Ben Maclean is the 24-year-old owner of a land reclamation business called Down to Earth Developments that specializes in transforming unusable or degraded land into more productive plots that can be put to residential or agricultural use – and Ben is using these hybrid machines to make reclamation an even more sustainable enterprise.
Maclean is bucking the trend of young people avoiding construction and agriculture and making a name for himself throughout the UK. Soon after becoming the youngest customer to order one of Caterpillar’s first D6XE electric dozers earlier this year. Ben was so impressed with the big electric drive CAT that he ordered another one.
It’s just arrived – and Ben seems pretty excited about it.
“It’s not just the electric drive using less fuel, but the all-round technology package you get with CAT machines that saves costs in quite a few ways,” explains Maclean. “We also have two CAT 323 hydraulic excavators and their grade assist and payload technology help us get the job done that little bit quicker.”
The electric drive CAT machines operate much the same way that range-extended EVs (or “EREVs“) do. Onboard batteries send power to electric motors while an ICE generator works to keep them topped off. The arrangement delivers superior power, torque, and control compared to diesel drive, with a 35% improvement in fuel efficiency and, according to CAT, 20% fewer harmful carbon emissions compared to the conventional 3 speed D6T Tier 4 Final.
“Sustainability is quite literally what they do,” says Ryan Trafford, manager at CAT’s UK distributor, Finning. “Customers like Ben are the first generation to have grown up understanding the importance of making responsible decisions, with sustainability being at the heart of that.”
Here’s hoping more young people bring their sustainable priorities to the various trades as they come up.
CAT D6XE electric drive dozer
SOURCE | IMAGES: Down to Earth Developments.
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Author Jo Borrás
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