40 Years On

Caterpillar is celebrating 40 years of production of wheeled loaders and excavators at its Gosselies, Belgium factory. Gosselies is the largest Caterpillar factory in the world, employing 4400 staff.

Initially the Gosselies site covered 8 ha, but it has grown over the years to the point that now its machining, welding and assembly activities are spread over 98 ha. Each year 22000 tonnes of steel goes through the press shop and it consumes 3500 reels of welding wire.

Pictured above is the first machine ever produced at Gosselies, a model 215 20 tonne-class tracked hydraulic excavator.