The other side of it too is as more autonomous trucks come on line i see them mandating short tipping on dumps with everything having to be pushed over the edge. With ultra class shovels and trucks now becoming the norm and tip heads not changing i see safety rules coming in where trucks will have to tip short of the edge and more dozer pushing being required, if you have ever seen the pile a 400 ton truck leaves in a block tipping or paddock dumping operation and the job a D11 has to knock it down you will know what i mean. Something that needs to be considered in the potential D12 vs D575 context is if Cat was to introduce a D12 would it be D575 size? Personally i think not and i think a D12 would be more in the 125 ton range and around 1000HP. Please use this before clicking 'post'? You may be surprised with what you see! After 20+ years the technology is dated, but I wouldn't be surprised to see a new iteration of something beyond the D475 in 3-7 years and probably diesel-electric 'hybrid' at that point. Dont' take this out of context as I was also informed that when they were working, there was nothing else remotely close when it came to material being moved in a shift. In West Virginia, I was told stories of major repairs taking sometimes weeks to resolve because of parts having to be fabricated in Japan and then shipped. As previously mentioned, they certainly weren't flawless by any stretch of the imagination from what I've heard. Does anyone here know the total production or current population of D575s? I'll ask PG, but he may not answer. I would also opine that the ratio of D575 to D475 was more like 50+ to one.

They were not fast, but they pushed a hell of a big pile over the edge every time! Personally I wouldn't be surprised if the true reason for their discontinuation (although I can't find any sort of news or press release to confirm this), is simply lack of orders.

Watching them at Princess Beverly more years ago than I can remember, they were staggered like combines in an Iowa cornfield and was a sight to see! Even when they would start to 'carry' the overburden would still continue to increase.

575a komatsu dozer