Caterpillar has announced the development of the Cat C13D, a new 13-litre diesel engine platform, designed to achieve best-in-class power density, torque and fuel efficiency for optimising the performance of heavy-duty off-highway applications. Engineered to Caterpillar’s standards for reliability and productivity, the inline, six-cylinder Cat C13D engine platform will offer eight power ratings from 456 to 690 hp (340 to 515 kW) with up to 3,200 Nm of peak torque. Engine-mounted after-treatment and cooling packs will also be available from the factory to reduce installation and validation costs. The C13D will meet the emissions standards of higher regulated markets, such as EU Stage V, U.S. EPA Tier 4 Final, China Non-road IV, Korea Stage V, and Japan 2014, with models available for lesser regulated markets.

By supplying comparable power and torque available from Caterpillar’s current 13-, 15- and single-turbo 18-litre engine platforms, the Cat C13D platform provides an opportunity for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to downsize the engine and simplify design, assembly, and supply chain requirements across multiple applications. This consolidation can also reduce maintenance, parts, and technical training complexity for end users.

Available for early OEM pilots in 2025 and scheduled for production in 2026, the Cat C13D engine is targeted for a wide range of off-highway equipment, including rock crushers, screeners, and grinders; trenchers; agriculture tractors, harvesters and self-propelled sprayers; woodchippers; material-handling equipment; and large industrial pumps.

Caterpillar will debut the Cat C13D engine and provide additional details about the new platform in South Hall booth S-84329 at the CONEXPO-CON/AGG 2023 construction exhibition, March 14-18 in Las Vegas.

“Off-highway OEMs and equipment owners face a rapidly evolving business environment that demands improved worksite productivity and reduced operating costs while addressing increasingly stringent emissions standards,” said Steve Ferguson, senior vice president Caterpillar Industrial Power Systems. “Internal combustion engines are the prevailing workhorses on most job sites around the world, which is why we’ve invested in the next-generation Cat C13D diesel engine platform to address their challenges.”

The Cat C13D engine platform has been engineered to deliver the performance, durability, packaging, and ease of maintenance demanded by both manufacturers and buyers of off-highway equipment.

The new engine platform offers up to a 20% increase in power and up to 25% more low-speed torque over the previous generation of Cat engines in its power class. It is designed to perform at altitudes of up to 12,000 ft, which is twice as high as legacy Cat engines, and in extreme ambient temperatures as high as 140 F (60 C) and as low as minus 40 F (minus 40 C) with aids.

Engineers have designed the Cat C13D engine for quality, reliability, and easier maintenance through a number of improvements, including integrating components and reducing the number of leak joints, by more than 45%. Together, the upgrades result in lower fluids consumption and extended service intervals as long as 1,000 hours, reducing operating costs and downtime.

The Cat C13D engine platform enables the use of renewable liquid fuels such as 100% HVO, B100 Distilled Biodiesel, and even up to B100 Standard Biodiesel by working with your local Cat dealer*. Further, its core architecture is designed for the future development of natural gas and hydrogen fuel capabilities.

By modularising and eliminating components, its architecture is space-protected to accommodate configuration adjustments anticipated for future tiers of emission standards in the U.S. and EU without relocating customer connection points. All eight power ratings will be available on a common core engine, enabling OEMs to reduce their inventory and integration costs, and the combination of the all-new rear gear train, stiffer core architecture, and common rail fuel system reduces noise by up to 3 dB when compared with the C13D’s predecessors.

The new engine platform will be equipped with Cat Digital Services, an integrated suite of robust software and hardware solutions supplying the insight equipment owners need to make decisions on the fly, secure the health of their equipment, and minimise nonproductive time.

The new Cat C13D will be fully supported by the global Cat dealer network, which offers genuine Cat parts and services packaged in Customer Value Agreements. In addition, dealer technicians are trained to provide a comprehensive range of maintenance and services that help customers maximise their performance and optimize the total cost of ownership of Cat industrial engines.