Page 231 - Peterson 85 Years and Going Strong

We also made a hub to run the engine’s fan because the space in a 775 truck is different than a 5110. Since Cat didn’t have anything available that would fit, our machine shop made one.” All in all, it took a tremendous amount of cutting, fitting, and fabrication to make it all work.
Replacing the old 3412E HEUI engine with the latest computer technology posed another challenge. The old ma- chine didn’t have an ECM (Electronic Control Module) to communicate between the engine and hydraulic system because the 5110 was built as an all-mechanical machine. “They rewired the whole system and built a new harness for the two ECMs and software,” explains D’Amore. “This was a
one-off deal. It’s the first time it’s been done on a 5110. Sukut knew of earlier issues with third-party software engineers, so they specifically requested that Cat provide the software and build it into the deal.”
Fortunately, Sukut had a lull in their schedule and was able
to substitute in two smaller Cat excavators during the six- month repower process. “When they were finished with that machine, it hit the ground running and never stopped,” says Ortiz. “We’ve done many repowers ourselves, and when you do a one-off of anything, there’s always issues afterward. But not this machine. I was really impressed. I flew up to Peterson one day and told them so. It was incredible.
Sukut’s 5110 car-body in San Leandro shop for repower in 2016
It was a pretty steep learning curve for everyone. Out of that came Peterson’s first successful Carl Moyer application. It was for Independent Con- struction.
“Peterson was instrumental in submitting all of our applications, all the way through,” says Dan Mer- rigan, Independent’s equipment superintendent, who retired in 2015. “Our first machine was a Cat 825C. We paid $18,000 for a $180,000 upgrade. And every one since has been a home run.” In 2006, Peterson punched out four new larger garage doors in its San Leandro main shop to expedite Independent’s twenty-five repowers by their year- end deadline. By 2007, Independent had re-pow- ered fifty-five machines, all in Peterson’s shop, be- coming the largest user of the program at the time.
Back in 2004–05, Caterpillar had teamed up with Peterson and several other Cat dealers on pilot
programs to create repower kits for specific ma- chines. “Caterpillar anticipated the need and cre- ated a special task force of engineers and product specialists—the Cat Emissions Solutions Group. CES didn’t have a way to do the repowers them- selves, so they did it through their dealers,” ex- plains Stickney. “The demand was so great that each dealer started doing them on their own to keep up.” Peterson created a number of repower kits with customers willing to participate in the pi- lot program. The customer would pay for the cost of a regular engine rebuild, and Cat would cover the rest using Peterson as their shop and engi- neering arm. Peterson’s first repowers included a D10N, D9L, and 825C for Independent; a 769C truck for Schnitzer Steel; and a D8L for NorCal Waste. “These customized repowers were monster garage projects,” says Stickney, the overseeing ser- vice manager at the time.“You don’t just pull an old standard engine out and replace it with a new one.
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