The Caterpiller 12e Motor Grader, A Classic
If you had to sit down and draw road graders there is little doubt that you would sit down and draw something that looked just like the Caterpillar 12e motor grader. CAT has long been know for making a great product and a big reason for that is this grader. It not only helped CAT establish its reputation for building a quality product but also set the standard for how motor graders should be. Even with them being as old as they are they are still in demand even today and if you purchase one and ever need parts for it they are easy to find. Few products made in any industry can say that. The Caterpillar 12e motor grader sets the standard.
From their introduction, the importance of road graders was noticed and exploited. Many uses were found for them and many sizes where made for a variety of jobs. Not only did they make the standard, larger motor grader that got mass produced, so did its smaller size, the mini motor grader, then an even smaller size,the small road grader for light farm work and road work. At the time many new roads were being built and most of the country side filled with rural farms. These made their respective jobs much more manageable. Then things changed with the introduction of a new model that would set the standard.
In 1961, Us production of the Caterpillar 12e motor grader replaced the older Caterpillar 12 motor grader with the addition of self adjusting brakes. Consequently this was the same time many of the US interstates were being built, fueling sales. Despite it's wild popularity the production run was short. The last Cat 12e rolled of the assembly line in 1965 and was replaced by the 17k. Despite such a short run, Caterpillar produced over 16 thousand of them. This might not sound like many given the number of any particular car nowadays, but don't jump to any conclusions. Keep these facts in mind. These where being made almost 60 years ago. We have grown a bit as a country. Next, think of this. These are not cars. Every one drives a car. Have you ever heard anyone say, “We are a two CAT family and they are not speaking of the feline.” It was a much smaller market. That was almost 50 years ago; 50 years and you can still find parts.
Nowadays you can find one for about $16,000. That is not a bad price for such a large piece of industrial equipment. As a general rule, they have been mechanically taken care of (companies tend to do that rather than have to fix things unexpectedly). Besides, if anything goes wrong, used motor grader parts and replacement parts are readily available for sale.
If, for some reason, you find yourself in need of a large motor grader you could do much worse, it truly is a classic. The 115 horse power will be more than enough to get the job done and the CAT reputation is well known and the parts are still available just in case. The Caterpillar 12e motor grader is a true classic.
