JAJ, the major area you're up against, is the operating weight of your 12G. If you boost the HP, you will find you'll only produce more wheelspin - or you'll find the weak parts in the drivetrain.
Drive chains and axles are probably the weak points of the Cat graders - although some of the transmission gears, such as planetary ring gears would also fail with a HP boost.
The 3306 can produce a lot more power, but the grader drivetrain is not built to handle a major HP increase.
The only thing to do if you need more "grunt", is to trade up to a heavier, higher HP grader - you'll find the extra weight and increased HP is a real eye-opener.
I ran an old knuckle-buster Cat 12E in the 1980's, and then moved up to a Cat 14E (72G series, rigid frame, powershift).
The difference between 115HP and 150HP was remarkable - but the additional few tonnes of operating weight was what gave the 14E a tremendous advantage when it came to bulk dirt-shifting when throwing up big banks.
I used to build a lot of "contour banks", these were steady-fall banks built on the contour to carry away excess water and to stop erosion, and they needed a heavy grader to throw them up.
My 14E also ran 17.5-25 tyres, this made a huge difference in getting power to the ground.
Hi OzDozer.
Thanks heaps for joining in on the discussion!! Its greatly appreciated and that goes to everyone else too that has joined in. Sorry for the slow reply.
Your experience going from the 12E up to the 14E is very interesting. I totally agree with everything you said, if I had more Hp with my current set up (especially the 1400-24 tires) weight would definitely be the limiting factor. It already accounts for the majority of my challenges.
What gave me the idea that I could go up a little bit more safely (non turbo) was I am sure I have seen a spec brochure some where that showed a special application/market spec 140G that was non turbo and still 150Hp. I cant find it again though.
I thought the only real difference between the 12G and the 140G was the turbo engine and usually setup with a 14ft blade. I know going from 135Hp to 150Hp doesn't sound like much of a jump to most people but I think it would make a noticeable difference. I think anything over 150Hp would be mostly a waste especially in gears 1-3. I couldn't believe the 140H with skinny tires that i drove didn't feel much more powerful than my 12G while trying to move lots of dirt, I know the 14ft blade makes a difference but it sure showed that more power is useless if you cant get it to the ground. A bit more power might help me out till I find a good upgrade, but upgrading to a bigger a machine would be much better all round and probably better putting the effort into finding that instead.
That brings me to the next question.... what to upgrade to? A bigger G, a bigger H or John Deere perhaps?? A cat with a version of a 3306 would be my preference (what I have in other machines and what I know) but open to any ideas.
Graders are pretty expensive for the age of what I am looking for at the moment so it will be a waiting game for the right machine.
Nige suggested a 140H or 143H (with wide tires). I haven't had anything to do with AWD but it sounds great. A bit more complex so more maintenance perhaps?
I think i would be waiting a while for a nice 160H to come up, but they have the added benefit of being heavier again, more Hp and a taller blade (27in over 24in). As a side note the blade height advantage might be easy to fix.. on my old 12E someone got excited in its previous life and welded a 4in extension ontop of the blade. Not sure if this would work with clearance on the more modern machines.
Then there is the 14G/H but i wonder if they would be too big to be useful for normal work like road maintenance ect??
Thanks again everyone for your thoughts and opinions.
