550 accert made by cat?

Yup. MXS, BXS, NXS, and SDP are all acerts and could be had at 550 or even 625 from the factory. All lower horsepower can go to 550 with no part changes.

 

I was going to ask if CAT truly got out of the North American Truck and NA Truck Engine business. But continued to build engines for heavy equiptment?

You would there are other engine makers like Fairbanks Morse and a couple of others whom Ive never seen try their hand at big rigging engines.

We need engines with more horse. Not necessarily much more torque. 2000 is plenty for as long 40 ton is standard weight limit. If the Federal Government allows 50 ton for 6 axles gross, then let's have engines that will exceed say a 750 horse range on up to handle them nicely. I would hate to consider buying Man's from Europe on American dollar not in our favor at the moment to gain the horses needed for 50 ton.

 

6TS 550 was a 1850 rating.
1750 was a 500 rating or multitorque 475 rating

 

I used to think I needed more than a stock 550 Cat running the northwest at 105k gross until I watched all the guys with big horses going through tires faster and spinning out on the passes in the winter. We could keep our foot in it with a 550 and not have the power to break traction while the guys with big motors were throwing chains because they spun out. Torque is what gets you up the hill anyway. There are plenty of loads moving every day over 80k gross with the engines currently offered.

 

Ty kindly for that post.

I have also gone up and over in snow etc knowing if I abused the foot so to speak the traction will break and that will be that minus a consequence for that reckless application or deduction of power.

That particular tractor was my first real big horse rig And the time my trainer spent with me took many pains with me. Ive had other trainers in later years and they were "ok" compared to this one who liked the handle Hellion, there must be ten thousand Hellions running about by now. However this one taught me breaking power during a storm when it was time for him to teach me before I did something stupid on seven mountains hill which is like8% winding down for oh.. 5 miles give or take. One of my favorite pulls in winter.

In those days many company trucks as a money cost saving measure were provided with 1350 torque rated shaft bolted to a 13 speed and engine that did around oh... 1850 @1450 RPM and around 520ish at 1700 and probably down to around oh...360 at 2150 If you were not running all out you shifted her around 1300 and 1750 with plenty of room on both ends (Redline 2300 and refuses to go at around 1000. He did have one rule do what the doubles do.

Problems begin when cheap company buyer's 1350 foot pound shaft snaps and twists trying to shift tandems. I already bit final drives out of inside the truck rears so... this shaft business should come out pretty cheap.

And no thunder doing it. (IF you opened it up somehow she reaches down into the stacks and dips into that turbo which then whijnes and spools like crazy when the fuel lights off on the whole thing ROOAWWWRRR!

All the state police 7 blocks know Im moving her out. It's a matter of following the eras.

 

I find it just the opposite, we have some hills here, if you have enough horse to be able to high side them, you seldom have to chain, if not you chain pretty regular.

 

Most passes I ran had multiple switchbacks that you could only take about 20-25 max. The first guy I knew personally to set a maxi up with a 600 Cat only kept it for about 8 months, and after the first winter he got out of it and replaced it with a 550/1850tq Cat.

With a 550 we were replacing drives every fall and guys that tried big motors ended up running summer and winter tires because they couldn’t go a full year on a set.

 

It's not the extra HP that does it....it's the foot connected the the brain that causes that not the extra HP !

 

If a guy runs hard here all year, I doubt if you could get a year out of any drives even if you were running a 318 detroit. lol
We generally switch tires any way, or a lot of us do, winter tires have too soft of a rubber compound to run in summer, and we use rock tires in the summer, no bueno in the winter.
everybody runs as much power as they can afford, heck a couple of guys have gone to c18's in their trucks.
Guys pulling double tankers will wear out drives pretty fast, especially those running for big state, as they gross 165,000. I have seen some of them go through a set in 4 months, in the summer.