Get Versatile with Hydraulic Kits for Excavators

When the job could be more profitably done with a specialized attachment, Cat® hydraulic kits for excavators are a simple way to increase your machine’s versatility.

Estimated read time: 4 minutes

Every so often in sports, a player will make a name for themselves as that relatively rare, fully rounded athlete. This type of athlete can play multiple sports and multiple positions on any team. Every coach dreams of having a team full of such versatile players. Cat excavators are that fully rounded workhorse you'll want in your fleet. And with auxiliary hydraulic kits for excavators, you can turn your machine into a must-have, just as indispensable as a fully-rounded athlete.

Benefits of Hydraulic Kits for Excavators

When you take on more applications using attachments with hydraulic kits, you get better utilization rates and return on investment (ROI) on that one excavator.
You can bid more jobs without having to add more machines to your fleet, not to mention the time and cost of having to trailer more machines to the jobsite.

You preserve cash, lower rental costs, minimize the need for subcontractors and flat-out get jobs done sooner.
In many cases your operators can put in more hours by not having to wait on that second machine.
Attachments can bring a little-used excavator into productive and profitable service with minimal investment.

All excavators come from the factory with basic hydraulics and a bucket. But you can make your machine more versatile with any number of attachments and hydraulic kits. With a little imagination, along with those attachments and kits, you can expand your business and boost profits.

Caterpillar offers a number of attachments that can expand the capabilities of almost any excavator: couplers, grapples, thumbs, compactors, hammers, multiprocessors, pulverizers, shears, tiltrotators and more.

As a starting point, have a sit-down with supervisors, foremen and operators to find out what kinds of attachments would make their work more productive. Those closest to the action are often forced to reposition an excavator multiple times or develop complicated workarounds that might more easily be performed by an excavator with the right attachment and hydraulic kit.

The extensive line of field-installed Cat hydraulic kits powers up these attachments. Cat kits are specific to the machine's serial number prefix and configuration. So when you get your kits from Caterpillar, you can have complete confidence all the parts are designed to your excavator’s specifications.

These are Cat parts, backed by the company’s warranty. Contact your Cat dealer to choose the kits (by Next Gen excavators, NGH) you need for the attachments you want to power up.

Match the Kit to the Machine and Tool

Different types of attachments have different hydraulic requirements. Here’s what’s available:

Advance tool control

Two-pump, one-/two-way flow
Electronic flow, relief and function control from monitor

Optimal when operating a combination of single and double function attachments such as hammers, thumbs and rotating and nonrotating tools

Tool control

Standard version for GC machines
Two-pump, one-/two-way flow

Electronic flow control with mechanical relief and function control
Useful when operating a combination of single and double function attachments such as hammers, thumbs and rotating and nonrotating tools

Basic tool control

One-pump, one-way flow

Full and auxiliary-ready versions available; choose based on machine configuration
Two-pump, one-way flow
Foot control on/off (switch or pedal in description)
Best for hammers and compactors

Coupler kits

Cat pin grabber coupler (CPG) kits available for E, F, Next Generation excavators (NGH)
CW coupler kits are available for NGH only
Includes control arrangement, boom lines, stick lines (hoses) for any front length