The new Cat® 586C Site Prep Tractor is a multi-purpose, heavy-duty machine with the muscle to run power-hungry mulchers and brushcutters.
“The 586C was developed really for improving land management applications,” said Bill Finerty, Caterpillar Vice President of Diversified Products. “And even though it’s a dedicated forestry machine, it actually hits on the fringe of many other land management applications.”
“Developing new right of ways, widening right of ways for new infrastructure whether it be utility lines or gas and oil pipelines, but you’ll also see it in different management applications whether it be in some of the plantations for trees, potentially palm oil, rubber tree plantations,” said Matt McDonald, Caterpillar Market Development Engineer.
Behind all these applications, and our customers, stands the unmatched service and knowledge of the Cat dealer network.
“These machines are used all over the place,” said Finerty. “Clearly the advantage of our dealer network in supporting this machine for our customers no matter where it goes is a clear advantage that we have.”
So how did we design one machine to meet the varied needs of customers throughout the wide array of jobs? We listened and got to work.
“Our customers were asking for a high performance machine for this application that would be very reliable,” McDonald said. “So what we did is put the power to the machine with 350 HP, with over 300 HP available to the head. We also wanted to focus on the high capacity hydraulic cooling system to keep the machine cool, running and operating during those hot days.”
He went on to say, “We also feature a lot of different pressurization, keeping debris out of the machine, which is a key advantage for us versus our competition.”
Also built into the machine is technology to provide timely, useful information about machine status and utilization.
The 586C is the first machine in the site prep tractor market where the Product Link™ technology comes standard.
Last but not least, we saw to it that the operators’ comfort and safety needs were addressed.
“We wanted to keep our operators comfortable in the cab, which our cab is ROPS, OPS and FOPS certified and fully enclosed,” said McDonald. “And we also wanted to keep that operator on the ground when he’s doing his daily maintenance whether he’s filling the fuel or filling hydraulic oil.”
