Caterpillar is the world’s leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and diesel-electric locomotives. Hawthorne Caterpillar is a regional factory authorized dealer and service facility located in San Diego.

R.J. Kates under took a retro-fit of this welding system used to add metal to bulldozer idler rollers that have worn down by caterpillar treads. A submerged-arc is employed in the welding process and R.J. Kates built a semi-automated process to manage the welding unit.

The first row of photos show the Roll Build-Up machine before the retro-fit. The second row of photos show the replacement parts from those in the first row. The final row of photos compares the before and after images of the retro-fit of the welding machine.