𝐁𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐩𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐫 395 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐨 :

How does the “Next Generation” 395 Caterpillar excavator perform?

We asked Todd Shreves and Mike High, operator/instructors from the Independent Union of Operator Engineers Local 649 in Bartonville, Illinois, to answer that question. The two excavator veterans came to Caterpillar’s Edwards Demonstration & Learning Center to work the machine and decide for themselves. The Edwards site was used because transport costs for the big unit were prohibitive, even for the short journey from north of Peoria to Bartonville.

This high-production model replaces the Cat 390F, which debuted in 2013. It has more horsepower, more weight, more steel, more technology, and is designed for higher performance than its predecessor, Cat says. The operator/instructors’ mission for the warm summer day was to dig deep trenches into Central Illinois clay, swing to load a rigid-frame dumper, and lift and move a 35,000-pound box culvert.

Weighing in at 207,000 pounds, the 395 uses a Cat C18 engine that generates 542 net horsepower, up from the 390F’s 524. The 395 is aimed at quarry work, stripping overburden, large sewer projects, and mass excavation earthwork.

“This is a bigger, stronger, faster machine from what we previously had,” says Ryan Neal, Caterpillar’s large excavator product specialist for North America with responsibility from Cat’s 336 to the 395. “Customers are always wanting more and more. They want bigger buckets, bigger counterweights, and more stability so they can be more productive.”