CASE Construction Equipment’s all-new DL550B — the industry’s first fully integrated compact dozer loader — leverages the footprint of a compact track loader (CTL) with the chassis-integrated C-frame and blade of a dozer to create a powerful two-in-one machine for grading and loading applications.
“Our goal with this ‘concept’ was to see it through all the way,” says George MacIntyre, product manager for compact equipment, CASE. The DL550B features a true dozer-style undercarriage for optimal dozing performance and is available in either steel or rubber track configurations to provide contractors with extreme flexibility based on the types of turf/jobs they work on. It will also feature CASE Universal Machine Control, which allows it to be outfitted straight from the dealer with any of the three major suppliers of grade/machine control technologies.
It will also be compatible with CASE SiteControl CoPilot, which provides a mastless machine control experience with basic control of slope/grade. The machine weighs approximately 18,000 pounds and operates at 114 horsepower. It is also available with an optional fully integrated ripper and is compatible with a wide range of heavy-duty attachments that make it suitable for everything from initial site clearing to finish grading. CASE dealers will begin taking orders for the DL550B in Q4 2020 with units arriving in 2021.
Core Operational Elements of the DL550B
The DL550B features a six-way blade and a c-frame that attaches directly into the chassis and primary coupler of the machine. This design provides the stability and smooth operating plane of a small dozer and ensures that all operating power and stress is channelled through the chassis instead of the attachment coupler and arms of the machine (compared to a basic dozer blade attachment on a CTL). Transitioning to a CTL-style operation is easy: The operator simply hydraulically detaches the C-frame and blade to match up with a bucket, forks or hundreds of other attachments available for skid steers and CTLs. The machine comes standard with a 1.25 cubic-yard bucket, available with either a cutting edge or SmartFit teeth system.
Building an Intuitive Operator Experience
The DL550B features electro-hydraulic dozer joysticks that also operate similar to ISO controls in skid steers and CTLs — changing from dozer to CTL operating function is as simple as the push of a button. Forward and reverse travel, and steering, is controlled with the left hand while boom and bucket controls are manipulated by the right hand when operating in CTL mode. Those same right-hand controls operate the lift, angle and tilt functions of the six-way blade when in dozer mode. Popular CASE dozer features such as blade shake, as well as manual pitch adjustment, are also incorporated.
The machine is compatible with a full complement of 2D and 3D machine control solutions to further transform it into a precise grading platform, from sub-base up to finish grade — especially on smaller yards or jobsites where larger dozers or graders may not be able to gain access. It features an integrated backup camera, core machine settings, trip meters, service interval information and machine operating status details similar to an automotive dashboard. The DL550B is also available with CASE SiteWatch telematics to further streamline fleet management and planned maintenance activities.