Case unveils the Minotaur

Case Construction Equipment unveiled its latest machine — the Case Minotaur DL550 compact dozer loader during a product launch event at Case’s Tomahawk Customer Center. The Minotaur is an equipment category first for Case. 

The Minotaur is now rolling off the assembly line at Case’s Wichita, Kansas, manufacturing facility. The product launch represents more than six years of development and collaboration between numerous Case plants, personnel, testing facilities and departments.

“The Minotaur has the potential to be the first machine on the jobsite and the last to leave,” says Jeff Jacobsmeyer, product manager for Case, of the machine’s versatility.

Weighing in at more than 18,000 pounds and working with 114 horsepower, the new machine delivers dozing and grading performance, as well as site loading capabilities and compatibility with hundreds of attachments.

“Our main motivation was to have a machine that was a compact design with versatility. So, a smaller footprint with all the extra power,” Jacobsmeyer says.

The advancement of the Case Minotaur DL550 is the chassis-integrated C-frame with six-way dozer blade. The C-frame hydraulically couples into both the chassis of the machine, as well as the attachment coupler. This design provides the stability and smooth operating plane of a small dozer while ensuring that all operating power is channeled through the whole body of the machine. This establishes greater performance and long-term reliability than the simple combination of a dozer blade attachment to a traditional compact track loader.

It also comes standard with Case Universal Machine Control, which makes the machine ready for any of the major three providers of machine control technology (Leica Geosystems, Topcon and Trimble), which are sold separately. It’s also available with an optional, fully integrated ripper for tearing up tough terrain to simplify dozing and earthmoving operations.  

The C-frame is then detached to allow the operator to use it as a loader with a heavy-duty 1.25-cubic-yard bucket or with hundreds of common loader attachments many equipment owners already have in their fleet.

“Customer productivity and customer efficiency were what we really set out to accomplish,” says Terry Dolan, vice president of Case North America. “At the end of the day, everything we produce is to enable a contractor to do and perform their jobs more effectively and have increased productivity.

“If you think of the challenges we have in the labor market, to be able to utilize a single machine for a lot more different jobs while utilizing a single operator for that is beneficial,” he adds.

Dolan and Jacobsmeyer say customer feedback was essential during the process of brining the Minotaur to life. The compact dozer loader holds 29 patents and has pushed through more than 10,000 hours of field tests, in addition to countless customer clinics and typical lab and engineering testing.

Built on a dozer-style undercarriage and pushing with more than 25,000 pounds of drawbar pull, the machine is available with three different track options to meet operator preference and jobsite profiles:

• 14-inch single-grouser steel tracks
• 18-inch triple-grouser steel tracks
• 17.7-inch rubber tracks
  

The 90- or 96-inch six-way blade connected to the integrated C-frame is the same blade featured on the Case 650M dozer and gives the operator a full range of dozer controls and movements. The machine’s electro-hydraulic controls also deliver responsiveness like full-sized Case dozers, with the ability to adjust blade, steering and shuttle sensitivity to smooth, moderate or aggressive to meet the operator’s preference. Blade responsiveness can be further dialed in to operator preference by independently setting the speed of the blade tilt, lift and angle.  

The fully-integrated rear ripper is easily controlled from within the cab — it comes standard with three shanks and can be expanded to five shanks for more aggressive ripping. The rear ripper feature must be selected when ordering as it cannot be added after the time of purchase.

© Kim Lux | Lawn & Landscape

“When you see the Minotaur you might see it as a large CTL, but it’s when you experience it that you recognize it’s not a compact track loader. It truly is a dozer first,” Dolan said. “For those landscaping contractors doing commercial and residential work, to be able to put a full-size dozer blade on here, and not just a blade attachment, enables them to have the pushing power to do land clearing. And then has the ability to go to precision grading. I think landscaping contractors will be ideal for this.”

In its loader configuration, the Case Minotaur DL550 features a 5,500-pound rated operating capacity (50% of tipping load) with 12,907 pounds of breakout force. It features a vertical lift pattern and operates in the ISO control pattern. It also features advanced electro-hydraulic control capabilities where operators can easily dial in total machine responsiveness to low, moderate or aggressive; or independently set tilt, lift and drive speed, as well as loader arm and drive control to best meet the demands of the work.

Case builds the machine standard from the factory with enhanced high-flow auxiliary hydraulics for running the most demanding and high-powered attachments — such as mulching heads and cold planers. Minotaur’s enhanced high-flow hydraulics can deliver up to 41.6 GPM at 4,100 psi via the ¾-inch hydraulic quick couplers.  

The machine also allows operators to harness all that power with “Hydraulics on Demand,” where the operator can select the percentage of auxiliary hydraulic flow to the attachment via the machine’s multi-function display. This allows the operator to dial in attachment performance to their preference or the recommendation of the attachment manufacturer — ensuring both effective and proper operation of the attachment.

The Minotaur also comes with Case SiteConnect Module — a device that improves the volume, flow and integration of data to the Case SiteWatch telematics platform for real-time monitoring and management of maintenance and service intervals, as well as the analysis of equipment utilization and performance. 

It’s also the foundation from which Case has made the collaborative fleet management and remote diagnostics of compact equipment a reality. This enhanced connectivity allows the machine owner to share — with permission — real-time machine information with their Case dealer and the Case Uptime Center in Racine, Wis.  

Case achieves these remote service capabilities through the Case SiteManager App (iOS and Android). This app pairs the operator’s phone or device to the machine to enable remote analysis by a certified Case technician, which allows them to diagnose the health of each connected machine through various parameter readings and fault codes. The technician decides as to whether the issue can be addressed remotely – such as clearing codes or updating software – or if it requires a trip to the machine.

And in the case of a service need, the Case Minotaur DL550 is built for ease of service with groundline access to grouped service points and checks like every machine in the Case lineup. Service intervals and machine operating information are easily accessed in the machine’s eight-inch LCD display in the cab.

To celebrate the launch of the machine, Case is launching a tour of the United States and Canada with more than 30 stops where the machine will be showcased at Case dealer locations.

For more information on the Case Minotaur DL550 compact dozer loader, contact your local Case dealer, and learn more at CaseCE.com/Minotaur.