- Welcome everybody to the revolutionary engine Q&A.
My name is Jason Boerger, Product Marketing Manager
here at Bobcat.
I'm joined by Brandon Kisse,
Director of Engineering for powertrain systems at Bobcat.
Brandon, welcome.
- Thanks Jason, glad to be here.
- All right, so we got an engine guy,
we're going to talk about engines.
We're standing in front of a T66 R Series machine
with one of our new upgraded engines.
We'll get into those topics,
but before we do that,
just want to make note and mention
that if you guys have any questions
that come up during our little Q&A session here
that you'd like answered,
go ahead and put those in the comment section,
and we'll try to get those answered live for you,
and we'll do our best to do that,
but let's just go ahead
and get started and talk some engines.
So right out of the gates,
first question that, you know,
it might have already come up already,
but inevitably, the first question
that comes up is that,
it's a bobcat engine, is it?
Made by Bobcat or is it made by Dusan?
And I know that's a really general question
for maybe a more complex answer,
but maybe if you could talk
to us a little bit about the relationship
between Bobcat and Dusan in the design
of the bobcat engine.
- Certainly the engine did launch about seven years ago.
I think the interesting thing
that happened when Dusan purchased Bobcat
is that we, both Bobcat and Dusan, identified
an opportunity to vertically integrate engines
into Dusan's portfolio of already existing engines.
And really, in 2008, we kicked off a project
to develop the now known as the bobcat engine
with Dusan and we play this-
Bobcat plays a significant role
in providing inputs to Dusan
what the engine should look like,
how it should perform,
how durable it should be,
things like that.
- Sure, sure.
So, sorry I had to ask that question right away
to get that out of the way,
because I knew that one was going to get asked.
By the way, thanks for joining us,
if you're just joining us right now,
Brandon kisse,
Director of Engineering for powertrain systems is with us.
We're talking engines.
And as I mentioned, the questions were coming in.
If you've got a question for us,
go ahead and put that in the comment section,
we'll try to answer those live here as we're going.
So by all means, if you've got a question,
something that we're talking about,
ask away, and we'll try to answer those as those happen.
And so, Brandon, just to get back
to the the original design of that Bobcat engine,
7, 8, 9, 10 years ago when this project first kicked off,
we were kind of moving,
you know, into different territories
with emissions, right?
So at the time of the launch of the bobcat engine,
we were moving from interim tier four into tier four,
and I think we've all kind of seen some changes
in the industry with the engines,
whether it be things like diesel particulate filters,
depth fluid and machines.
And so we've seen this cut off at 25 horsepower,
75 horsepower, and then above, right?
So can you kind of walk us through some of the things
that people are seeing
in those horsepower ranges with emissions?
- Sure, I certainly can.
The primary cut off that the bobcat ends up dealing with
is the differentiating factor
of requiring or not requiring an SCR
at the 75 horsepower mark.
And that's one of the things
that a lot of customers may have seen
if they've purchased an SAE 50 or TF 70 recently
or something like that.
Those products will have an SCR system.
The cutoff at 25 horsepower is really more tied
to particulate matter and NOx.
Both of which are addressed
and the requirements I guess are met
for regulation with the new Bobcat engine.
- Sure, sure.
So you know, two components that I want to ask.
Get a little bit more in depth with,
if that's alright with you,
is the diesel particulate filter
which I think across the industry
you'll see the TPF system,
you'll see that a little bit more frequently
in the industry,
but we've somehow come up with a solution
that does not require one at all,
so you talked about NOx,
which specifically I think we address
a little bit more with that def flow
but if you could talk about the particulate matter,
the DPF how we kind of were able
to move away from a DPF and then what the
benefit is of not having a DPF.
- Sure, the the primary
function of the DPF is to catch particulate matter
and deal with what is commonly called soot
in the exhaust system,
and through significant effort by both Dusan and Bobcat
to optimize the combustion system,
we were able to develop an engine
that really doesn't require anything external
to deal with that soot
and we can do with a non DPF or DLC only solution
in this case.
The particulate matter is generated
when you have a situation where
you have a lower temperature combustion
and adversely to that when you see a lower
temperature combustion,
you see an improvement, NOx,
so you see a trade off between NOx
and particulate matter.
- Sure.
- And really the the optimization
of the combustion system is really a balancing act
between those two and that's what Dusan
and Bobcat were able to develop,
this optimized balanced system
to both meet particular matter and NOx emissions.
- Sure. So just a quick follow up on that,
just to make sure that I'm tracking with you
the same way is, you know,
if I look at a Bobcat piece of equipment
like this T66, something that you know,
as they start getting larger.
We're looking at that 74 horsepower cut off, you know,
up until 74 horsepower you potentially need a DPF,
we found a solution that didn't have one,
but you might still need a DPF above 75
or 74 horses that correct?
- It can be a little bit of a catch 22 question
but generally speaking, know that
the DPF is more dependent
on just particulate matter.
The particulate matter requirement
for a below 75 and over 75 horsepower application
is generally the same in terms of grams per kilowatt hour
or the amount of soot that comes out of the exhaust.
The big difference is the amount
of allowable NOx, is roughly reduced
by a factor of 10 when you jump
that 75 horsepower mark,
- Sure.
- So you end up with a situation
where you have to have something additional,
an additional after treatment,
in this case, it's a selective catalytic reduction or SCR,
we have to add def fluid and consume that
in the exhaust.
- So whether it's a T66, or a T870 Bobcat engine
doesn't require a DPF?
- That's correct.
- Okay. And then what about above that 75?
When you start getting to that NOx range,
you start adding some more components.
You said the SCR def fluid, you know,
more commonly known you're using def fluid
for that SCR system, is that a requirement
that you have on engines over 75 horses?
And is that kind of like an industry requirement,
or is that specific to Bobcat?
- Truly interesting question.
There really is no requirement specified
by the EPA or carb or anybody
that says you have to use SCR.
They say that you have to meet
this particular emission regulation,
and the interesting thing
that industry has come up with
is selective catalytic reduction, SCR.
That's really the only way
that's commercially viable
to meet the NOx requirements.
- Sure. Okay.
So a little bit more common
in the industry, too, as well,
and science seems to be the only-
- Yeah, it's pretty much in everything.
- Okay. Sure.
Makes sense,
and we're all getting familiar with def
if we haven't met before,
so we're all familiar with it.
One more question for you here
before we really dive into the the new upgrades
that we're seeing in some of the new equipment here,
and that's, you know, Bobcat when you look at,
you know, our website, or some of our videos
will say things like, you know,
we match the machine to the equipment,
or we match the engine rather
to the machine or the engine to the piece of equipment.
What does that mean when we say that?
- One of the, I guess I'll answer this
in a couple different ways.
One of the critical things
that we did when we introduced the bobcat engine
was we went from a large number of engine blocks
down to one in the case of the D 24.
This engine actually is a D 24
on this application, 2.4 liter Bobcat engine.
For those that use that vernacular,
it replaced five different engines
that were used previously in other Bobcat products.
And the two key factors that we look at,
I guess in terms of optimizing
or fitting an engine into a package
is certainly all the peripheral components.
You know, where the oil fill is,
where the dipstick is,
where some of the intake componentry
and turbocharger, things like that are located,
but also the specific performance
of that engine and the actual torque curve.
And that's, you know, kind of going back
to your first question.
That's one of the things that Dusan allowed us to do
in working with them in the early
development stages was to really customize
the torque curve to meet Bobcat specific requirements,
and we actually saw some pretty significant
performance gains in certain applications.
- You said significant performance gains.
We talked about that all the time, you know,
when we're talking to our customers,
we see that torque.
How significant are we talking about
we're like something you can actually feel?
- Yeah, I think you can certainly feel it.
It's definitely visible on paper, 20% across the board,
generally speaking, you know, in a loader product.
And really, it doesn't do a lot to change the,
you know, the horsepower rating,
but what it does, it gives you
a lot stronger feel in that vehicle.
When you go into a pile or engage in attachment
to an under heavy load,
the machine's gonna hold load better
and feel a lot stronger.
- Sure, sure.
All right, let's transition.
We've gone through some of the history here,
the Bobcat engine and all the admission requirements,
things like that.
Let's transition to what we're looking at today.
What's in this T66?
What you're going to find in our series loaders
are two series excavators.
It's that Bobcat engine
that we've had several pre major upgrades too, right?
So the first one that I'll ask about
to get right out of the way
is the fuel system that I mean there,
depending on who you ask,
there's things that you could see in here
that they might say is the biggest thing to me.
One of the biggest things that I notice right out
of the gates is the fuel system.
Talk to us about some of the improvements
that we made in that regard.
- Sure. Before I get into the specifics
on the fuel system that Bobcat applied
to the the product, I'll talk a little bit more
about the engine specific.
So we made a jump in technology
as well as I'd say overall durability.
We moved from a Delphi fuel system
to a Bosch fuel system.
And in the Bosch fuel system is a little more common
in the industry, a little bit more-
I guess, the norm, if you will, was used
in other products that are similar to ours,
as well as on highway, stuff like that.
So it's maybe a little more familiar
to people as well.
The low pressure fuel system
that Bobcat developed specifically
for the application, it's pretty obvious.
You see the fuel filter here,
there's actually a lift pump behind there as well.
Substantially larger, roughly two times
the media that we have today,
with an improved, pretty significant improvement
in water separation capability,
offering really what we believe
to be the state of the art fuel system protection
is what we're offering.
Some of the other things you can't see
on the engine, you know, I'll point out
and kind of under this area under the valve cover,
we went to a hydraulic lash adjustment,
so the requirement to adjust valves
and valve clearance at 1000 hours
doesn't exist anymore,
it's a hydraulically adjusted system,
similar to what's used on automotive non-highway
and stuff like that.
So that's another example of trying
to reduce total cost of ownership,
reduce maintenance, increase uptime.
- Sure. So why don't I got
to ask about because I've heard it
from some guys before
when I'm talking to customers,
and that's the cup that's sitting
in the bottom of the tank here.
The fuel module, as we're calling it.
Can you kind of walk us through
what a fuel module is and what it does?
- Sure, it's a pretty common component
that is used in non-highway.
And really the goal of the fuel module,
the bucket, the cup, whatever you want to refer to it as,
is to improve utilization of the tank
as far as how much fuel can you actually suck
out of the tank, before you start having problems
with the engine functionality
because it's running out of fuel.
What there is, is there's a venturi pump within that module,
that as fuel is returned out of
the high pressure system,
it fills that cup with fuel as its operating.
So you always have a constant supply of fuel
around the pickup tube, and that's basically
the exact technology used on on-highway
for the same purpose.
- Sure, sure.
And I guess that makes sense.
If you've got a pump that's always
filling in that smaller modular cup
or whatever you want to call it,
then yeah, I can see how on the side hill
that'd be pretty beneficial for not running out of fuel
at an inopportune time.
Okay, another question I have is,
okay, we're standing in front of the T 66,
and I know this engine goes in some of our excavators,
it goes in some of our loaders, but specifically
in our loaders, if you haven't noticed
already, the orientation has changed.
It's not transverse, it's not sideways anymore, right?
It's more of an inline or
longitudinal orientation.
So I think one big benefit of that was cooling, right?
There's more airwash,
but kind of walk us through some of the cooling changes
that we see with this specific upgrade
to the engine.
- Sure. The cooling package right now is tipped up
in the service access position,
and I think if it's not obvious on camera,
it's definitely obvious standing next to it.
The cooler is substantially larger,
- [Jason] Right.
- We have a substantially larger cooling fan,
roughly 40% increase in cooling fan diameter.
Really what that boils down to
is you have a lower fan speed,
lower horsepower consumption
by the fan motor,
and overall improve cooling performance.
And you end up with a machine
that runs quieter, runs cooler,
generally speaking,
and consumes less power to actually cool itself,
so you have more power to do work.
- Right, right.
Cool. So talk to us about the airwash
just a little bit
and kind of the improvement
when you went from transverse to inline.
It seems like you can throw air
over the engine a little bit more efficiently.
Talk about that just a little bit
and what change was there.
- Sure.
I think this tailgate is locked
although the closing show
but the tailgate is fully open,
it's fully screened.
So all the air that comes
into the engine compartment is coming through,
or let's just say majority of it
is coming through the the screen tailgate,
and washing over the engine compartment,
and washing through the engine compartment
over the engine and over the components
within the engine compartment.
And what you end up with
is generally cooler engine components.
Cooler engine in general,
it's actually about a 20% reduction
in heat load into the cooler
because of airwash.
And we we've experienced extended life
on things like alternators, starters, compressors,
batteries, because they run substantially cooler.
I think, if I recall correctly,
one of the most significant changes
was the starter, and it dropped about 80 degrees
in degrees Fahrenheit in operating temperature.
- Yeah.
- Because of the airwash.
- Wow, that's a big-
that's a significant change.
So, you know, just another comment
when changing that from transverse to end line,
I think, you know, one of the pillars
for Bobcat has always been the service ability
or ease of access, or, you know,
some of those more common service items
that, you know, owners want to do work on themselves,
change themselves, what have you.
You look from transverse used to bring everything
back to the back of the machine,
was easy to get to.
Talk about some of the things
that have changed as far as serviceability
or maybe just talk about serviceability in general,
what you see with this engine package.
- Sure, the overall serviceability I think,
you know, it may be a little bit confusing,
and maybe the perception at first glance
would be a little bit more challenging.
I'd like to point out a couple areas
that are actually really easy to get to,
and I talked about them earlier,
I'll point them out again.
Oil fill, definitely readily accessible
technically the front of the engine
but the rear of the machine,
- [Jason] Right,
- The dipstick, any, you know,
if there's any service work
on any of the components up on top
is very easily accessible
due to the rotating cooling package.
You know, somebody might ask,
where's oil filter?
The oil filter is right down here,
it's very easy to get at,
there's access panels under the bottom
to get and drain the oil.
In general, I would say that the serviceability
is very similar, if not, in some cases improved
over an M series.
- Right, right.
And I think the oil service interval
jumped up in hours, right?
Went from five to 750?
- [Brandon] That's correct.
With this version of the Bob condition,
the upgraded Bob condition,
we were able to add about 50%
of the oil change interval.
- Wow. Right.
Okay. Well, Brandon, this has been awesome.
Thanks for walking us through the engines.
Great having an engine guy with us
to walk through the engine obviously,
and really appreciate that.
Thanks to all the fans that watched today,
really appreciate that.
Pay attention on November 16th
we're going to do another one of these,
it's going to be the machine IQ,
question and answer session,
so look out for that.
And as always, follow us on Facebook
for any news or updates and things of that nature.
So, appreciate everybody's time
and have a great rest of your day.