in one place, including historical information, fuel and lubricant consumption reports,
registration details, images and information about
components’ estimated remaining life.
“The tool’s ability to forecast means you’ll know
when the next samples are due,” explains Jody Exell,
fluid analysis manager in Edmonton. “This will keep
our customers up-to-date with those all-important
warranty requirements.”
What won’t change at Finning’s labs in Surrey
and Edmonton is hands-on interpretation of customer fluid samples. Contrary to other labs that
depend on machine analysis of samples, Finning
continues to provide a greater degree of precision
and know-how: an experienced oil lab interpreter
reviews your sample results.
www.finning.ca
High-tech
Avoids High
Costs
System Sampler
Are you familiar with the science behind fluid sampling?
Follow a sample through the works and find out what it tells about your iron.
Say you have a 430E
backhoe loader.
You’ll need samples
from all of its major oillubricated systems –
including the engine,
transmission, hydraulic
system and final drives.
Pre-register each sample
online, then courier or
drop off the samples
at your local Finning
branch or the Edmonton
or Surrey lab.
At the lab, a
technician –
perhaps Greg Eyre, lab
technician/interpreter
in Surrey – will prepare
the samples from your
430E for analysis. First,
he looks for such things
as excessive water,
which can combine
with sulphur in an oil
to form sulphuric acid.
www.finning.ca
Water can also rust bare
metal surfaces inside the
compartment which can
lead to engine failure.
Various lab tests
determine such
things as oil viscosity, oil
condition, contamination
(such as water, fuel,
glycol, dirt) and particle
counts. A high particulate
count may mean that
excess dirt has entered
the system. “This can
happen in various ways,”
says Katrina Ostrikoff.
“It could be during a
maintenance procedure,
taking of the oil sample or
a seal may be broken.”
The wear rate
analysis will help
you plot how quickly oillubricated components
are wearing out. It iden-
tifies certain elements in
the sample. For example,
higher levels of iron and
chrome may indicate
cylinder liner/ piston
ring wear. But since a
small amount of wear is
expected, the tests look
for abnormal patterns.
Finning’s new system will
produce a report that
compares the new sample
with five previous samples.
If elements suddenly spike,
there may be a problem.
Interpreters then
use the technical
lab document to compile
a more user-friendly
report that groups items
according to whether
they are a contaminant, a
wear element, a physical
test, a fluid characteristic,
an oil condition or a
particle analysis. “The new
technology will enable
us to provide a report,"
Ostrikoff says, "that
displays how long it took
your sample to reach the
lab, your warranty expiry
date plus other new
features.”
About 24 hours
after the lab
receives the sample, you
get an email (or a fax or
letter) that directs you to
online results. Busy day?
You can select to see only
the results that indicate
potential problems. Using
the new software you can
also log on and manage
your component life,
graph, upload images,
send emails to key people
with details about the
sample, record actions
taken plus many more
helpful features.
When a 797 mining
truck represents a
$5-million investment,
it pays to catch a small
problem before it
becomes a $300,000
engine-repair bill.
Katrina Ostrikoff,
Finning (Canada)’s
manager of fluid
analysis sales, explains
some of the high-tech
lab tests. Oil, she says,
is “like a Rolaids for
equipment, helping
dilute acid buildup
from the heat caused
as a unit works.” Eventually the Rolaids
effect wears out as
oil breaks down and
needs to be replaced.
Tests like the
Total Base Number
(TBN) and Total
Acid Number (TAN)
measure the alkalinity
or acidity of an oil
sample, showing
when it needs to be
dumped. The Karl
Fischer Water (KFW)
test measures the
exact percentage of
moisture in oil, very
important since even
tiny amounts interfere
with oil’s protective
abilities, especially
for stationary and
hydraulic equipment.
tracks & treads
Summer 2009
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operators
Notes From the
Driver's Seat
By Lindsey Norris
The best maintenance program won’t help your power train
if the guy in the driver’s seat doesn’t have the right know-how
It goes without saying that you want your
equipment to last as long as possible, and to stay active
on site, not idle in the shop. It’s why you may forget a
niece’s birthday, but you’ll never forget an oil change.
But anyone who sits at the controls of one of your
machines can undo your hard work if they don’t operate
it properly. Here are a few things your operators can do
to keep your Cat’s power train in top form.
Warm up. Especially in winter, but no matter the temperature, the engine, transmission and hydraulics need
to warm up at an idle. Finning's Niles Wheeler, a Catcertified instructor, says this applies to every machine.
“So, if it’s an excavator, you have to warm up the engine.
Then move the bucket, then stick, then boom,” Wheeler
says. “It pumps warmer hydraulics through the system
so that you aren’t running cold oil.”
Keep your cool. “Heat is your enemy,”
says Wheeler. Regardless of what machine
you’re operating and what job it’s
performing, don’t let it overheat.
For example, in a loaded haul truck
hauling downhill, don't use high
gear. This heats up the braking
system causing brakes to fade
and wear. Certain specialized
operations also generate a
lot of heat. For instance,
when you're filling a loader bucket and it stays too long
in the bank or is positioned incorrectly, the hydraulics
overheat, stressing valves and seals. Instead, penetrate
the bank in first gear, raise the bucket (giving traction to
front tires) then give a steady lift and curl to the bucket
to fill it. This should take about 15 seconds and – done
correctly – will keep the machine cooler.
Come to a complete stop. “With the exception of
loaders, you must come to a complete stop before you
change direction,” Wheeler says. It’s so important that
some machines now give a warning if the operator tries
to change direction at higher than two miles an hour.
Don’t guess on gears. “The biggest mistake most
operators make is they look at a ramp and say, ‘I can go
down there in fifth gear,’ and they end up heating the
brakes. Start with a lower gear. If the brakes hold and no
heat is involved, we can go up one gear,” Wheeler says.
“It’s why training is your Number One when it comes to
machine operation. Have the best trained operators
you can get.”
Trust the operators. So the operators on site are
trained and experienced, have read their machine’s
manual and know their Cat better than they know their
own reflection. But not everyone does, so your Cat
may still end up doing jobs it shouldn’t. “Sometimes
the supervision really drives what happens, and if the
supervisors don’t have training, it means they may push
their operators to do things they shouldn’t be doing,”
Wheeler says. One of the problems he often sees is
graders – which are meant to build and maintain roads
– being used for site cleanup. But there are a host of
considerations that go into proper grader use, such as
appropriate speed and blade angle, and they shouldn’t
be used to move miscellaneous material.
Don’t get stuck in a maintenance rut. Regular
maintenance is a must for the life of any power
train, but various conditions may increase the
pace of your schedule. Operators should pay
attention to local conditions, such as dust,
for example, which necessitates more
frequent filter changes.
14
tracks & treads
Summer 2009
www.finning.ca
managers
Western Spaghetti
By Martin dover
A simple diagram can reveal wasted motion – and time –
and get you started on the path to leaner operations
There’s a lot of talk these days about improving productivity in the
workplace. And if you’ve been listening, you’ve probably heard the word
“lean” pop up. Just as the aim of your exercise routine is to get you trimmer
and fitter, lean business philosophy aims to trim the fat in an organization.
Lean practices have their origin in manufacturing, most notably in Japan’s
Toyota factories, where managers learned to identify waste and streamline
operations.
“Even though the history of lean lies in manufacturing,” says Anurag
Pandey, senior director of Alberta Finance and Enterprise’s Process
Improvement Unit, “the principles are the same for processes that cross
industries. There’s input and output and, in the middle, you add value for
the customer.”
Lean business practices aimed at eliminating various kinds of waste –
such as transportation, over processing, inventory and space – can be
applied to nearly every human enterprise. Look around your operation.
Are you spending too much time getting your machines in and out of the
shop yard to the worksite? On site, are your loaders travelling too far with a
full bucket to the waiting truck? Does your in-house mechanic spend more
time looking for tools than effecting repairs?
Even if you run a tight organization, you have room to make efficiency
improvements. If you’re just starting out, look for the easy-to-reach
improvements. One tool to use is the spaghetti diagram, so named
because once you’re done you might find your process looks more
like a plate of spaghetti than a neat line taking your work flow from
start to end points.
“I like to start with the value stream mapping process,” Pandey
says. “It makes problems a little more obvious. A spaghetti diagram
is a supporting tool that shows one kind of waste: excessive
transportation.” Managers usually know where problems lie. “There
are other things you can measure, such as inventory buildup for
example, that are not clear from this diagram,” Pandey says. “But,
if transportation and material handling and movement are issues,
a spaghetti diagram is a good idea.”
And making a diagram like this is simple. Set aside a couple of
afternoons, get a clipboard and some graph paper and follow an
employee as he works. “Or, you could follow a part [or machine]
through a process,” Pandey says. “It may travel miles because of shop
or yard layout problems, material handling and storage issues.”
If you are embarking on lean thinking, the spaghetti diagram is an
easy place to start.
Try it Now:
Identify the time and
process you aim to
evaluate, not the name
of the employee involved.
Trace the path the employee
or machine takes, counting
the stops on the diagram.
Assure the employee you
are observing that you
aren't evaluating him, just
measuring and counting the
steps he takes in a couple
of hours of work.
The diagram need not
be to scale while you’re
observing, but you will
need to measure the distances later and add them
up to measure transportation or movement wastage.
Also make a note of why
trips are being made – to
retrieve tools? To move one
machine out of the way to
make room for another?
Results may be eye-opening.
Note any recurring obstructions in the path that the
employee has learned to
work around.
www.finning.ca
tracks & treads
Summer 2009
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tech
A Fluid Solution
By Jen Janzen
There was a time when an oil change meant taking
a machine offline for some TLC – now preventive
maintenance programs ditch the downtime
It’s a little decal that will go a long way towards
worry-free machine operating.
Finning introduced the PM Plus program to many of
its general line machines earlier this year, giving
owners a 2,000-hour membership in the
preventive maintenance program
that offers peace of mind, lower
operating costs, better engine
health and greater machine
availability.
A cornerstone of PM
Plus is Finning’s new
QuickEvac technology,
which allows customers
to purge hot oil,
evacuate engine oil
and then refill – all in a
single maneuver onsite.
There are no spills, the
engine is pre-lubricated,
and it’s hard to argue
with the time savings.
QuickEvac – or the more
comprehensive MultiVac –
condenses an oil change from
a one- or two-hour affair into a
cleaner, simpler 20-minute job. Doing your own oil and fluid
changes won’t make a visit from a
Finning technician obsolete. PM Plus provides
three technician inspections: the initial at 250 or 500
hours, followed by a 1,000-hour visit and another at
2,000 hours.
PM business manager Blaine Haukedal has dubbed
this the “Work With Me” approach, turning preventive
maintenance into a joint effort between customers and
Finning support reps.
“It drives out unnecessary cost,” Haukedal explains,
pointing out that if a machine is in a remote location,
the cost of having a Finning technician perform every oil
change could add up quickly. Two hours of driving time
every 250 hours could, over the course of a year, add up
to about 16 hours – two full work days – of travel time.
Forest industry workers will spot similarities between
PM Plus and Forestry Extra, which gave owners six
1,000-hour inspections while the owners performed
smaller-scale maintenance themselves.
It’s another way Finning is helping equipment
owners ensure their machines are expertly maintained
while their balance sheets remain healthy. “Preventive maintenance is foundational to machine
life,” Haukedal says. “You don’t have to do it, but you’re
going to get caught if you don’t. The PM Plus program
reduces operation cost while ensuring your components
are regularly inspected by a Finning technician. It really is
the best of both worlds.”
QuickEvac and MultiVac are also available for older
machines. The technologies can be added with a
retrofitting kit. For more information, talk to your local
Finning representative.
How It Works:
A cornerstone of Finning’s PM Plus program is the new QuickEvac system, which allows you to evacuate
engine oil and then refill cleanly, quickly and safely. Here’s a peek under the hood.
1. QuickEvac pushes air through the works out of the filters and into the sump.
2. QuickEvac purges the filters and sump in under a minute.
3. Filter change is a breeze since the oil has already been purged.
4. The engine oil refills through the filters pressurizing the engine and, eliminating the need for the mechanic to climb
up and down to take a reading.
5. A couple of minutes to reconnect the lines and you’re off to the races.
16
tracks & treads
Summer 2009
www.finning.ca
equipment
Swiss Army Cat
By Katherine Fawcett
ILLUSTRATION by SCOTT DUTTON
Finning provides tons of attachments, turning
a single piece of landscaper’s iron into a fleet
When François Fedorus takes time away from
his busy landscaping company, he does what many
Edmontonians do on a sunny weekend: yardwork.
His passion is obvious and he enjoys being busy. As
the owner and sole operator of FNF Services, Fedorus
offers snow clearing and removal in the winter and
landscaping services the rest of the year.
For a small company, FNF Services’ equipment
inventory list is long. Fedorus’s machines include a
304 excavator, a 242 B2 wheeled skid steer, a 277C
multi-terrain loader, an IT24 F loader, two dump
trucks, a pup trailer and more. His Cat tools
include: rototillers, a brushcutter, post-hole auger,
an angle broom and an angle blade, plus buckets
and other tools for winter operations. He has also
rented a trencher, landscape rake and a compactor.
Fedorus relies on these attachments, rotating them
depending on job requirements. “Attaching them and
removing them is no problem with the hydraulic hoses
and the quick couplers,” Fedorus says.
His current favourite is the brushcutter. “It’s a big,
very hungry lawnmower. It even goes through little trees
and makes chips of them,” says Fedorus. He recently
used his brushcutter, attached to the 277 multi-terrain
loader, for clearing under power lines and for fence lines
around farms. “You just attach and away you go.”
Blades (Angle or Dozer)
Stuff it does: Moves dirt,
gravel, snow, livestock
waste and other materials;
sculpts and contours dirt
Brag about it: Easy-tooperate angled or tilting
front hydraulic blades
Ideal for: Creating hills,
ponds and garden beds for
commercial, residential or
recreational properties
Bonus: Blades are easy
to use with Cat joystick
controls; heavier dozer
blade has a six-way tilting
function
www.finning.ca
Landscape Tiller
Stuff it does: Pulverizes
soil half a foot deep; mixes
in compost; stabilizes and
levels terrain
Brag about it: Tungsten
carbon bolt-on tines
provide maximum
strength, durability and
quick changeability
Ideal for: Residential and
commercial landscaping;
agricultural applications;
golf courses
Bonus: Spiral tine
arrangement provides
greater cutting performance
Brushcutter
Stuff it does: Clears rough
overgrowth, heavy weeds,
long grass and shrubbery
Brag about it: Highstrength blades are tapered
to allow cutter to ride up
over stumps and rocks
Ideal for: Highway
medians; utility easements;
clearing for houses,
commercial developments
or recreation areas;
clearing pastures
Bonus: Fully balanced
blades minimize vibration
For more information,
visit www.cat.com/
landscaping
Landscape Rake
Stuff it does: Aerates,
agitates, pulverizes and
rakes soil; levels; removes
rocks and debris
Brag about it: Highstrength carbon steel
rotating fingers, plus
integrated hopper bucket
for collecting debris
Ideal for: Prepping land for
sod or seed on sports fields
and parks, residential and
commercial developments
Bonus: Operates with
loader travelling in
reverse to eliminate tire
compaction in finely
groomed soil
Power Box Rake
Stuff it does: Clears weeds,
old lawns, overgrowth and
debris; grades, levels, rakes
and mills soil
Brag about it: Endplates
can be angled or remain
parallel for close raking;
blunt, pure carbide teeth
create a dimpled subsurface pattern for seeding
Ideal for: Trench
restoration; golf course
construction and sports
field maintenance;
commercial and residential
landscaping; agricultural
applications
Bonus: Allows multiple
applications with one
machine
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15
18
tracks & treads
Summer 2009
www.finning.ca
by Jesse Semko
PHOTOGRAPHY BY Kelly redinger
Regular maintenance can
dramatically increase the
lifespan of your yellow iron
T
ALL ABOARD: Andre Lavallee of Alta-Fab Structures
climbs into his older, well-maintained IT62G loader
www.finning.ca
he wheels of a Caterpillar IT62G loader crunch over hard-packed
gravel, kicking up dust as the machine rips across the shop yard at AltaFab Structures Ltd. in Nisku Industrial Park. Rocks fly into the air as the
loader comes to a halt to hitch up to its load, a modular building that it begins to
haul across a lot filled with similar metal-sided buildings.
Alta-Fab Structures constructs pre-fabricated buildings that act as offices
or living quarters at construction and oil and gas camps throughout North
America. The company bought its first IT62G loader in 2001 to move the
modular buildings around its 10-acre lot. Since then, that loader hasn't been out
of operation, despite the fact that operators run it, often 10 hours a day, to keep
up with orders. “We’ve never been without our loaders for any length of time,”
says Andre Lavallee, facilities and equipment coordinator at Alta-Fab. “The Cat
loaders have always been there when we’ve needed them.”
Lavallee attributes the eight-year-old loader’s operational record to preventive
maintenance: the proactive inspection program that maximizes the life of
a machine and prevents unplanned, costly repairs or prolonged periods of
downtime. The IT62G loader undergoes regular inspections – from checking
the oil for traces of metal, which might indicate a loose bearing or premature
wear, to replacing the oil filters and lubing the engine. These inspections are
done like clockwork every 250 hours of operation with more detailed inspections
conducted every 1,000 hours.
PM inspections let Alta-Fab Structures know whether its equipment is
operating properly, and it alerts management when equipment might require
repairs. It also lets Finning perform scheduled repairs, which is always cheaper
than trying to fix something after it has already broken down.
By many accounts, a solid PM program can decrease repair costs and double
or triple the life expectancy of a machine. “There is always a target life for
equipment,” says Blaine Haukedal, preventive maintenance manager for Finning.
“Preventive maintenance helps a machine hit that expected lifespan.” Haukedal likens preventive maintenance to changing the oil in your car. “It’s
doing the right thing at the right time,” he says. “With your car, you’ve got to
change your oil regularly, and rotate your tires and change your transmission
fluid too. If you don’t perform those activities when they should be performed,
you won’t get the most of your car.”
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15
Built to Last
YARD WORK: Andre Lavallee, left, and Jeff McDiarmid
of Alta-Fab Structures with the old and new loaders
The PM department at Finning helps clients get the most out
of their machines. It caters maintenance offerings to customers’
requirements. With the “Do It For Me” contract, Finning takes
care of all the maintenance services throughout the entire life of a
machine. “A lot of customers want us to do that,” says Haukedal.
“Usually these are small companies, who may not have the staff or
expertise to handle regular repair or maintenance.”
For customers that have some mechanical staff resources, there
is the “Work With Me” contract. This lets a customer perform less
specialized inspection and maintenance services while Finning
handles more technical tasks – such as checking a machine inside
and out for wear. “We take a look at the performance of a hydraulic
system,” Haukedal says of a possible inspection scenario. “We’ll put
the blade of the dozer up into the air and take measurements, every
five minutes, to determine drift rates. If the blade is coming down,
there might be a problem with the hydraulic system.”
After every inspection, the customer gets a checklist outlining
what was examined, as well as any areas of concern to be addressed.
“We also provide a parts list. All a customer has to do is call our
parts desk and they’ll arrange for their parts basket to be put
together for pickup,” Haukedal says.
One of the benefits of letting Finning handle all the maintenance
services for Alta-Fabs’ Caterpillar equipment is that it provides
a history for the company’s two IT62G loaders. “That definitely
increases the resale value,” Lavallee says.
Randy Megaw also knows the benefits that come from a PM
program. As a manager at Calgary-based Ace Construction,
he oversees maintenance of eight Caterpillar backhoes and
three trackhoes that work 10 hours a day, five-plus days a week
constructing power lines. All the machines are under a PM contract.
“When we bought our machines, we looked into it and it made
the most sense to let Finning do all our preventive maintenance
work,” Megaw says. “Its a huge time-saver, like having a mechanic
on staff all the time.” And so far, he continues, it has caught a few
problems before they’ve developed into major headaches. In fact,
during a recent PM inspection, something odd came back from the
lab on the oil tests taken from two of Ace Construction’s trackhoes.
For whatever reason, the final drives were going in both pieces of
equipment and the oil testing caught the problem before it was too
late. “It was an invaluable save,” Megaw says. “It caught the problem
before the warranties expired.”
The two trackhoes where taken to Finning’s shop to have the
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tracks & treads
Summer 2009
final drives rebuilt. In all, the early detection saved Ace
Construction an estimated $20,000 and probably a week
or two in unscheduled downtime. “It was pretty timely,”
Megaw says.
For Marvin Fenrich, equipment manager at KLS
Earthworks Ltd., pairing with Finning to do maintenance
on his company’s Cat equipment has proven ideal. KLS
Earthworks has a number of excavators, dozers and rubbertire loaders that it uses to do civil infrastructure work for the
City of Calgary. The equipment, most of which was purchased
in 2004, often works 12 hours a day, six days a week on such
projects as the construction of a cloverleaf overpass and the
extension of a road system.
While KLS Earthworks doesn't have the mechanical staff to
handle major equipment inspections or repairs, it tries to be
proactive. “The operators do a lot of little stuff,” Fenrich says.
“Every day they go through a checklist, which we’ve set up.” Operators
check fluid levels, make sure there are no hydraulic leaks and grease the
machines. “We have a maintenance team in place that can handle minor
mishaps, such as a broken hose.”
However, for regular PM inspections and technical repairs, KLS
Earthworks turns to Finning’s PM department. Fenrich likes this
arrangement for several reasons. “It is an extra set of eyes. It makes sure
that everything is done right,” he says. “But it also puts a little more
responsibility on the Caterpillar dealership if a fluid level goes unchecked,
or something else goes wrong.”
The bottom line? Setting up a regular PM schedule shifts a little more
of the liability onto the experts. And that’s always a good thing.
MAINTENANCE TIPS MADE EASY
Follow this five-step guide and your machine will keep on ticking,
even after it has taken a licking.
Read the manual – Every piece of Caterpillar equipment comes with one.
This is your Bible. It spells out what needs to be checked on your machine,
daily and weekly. “It creates the benchmarks that you follow and act from,” says
Blaine Haukedal, preventive maintenance manager for Finning (Canada). “It tells
you things that you need to do more often than every 250 hours.”
Factor in the duty cycle – You need to understand the conditions your
machine is working in. This is called the duty cycle. Is your machine working
seven days a week, 24 hours a day in a dusty quarry? Or is it doing landscaping
work? It determines how often and thorough you need to be when examining
your equipment.
Stay on schedule – Maintenance is one of the first things that gets pushed
to the side when you’ve got a big job going. “It’s easy to say, ‘Oh, I can shut
things down today;‘ then today turns into tomorrow, and the next day,” says
Haukedal. But machine parts only last for a certain amount of time. Things will
begin to bust. That’s the last thing that you want.
Use the right fluids and filters – Gone are the days when you could buy
generic oil and filters. Everything nowadays operates under higher pressures
and hotter temperatures, and must meet standards set out for each piece of
equipment. Cheaping out on oil and filters will affect the health of your equipment, and may also have warranty implications.
Turn to the Experts – If you aren’t sure what you’re doing, talk to your
Finning rep or turn to a skilled technician to prevent a major headache.
www.finning.ca
CONTROL ISSUES:
Finning PM technician Peter Konrad
inspects a generator control panel
Don’t Fight the Power
When it comes to backup
systems powering
crucial infrastructure,
leave it to Finning
by Jim Stirling
PHOTOGRAPHY BY Darren Nisbet
www.finning.ca
I
dentify an underserviced segment of an industry,
customize a program to better address its needs and, voila,
you have a new business tiger by the tail. It’s an approach that
Richmond Power Systems, a division of Finning (Canada), applied
recently when it instituted a planned maintenance system for
emergency standby power generators. The new program has taken off
in a big way in British Columbia and is expanding with equal promise
into Alberta.
Power supply is pretty reliable in Western Canada, to the point
where most of us take it for granted. But when something goes awry,
auxiliary systems are frequently called upon to pick up the slack, keep
the lights on and vital systems functioning. And, when they’re needed,
the backup systems had better work – and work properly. Consider a
hospital. If there were a significant power loss with no reliable backup
units to take over, the implications would be dire. But it’s not just
hospitals that need emergency standby power units.
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Don’t Fight the Power
READY TO ROLL: PM technician
Mike Todd performs a readiness
inspection
Data centres, airports, office towers, high-tech businesses, municipalities
and regional districts are examples of other users.
Finning has been servicing Cat standby generators for about 30 years,
says Tony Heir, branch manager for Richmond Power Systems. For a
good portion of those three decades, there was no program in place
for scheduled generator servicing, Heir says. Typically, Finning would
respond when customers called for service.
“We looked at the market a few years ago and
asked ourselves, ‘What if we could service all gensets, not just the Caterpillar units?’” he says. The
more comprehensive approach came into sharper
focus toward the end of 2007 when Finning acquired
Collicutt Energy Systems. “Collicutt had a business
unit that had significant gen-set servicing experience
and access to markets,” recalls Heir. He started
re-examining the concept of an all-manufacturer
service system and how it might work.
“We knew we had to build a business case if we
wanted to attack this market. To do that, we pretty
much had to start from scratch,” he says. “So, that’s
what we started to do. We sat down and asked
ourselves where the business was. We analyzed
everything we could get our hands on.” The upshot
was a sustainable business model that puts the
maintenance of vital backup power systems on a
regular schedule.
Enter Finning’s Genguard Planned Maintenance
Services. One of the key differences of the new
system was the creation of a staff, a structural
22
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Summer 2009
system, and parts and service geared exclusively to putting the
maintenance of backup power systems front and centre. It’s not a
sideline; it’s what Richmond Power Systems does.
A byproduct feature of Genguard is a geographical rationalization,
explains Heir. “The service technicians know where they’re going. We
plan routes for them up to 14 days in advance. It helps maximize their
efficiency.”
Another feature of Finning’s streamlined Genguard system makes
life easier for harried property managers. Customers sign up at a predetermined rate for a one-, two-, three- or five-year contract period.
Finning takes care of all the administration and service scheduling,
Heir says. The customer doesn’t have to worry. “We call up the
customer and ask them when, during the next week, we can come and
do the scheduled gen-set servicing.” The customers know what they’re
getting and when they’ll get it. The technicians’ work also meets all
pertinent codes and standards, including CSA compliance, to ensure
the backup units are always well maintained and fully functioning,
Heir adds.
The Genguard program has been very well received in the marketplace and the service niche has rapidly expanded. The numbers of
trained technicians responsible for the field work, for example, has
mushroomed from two to nine. More are likely to come aboard in the
future – and they’ll be busy. “We don’t see the technicians much in
the building,” Heir says with a smile.
It has taken a team to put the Genguard program together and
make it function smoothly, explains Heir. “It’s been a lot of hard work
for all our technicians and those brought over through the acquisition,
especially during the first four months of transition, working with a
different company and methodology,” Heir says. “Everyone worked
their butts off.” He singles out for special thanks, Mike Baker, PM sales
services supervisor, Angelo Petovello, PM sales representative and
Laverne McGowan, service coordinator.
Petovello zips around to his appointed tasks in a sporty Mini
Cooper, decaled like a Finning service truck. Heir says the car is
not only great eye-catching advertising for Finning, it’s also highly
practical for the business at hand: it’s super-handy in tight spaces and
accesses Petovello frequently encounters and it uses little gas.
MINI CAT: Mike Baker, PM services
supervisor and Angelo Petovello,
PM sales representative
www.finning.ca
CHECK OUT A CHECKUP
WON'T HURT A BIT: Aljo Hamzagic, another
Finning tech, takes a routine sample of oil for
analysis at the lab
And operating on the premise that imitation is a sincere form of
flattery, Heir notes the competition, which never had a dedicated
salesperson for servicing backup generators before, quickly changed
its tune when Finning came on the scene.
But the most important response to the Genguard system comes
from the customers it serves. The growing Township of Langley,
in B.C.’s Fraser Valley, is a Finning customer. It has in excess of 30
standby generators with four added in the last year to accommodate
growth, says John McQueen, Langley’s equipment maintenance
manager. The units provide backup electrical power services to a
variety of vital municipal buildings and services, such as the RCMP
detachment, the operations building, municipal hall, water and
sewer utilities and eight fire halls.
The Township of Langley has a five-year agreement with Finning,
which involves a dedicated maintenance schedule for each gen-set.
McQueen explains that Langley took the Finning service option
rather than handling the work in-house for three reasons. “One,
Finning looks after our service scheduling for us,” he says. “Two,
because of rapid growth in the Township, we had to look closely at
our liability risk, and three, we do not have the technical background
or equipment required.” Finning does.
The agreement with Finning works well, he reports. “There’s good
communication with Finning and there’s consistency, often with the
same service technician, who gets to know our systems well.”
www.finning.ca
Ensuring that backup power generating systems are always primed to
deliver on demand is what Richmond Power Systems is all about. On each
prescribed visit to a customer by an experienced Finning technician, each
standby generator unit is subject to a rigorous list of checks and testing
procedures.
“There is a mandated annual service and more frequent options customers can choose from,” summarizes Gord Carleton, a service technician in the
preventive maintenance department of Richmond Power Systems.
The annual full service procedure is a comprehensive exercise. It includes
ensuring each customer’s standby unit meets all fire code standards for
emergency generators. Oil, filters and safety features are checked on a test
list comprising more than 50 items. Another requirement is load level testing.
“We crank up the generator to 100 per cent load and run it for two hours,”
explains Carleton. It’s the same principle as test driving a vehicle at highway
speeds before deciding to buy it.
Customers can opt for further levels of service with Finning every six
months or on a monthly basis, he continues. Each service category requires
a thorough check of each unit and running it with or without load to ensure
it’s in good shape.
“We look after 10 or 15 different types of unit, not just Caterpillar, and
that takes a bit of experience,” he says. The same level of experience helps
prevent problems before they develop.
Block heaters on the backup units, for example, run 24/7 and hoses need
upgrading. And about 90 per cent of service calls received by Finning with
this work are connected to dead and dying batteries, adds Carleton, a heavy
duty mechanic by trade who has been doing this type of work for more than
10 years. Updating or replacing these items before they fail is sound preventive maintenance practice and can save the customer much grief and money.
tracks & treads
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FAMILY TIES: Lake Excavating's Trevor Seibert
and Kari Gertzen have what it takes to keep the
family business humming
Placid Lake
by Noémi LoPinto
PHOTOGRAPHY BY CRAIG smith
A sister-and-brother team keep the family business
running smoothly in Williams Lake, B.C.
L
ake Excavating Ltd. is more than a family business for
Kari Gertzen and Trevor Seibert, it’s a legacy they hope to pass
on to their children. “Obviously we’re invested in keeping the
company as a family business,” says Gertzen, vice-president and finance
manager. “You develop a sense of pride and accomplishment, especially
since Lake Excavating has been around for so long.”
The company began in 1964, when Romanian-born Karl Seibert
bought some yellow iron and went to work excavating around Williams
Lake, B.C. He married a Canadian girl named Reta and their children,
Kari and her younger brother Trevor, grew up surrounded by dozers
and excavators. As soon as Trevor was old enough, he was running
machines. Kari spent a summer installing sewer and water lines and also
worked in the office. “I did like the equipment,” says Gertzen, 43.
“It felt normal to me to be around it.”
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tracks & treads
Summer 2009
Today, the company has a fleet of 70 pieces of heavy equipment,
most of which are Cat. Through the siblings’ development company,
Avion Developments Inc., and Lake Excavating, they undertake
a number of design-build projects in B.C. and Alberta, such as
engineering, infrastructure and other work on a 43-acre commercial
subdivision in Williams Lake; a new Walmart; a design-build for
Highway 20 west of Williams Lake; a 180-unit manufactured home
park; a 72-acre rural development in Whitecourt, Alberta and other
ongoing projects. Recently, Gertzen and Seibert purchased two 330Ds from Finning,
which will come in handy for the development of the Walmart site.
It’s a $25-million project for a 118,000-square-foot super centre,
opening in November. The project is good for the local economy;
Lake Excavating has subcontracted local companies for engineering,
www.finning.ca
curb and gutters, electrical and landscaping. In 2008, Lake hired
35 additional employees to run two shifts a day, seven days a week
to service the site. In 65 days, Lake moved 600,000 cubic metres of
material, including 100,000 cubic metres of blasted rock.
“It’s a great accomplishment,” says Gertzen. “And it’s nice to be able
to do something like that in the town where we were born.”
Lake Excavating employs between 35 and 50 regular staff during
summer and as many as 15 during winter, a core group of guys, some of
whom have been with Lake for close to 10 years. “It adds to the family
feeling,” Gertzen says.
Adding to the family feeling is the relationship with Finning
(Canada), dating to 1964, when Karl Seibert purchased a 955 track
loader with a backhoe. Since then, the company has purchased more
than 400 Caterpillar machines. “Finning is usually quick to get us what
we need,” says Gertzen. “My dad became friends with more than one
Finning manager. Dealings with them are part of the legacy.” Finning
in Williams Lake is a full-service branch including parts, service
and sales. Lake Excavating is one of the parts department’s largest
customers. And in 2008-09, Lake Excavating purchased two 320DLs,
one 312CL and two 330DLs.
Product support salesman Shane Elzinga deals with Lake Excavating
on an almost daily basis. With Elzinga, Lake participates in several
of Finning’s product support programs, including oil sampling, track
wear and technical support to Lake’s head mechanic in regards to
hydraulic issues. “It means our mechanics can obtain the information
they need to conduct ongoing maintenance,” Gertzen says.
With experience in banking and financial management, Gertzen
had been running the Lake Excavating head office in her hometown
since 1989. Trevor ran his own company (which he still owns), and
worked for Karl in various capacities. The siblings bought their father
out in 1996. Gertzen still runs the head office in Williams Lake, does
all the company finances and runs Lake Excavating’s safety program.
She obtains the bonding and insurance that’s required when bidding
on publicly tendered projects and she occasionally conducts field safety
and orientation meetings. A one-stop shop, Gertzen says the company
offers a “full package” to their customers.
CLEANUP ON AISLE FOUR: Lake Excavating prepares the
site for a 118,000-square-foot Walmart Super Centre
www.finning.ca
SIBLINGS IN SPEED
Trevor Seibert and Kari Gertzen are more than a sister-and-brother business team. They also own and staff a NASCAR team, which takes them
to racing competitions all over the country. Trevor is the driver and Kari
is the team manager.
Since qualifying for his Players/GM Series in 1991, Trevor has been
competing against some of the world’s best drivers in the NASCAR
Canadian Tire series. He races in the Formula Atlantic division of formula
auto racing, Indy Lights class of open-wheeled race cars or the Players/
GM Camaro class. At Calgary’s Race City in the mid-1990s, Trevor broke
a world track record for fastest time on any half-mile. The siblings recently competed in the NASCAR Canadian Tire race at
Mosport in Toronto. Trevor and Kari came in 14th out of a 24-car field,
in a 52-lap race that reached speeds of 180 miles per hour.
Now president and general manager of Lake Excavating, 42-yearold Trevor does onsite project supervision and serves as company
estimator, managing pricing, quotations and tendering. Trevor also
has a commercial pilot’s license and, in one of the coolest commutes,
flies crew and equipment in the company-owned Piper Navajo 7
between Williams Lake and Whitecourt. “He’s skilled at his job and
I am skilled at mine, and neither of us wants the other’s job,” says
Gertzen. “We have similar philosophies of business, different duties
and we respect each other’s assets. That’s why it works so well.”
As a woman in construction, Gertzen is a bit of an anomaly, but
increasingly less so. “I talk to more women in this field than there
were 10 years ago,” she says. “We’d be kidding ourselves to think it’s
not a man’s world. Once in a while I still get ‘what would she know,’
but you’d get that anywhere.” Gertzen says being surrounded by guys
has taught her a straightforward way of communicating. “I don’t
mince words,” she says. “Trevor and I both have that quality. I think
that’s important in business.”
Gertzen has two sons, 14 and 17, and Seibert has a 17-year-old son
and a daughter halfway through her post secondary studies. All four
have worked for the company. The 17-year-old cousins are skilled
operators already. But, of course, Seibert women are no slouches.
“Trevor’s daughter, Brittany, is working for us this summer, running
the backhoe loader and articulated rock truck,” says Gertzen.
Grandfather Karl, who still consults for the company now and then,
is justifiably proud.
tracks & treads
Summer 2009
32
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15
Keep It Up
(and Running)
Finning’s new Gas Engine Exchange
program swaps out engines to be
overhauled and replaces them
so fast your head will spin
by Robin BruneT
A
side from setbacks caused by the recession, natural gas
production in Alberta continues to be a key economic driver.
An estimated 12 billion cubic feet is extracted daily from more
than 92,000 wells in the province, with two-thirds of that total going
directly to the all-important U.S. market.
Increased production efficiency is an ongoing goal, and given the
fierce competition in the gas compression sector, the one word nobody
wants to hear is “downtime.” That’s why a growing number of oil
and gas producers are turning to Finning (Canada) for help. The Gas
Engines Exchange Program is saving natural gas producers money by
minimizing the downtime caused by on-site engine overhauls.
Instead of enduring lengthy on-site overhauls, program participants
simply contact Finning for a swing (replacement) engine. Finning
technicians deliver and install the remanufactured engine on the
worksite. The tired engine core is taken away for remanufacturing for
future use. “We launched the program in 2008, and it’s already grown
at a faster pace than projected,” says product manager Ehtisham Anwer.
“The advantages of the program are substantial: remanufactured
engines are only 60 to 70 per cent of the cost of new engines, they can
be installed in a short time with less on-site labour, and they’re rebuilt
to Caterpillar specifications by certified technicians using genuine
Caterpillar parts.”
Canadian Natural Resources, one of Canada’s largest producers
of natural gas, was instrumental in developing this program. “CNR
officials approached Finning in 2007 because they were running in
excess of 90,000 hours on their engines,” says Finning product support
sales representative Chris Paliwoda. CNR officials were worried about
26
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Summer 2009
the downtime of the hard-working engines that were
due for overhauls. They needed a quick turnaround
for their engine rebuilds.
After working with CNR to determine the
parameters and content of the exchange program,
Finning put in place a startup exchange inventory
of G3304, G3306 and G3408 engines. “The first
transaction with CNR took place in April 2008,”
says Paliwoda. “Our knuckle boom truck
with a replacement engine arrived at a CNR
compressor building at 9 a.m. as scheduled.
The old engine was disconnected, and
replaced by a remanufactured G3306 engine.
The replacement engine was up and running by
5 p.m. that same evening.”
Since then, several customers in Alberta and
British Columbia have benefitted from the remanufactured
gas exchange engines. Finning’s Edmonton facility now offers
replacement rebuilds on all variants of the G3300, 3400, 3500
and 3600 engines, and Paliwoda describes them as “close as
possible to plug-n-play as you can get.”
There are thousands of gas engines operating in Finning’s
territory, from small G3300s of 220 bhps to large G3600s of 2,270
bhps. The production power of these engines is considerable:
a G3600 averages $1,000 worth of gas production per cylinder,
or $12,000 per hour. Under normal field operations, an average
engine nets in excess of $35,000 per week.
www.finning.ca
BUILT TO REBUILD
Finning’s Etisham Anwer points out that a simple phone call is all
it takes to access the full range of services offered under the Gas
Engines Exchange Program.
Engines that need overhauling are disassembled and inspected
in Finning’s shop, a process that is less costly and far more reliable
than the standard method of disassembly on the customer’s site.
Consultation is key to the customer getting exactly what he wants
out of a rebuild, but as desirable as custom rebuilds may be, busy
clients can opt for an off-the-shelf overhauled engine, which comes
with a core credit. “This is a credit for engine cores based on a
charge levied when a rebuilt engine is purchased,” Anwer says. “It
takes effect when the replacement core is returned at a later date for
overhauling and helps make total acquisition costs a lot less than if
the client were to purchase a brand new engine.”
The remanufacturing process includes engine disassembly,
inspection, machining and assembly. Continuous inspection and
testing during the process ensure the quality and reliability of
remanufactured engines. These tasks are carried out in a controlled
environment with production tooling and qualified personnel for a
cost-effective and reliable product.
A typical overhaul under the Gas Engines Exchange Program
encompasses basic engine as well as auxiliaries. The basic engine
includes cylinder block, crankshaft, piston rings, connecting rods,
cylinder liners and heads, valve train, camshaft, front gears and
cover, fly-wheel housing and seals and gaskets. Engine auxiliaries
include water pump, turbochargers, oil pump and cooler, exhaust
manifold, governor drive and magneto.
Finning offers two pricing options for gas exchange engines:
Service Plus (EX) This option has a lower up-front cost followed
by additional charges which may vary depending on the condition of
customer’s core. Additional charges apply whenever non-essential
parts require replacement or machining.
Before Failure (BF) This option has a higher upfront cost but the
risk of extra charges are lower (the customer gets a more certain
cost). Additional charges apply only when crank and/or cylinder
block require replacement.
“Since Before Failure pricing is based on the average cost of additional changes,” says Anwer, “the overall cost to the customer under
both pricing options averages out to be same at the end of the day.”
Optimal inventory management and shortened cycle times are critical to ensure that an engine
is available when a customer needs one. “The majority of these engines out there have been
running for several years and do not have the current technological advancements. With the
engines exchange program, several customers have upgraded old engines to current technology to
go greener,” says Anwer.
He says although the economy is beginning to improve, saving money is still a priority for
his customers. “It always will be, along with a minimum of fuss and a maximum of production
efficiency,” he says. “Our Gas Engines Exchange Program satisfies these objectives. That is why it’s a
real success story, but we think that the story’s only begun.”
www.finning.ca
tracks & treads
Summer 2009
32
27
15
Meeting the Challenge
28
tracks & treads
Summer 2009
www.finning.ca
Testing Teck
photography by jody M. crawford
In 2009, Finning’s Sparwood, B.C. location became
a proud supporter and sponsor of the Mine Rescue and
First Aid Competition. Put on by the East Kootenay Mines
Industrial Safety Association, the friendly competition is
designed to test – and celebrate – the emergency response
and rescue abilities of teams in the area. “We supplied the
venue,” says Mike Brandt, Finning’s customer service manager at Sparwood. “Plus, we had a lot of props and equipment at our disposal.” Teck Coal, the biggest player in the
region, was behind all five East Kootenay teams: Fording
River, Greenhills, Coal Mountain, Line Creek and Elkview.
Greenhills moved on to the provincial competition.
1. TRIAL BY FIRE: For the fire task, teams had to safely
stow their vehicles, quickly gear up, know procedures and
deal with the fire.
2. KNOW HOW: The Coal Mountain team demonstrates
the form that could one day save lives.
3. IN KNOTS: In this simulation, a logger has been injured
and is stuck at the bottom of a hill under a felled tree. The
rope task demonstrates a team’s ability to repel down a hill
with safety equipment, arrange another system of ropes and
pulleys to remove the tree from the injured man’s leg, then
get him back up the hill.
4. THE WATCHERS: Judge Patrick Milan observes a team
on the fire task, watching for techniques in extinguishing
the fire, from equipment to nozzle settings.
5. TEAM OF THREE: In this three-person first aid test, one
person has fallen off a dozer and is lying unconscious, a second has injured her leg atop the dozer and – in the midst of
it – a frantic supervisor drops with an apparent heart attack.
It tests the team’s ability to call for the right equipment and
to prioritize.
6. TIE TIME: In this bench task, a judge checks a team’s
ropes and knots.
7. NOT SO GREEN: The captain of Greenhills confers with
his teammates. Judges look for good teamwork.
www.finning.ca
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15
by keith haddock
GREENE GOES YELLOW: This 48-year old SA-40 paver was typical of the machines
that brought Barber-Greene to the forefront of the asphalt paving industry
THE MOD SQUAD: Caterpillar’s modern pavers are represented by the AP655C.
This, and the current AP655D, is equipped with a 174-horsepower engine
Blacktop Experts
Caterpillar faced down the last recession by branching out into
new products – among them, the paver
Caterpillar’s paving products continue a tradition of
efficient and high-quality paving, building on the efforts of
industry experts from the Illinois company that offered the
very first machine to combine the mixing and placing of
asphalt in a single operation.
In the depths of the mid-1980s recession, Caterpillar
management believed that adding new products to increase
its customer base would hasten recovery. Consequently,
by the end of that decade, Caterpillar had successfully
broadened its product line to include articulated dump
trucks, loader-backhoes, log loaders and paving equipment.
These products proved effective in leveraging Caterpillar’s
advantage and ensuring it emerged strong from those
economic downtimes.
Caterpillar’s first paving machines appeared in 1985
when the company entered into a branding agreement
with CMI Corporation. At that time, CMI had recently
purchased Raygo Corporation of Minneapolis, Minnesota,
and the highly-respected CMI pavers, along with the
former Raygo compactors, were marketed as Caterpillar
machines. In 1988, the company established Caterpillar
Paving Products, Inc. in Minneapolis, where its paving
products are still built today.
CMI Corporation was founded in the early 1960s by
Bill Swisher who introduced the “Auto-Grade,” the first
automatically controlled fine-grade trimmer that permitted
highly accurate, final-grade preparation. In 1964, Cat
introduced this machine, which paved the way for a series
of automated concrete and asphalt paving machines that
would become highly respected in the industry.
In 1991, Caterpillar further boosted its paving product
line by purchasing the Barber-Greene Company of
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tracks & treads
Summer 2009
Aurora, Illinois. Founded in 1916, no company had more
experience designing asphalt paving machines than
Barber-Greene. In 1931, its founders, Harry H. Barber and
William B. Greene, invented the first machine to mix and
place asphalt in one operation. It prompted a rapid rise
in paving productivity to accommodate the more than
nine million automobiles and trucks then on the roads in
the United States. Paving machines earned an excellent
reputation for reliability and efficiency, which helped
the company gain international status. And, because of
the highly-regarded Barber-Greene name, Caterpillar
continued to build and market the machines as BarberGreene products after it took over the company.
Since acquiring paving machines in the mid-1980s,
Caterpillar has continued to develop new features and
keep its pavers at the forefront of current technology.
Caterpillar offers both wheeled and tracked paving
machines. They are all equipped with self-diagnosis
on propel and feeder systems, and an independent
feeder system to reduce segregation and hand work.
Operators can position dual operating stations beyond
the machine’s width for maximum visibility. Screeds
boast a hydraulically-operated width adjustment for
paving widths up to 7.3 metres, and the screed pads are
electrically heated. Wheeled pavers offer an optional
bogey wheel assist to enhance rimpull and traction.
Tracked pavers are a dream for operators, providing
superior traction and stability, as well as consistency of
placed material when wide screeds are used or when
carting high capacity loads of asphalt. Like much Cat iron,
pavers offer a choice of metal or rubber tracks, depending
on the application.
www.finning.ca
Portrait: Bob Fritchey
photograph by Ricardo Alberto Leiva
Ectem quat et ing estrud magnim dolute volore magna
utat Osto con et ing et ea adip erat et, velestrud magnis atue
“I repair broken
machines,” Bob
Fritchey says plainly.
“I troubleshoot for
customers to find the
problem.” A 36-year
Finning veteran, 21 of
those years in Fort St.
James, B.C., Fritchey
is understating his
responsibilities. His
title “resident field
mechanic” doesn’t
adequately describe
what he and other guys
like him do for a living.
“A resident field
mechanic takes care
of everything,” says
Fritchey’s supervisor,
Dave Pitkethley. “Bob
is the initial – and
often only – customer
contact point.” His skills
extend past the underthe-hood variety. “He’s
responsible for safety,
billing, cost efficiency
and shipping,” says
Pitkethley. Fritchey
is also part salesman,
who has to respond to
customers’ needs and
sell certain services or
approaches to increase
customers’ uptime.
Over long distances,
these aren’t easy tasks.
“Once, I drove
four hours through
a blizzard at night
to change a fuse.
Turns out it had been
mislabeled,” Fritchey
says. “Then I turned
around and drove four
hours back.”
www.finning.ca
tracks & treads
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15
New Produc ts and Services from Finning
Look forward to your next
oil change
Our new QuickEvac system empties
most diesel engine sumps in less than
a minute, enabling you to do a complete
lube, oil and filter change in a mere 20
minutes. It’s also safer: you empty and
refill the oil from a single point, which
means you don’t have to climb up and
down machines.
With QuickEvac, dry starts are no
more – the engine is prelubricated before
cranking begins.
It’s the fastest, cleanest oil change
you’ve ever completed. Talk to your
Finning (Canada) rep for more details
about this program.
Easy armour cuts downtime
Protect your buckets, blades and boxes
with Cat’s mechanically attached wear
plate system – MAWPS. Easy to install,
MAWPS takes just minutes to change out.
Wear plates, like disposable razor blades,
simply slide in. When it's time for fresh
sacrificial iron, say goodbye to hammering or welding: a screwdriver is all that’s
required. Ask your local Finning representative how you can reduce operating
costs with MAWPS today.
32
tracks & treads
Summer 2009
Caterpillar machines are built
to be rebuilt
The extensive Caterpillar Certified
Rebuild program incorporates the very
latest Cat technology and critical engineering updates into your machine at a
fraction of the cost of buying new. After
a thorough evaluation, including more
than 350 tests and inspections and the
automatic replacement of approximately
7,000 parts, you get a like-new machine
and warranty.
Be a filter connoisseur
During the dusty construction season,
what’s the best way to increase component life and lower operating costs?
Keep your fluids clean. Moving to high
efficiency filters is one way to end the
headaches. Cat filters help ensure fluid
cleanliness because their synthetic, smalldiameter fibres trap smaller particles and
hold more debris. All filters are not the
same. Even tiny particles know the difference, so should you.
www.finning.ca
www.finning.ca
www.finning.ca
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Summer 2009
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15
Count on Us
THE MACHINES THAT BACK OUR FIGHTING MEN
This image comes from a vintage wartime Caterpillar
magazine advertisement. In the ad, the accompanying text waxes about an operator’s love for his Cat:
The feeling of a soldier for the equipment he
works with is something special. Watch a hard-bitten
“skinner” – a man who handles earthmovers – around
his Cat Bulldozer or Motor Grader or wheel Tractor.
When he touches the machine, it’s like a man laying
his hand familiarly on his hound dog’s head. There is
a deep affection and understanding.
Some things never change.
34
tracks & treads
Summer 2009
www.finning.ca
Ability to keep you up and running
Try us on for Size. We’re the perfect fit.
Receive a *FREE pair of Cat work boots
when you set up a rental account and
spend your first $1000 on rentals.
*Some conditions may apply. See in-store for details.
Boots may not be exactly as shown.
We have your rental needs covered, whether you’re temporarily replacing a fleet machine that’s
in for repair, needing a specific machine for a special application over the short-term or testing
a new machine before making the decision to purchase. Machines, work tools, lifts, tools—
whatever you’re in need of, The Cat Rental Store is equipped to meet your requirements.
With over 35 rental locations throughout B.C., Alberta, Yukon and Northwest Territories, your
rental can be found just around the corner.
Call 1-866-285-5550 or visit us online at www.catrents.ca to view our entire
catalogue of offerings.
32
Work Smarter,
Not Harder
Receive $1000 toward your 2nd work tool
purchase with the purchase of your new
machine. See your Finning sales representative
for complete details.
*
Machine versatility is the key to maximizing productivity - using the
right tool for the job saves time and money. Tackle a wide range of
demanding construction and industrial applications with performance-matching Cat work tools. For even greater flexibility, many
of these work tools can be used on other Cat compact equipment,
including compact wheel loaders.
With well over 30 different applications, we’re sure we have the right
tool for your job.
Ask your sales representative about your specific application.
* $1000 credit may not be applied to previous purchases or work orders. Coupon
must be submitted at time of original purchase in order to be credited to account.
Program ends August 31, 2009. Cannot be combined with any other offers.
1-888-finning | finning.ca
(346-6464)