Since day one, there has been a fair bit of interest in the Cat Trucks project, accompanied by a lot of goodwill on the part of the Australian trucking community. The Cat CT 610 is now meant to bring that relationship to the next level– a point at which the new truck range has to stand on its own two feet and prove it is here for the long-term and can be trusted.
The CT 610 is the first model from this relatively new truck brand where the engine technology cannot be linked directly back to the period when Caterpillar engines were available in a variety of truck brands in Australia. The new engine, called CT 13, is derived from the Maxxforce 13, which also used in International trucks in the US. It has been adapted for Australian conditions, painted yellow and received the familiar Caterpillar branding.
Prime Mover took the CT 610 out on the road to see how well the new model matches up to its brand promise. A route out of Brisbane and up the Cunningham Gap trialled the pulling power of the new engine, and a transit across the centre of Brisbane showed how well the truck can cope with life on the road.
Our test model was fitted with the Eaton Ultrashift Plus automated manual transmission as an alternative to the standard 18 speed Eaton Roadranger, which is also offered in the Cat range. As the CT 610 is aimed to sit at the lighter end of the heavy-duty truck range, this gearbox may become quite popular in the CT 610.
The engine itself is a 13-litre in-line six using EGR, dual turbo, common rail fuel injection and a DPF muffler to get over the emissions line and meet ADR 80/03. Rated at 475 hp (354 kW) at 1700 rpm, the CT 13 puts out 2304 Nm (1700 ft lb) of torque at 1000 rpm – enough for a truck likely to spend its working life on single trailer work or in a truck and dog combination covering relatively short distances.
Read the full story in the current edition of Prime Mover, out now!