How GPS-based machine control means a new lease of life for small dozers

GPS-based machine control is rapidly revolutionising the civil construction business, through the cost savings and productivity improvements it’s allowing. And almost as a side effect, it’s revitalising the small to mid-size dozer market. Harry Katsanevas, machine control manager with Topcon’s Queensland dealer ABC Lasers, maintains that the combination of the latest precision GPS-based machine control, and power-angle-tilt (PAT) blades makes smaller dozers (D4-D7 size) highly productive and versatile machines. “We are finding with small sized dozers – the small Komatsu, John Deere, Case, Liebherr and Caterpillar machines – that GPS-based machine control plus a PAT blade is becoming a tool that they’re using on subdivisional work, on road jobs and so forth,” he said. “It allows them to

Topcon Valve Switch Unit simplifies Caterpillar M series automation

Automating Caterpillar M series motor graders with Topcon’s 3D machine control systems – including Millimetre GPSTM – has become even easier for owners with the introduction of a special Valve Switch Unit from Topcon Positioning Systems (TPS). TPS’s Valve Switch Unit (VSU) eliminates the need to add a hydraulic valve or connection to M Series grader’s hydraulic system through the CAN field bus, resulting in an integrated, real-time distributed control. In addition, the VSU eliminates the need for an activation fee to be paid to Caterpillar to enable the interface between the machine control system and the grader’s operating system. According to Brian Juroff, TPS director of construction sales, the VSU acts as an interface between the OEM