The 850J MCT, in distinctive Marine Corps paint color, outfitted with the Allied H6G winch, will be a key tool in ensuring mobility of equipment for the Marines, no matter the destination.
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The United States Marine Corps is rightly regarded as the “can-do” specialists of the American military. They move quickly into some of the world’s hottest spots on short notice, projecting U.S. military might quickly and blazing the trail for the rest of the military. But the Marines aren’t generally dropping into a modern and welcoming environment, replete with airports, harbors, and expressways. More often than not they must be prepared to operate in the worst possible terrain, including sand, snow and mud. Mobility is crucial, and specialized vehicles keep them moving.
Part of that vehicle fleet includes crawler dozers. Recently the Marines awarded John Deere a contract for up to 540 MCT (Medium Crawler Tractor) dozers. Roughly half of those dozers will be equipped with winches, the Allied H6G towing winch. The MCT is based on the very successful John Deere 850J crawler dozer, but modified to meet the exacting requirements of the Marines.
The dozers equipped with a towing winch afford greater mobility to the overall fleet. They can rescue stuck vehicles, remove wrecks from the roadways, and get themselves moving again when they bog down in poor terrain.
The winch used for this dozer is the Allied H6G hydraulic winch. This winch is unique in that it is the only winch for John Deere 850J that has the hydraulic motor inside the winch. This ensures maximum protection to the most vulnerable part of the winch.
The winch has other unique features. First, it is designed from the ground up as a crawler winch, rather than an adaptation of a non-mobile winch design. It features a heavily reinforced box-section frame with the characteristic wedge shape of a towing winch. Second, the entire winch exterior is fabricated from steel plate rather than a casting. This allows it to absorb shock loading without cracking and, unlike a casting, it can be repaired by welding if it did sustain damage. Third, the winch has freespool capability, allowing the cable to be pulled off by hand quickly.
Winning this business with the military and John Deere required much more than a competitive price. John Deere sent their auditor to inspect the Allied factory for compliance with high manufacturing standards. Allied passed with high marks. We then sent a winch for field testing on an 850J, to ensure that the winch would meet the tough application requirements. Again, every hurdle was overcome.
In late 2008 Allied started shipping the first of the production units. Units will ship either to JRB Manufacturing in Dubuque, where they will be installed on the 850J MCT prior to delivery of the machine, or they will ship directly to Marine bases around the world for installation there.
James Smith, Allied Territory Manager for the western US, recently tracked down one of the first units to be delivered to a Marine base. John Deere dealer RDO Equipment, in Poway, California, supports the US Marines at Camp Pendleton and Miramar Naval Air Station in San Diego. Alan Rakow, service manager for RDO in Poway, was on the base and sent us some photos of one of the two new MCT units with an Allied winch.
RDO, like most dealers with Marine Corps bases in their territory, has an essential role in extending their world-class support to these units, backed by Certified Technicians. This includes training on equipment operation and maintenance, spare parts support, and specialized troubleshooting. Three RDO service technicians, each with a fully stocked truck, are available for rapid response to Camp Pendleton for any service issue. Allied will be supporting these dealers to help them become more familiar with our winches.
The Allied H6G winch with the dozer-specific mounting brackets can be installed on the following crawler dozers:
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