Cat 345B L MH specifications

345B material-handler weight, magnet controls and transport condition

The 345B L MH record describes a handling front and a raised operator station. Its attachment-free weight is not a shipping manifest or a scrap payload. Caterpillar's later Series II material-handler brochure adds explicit generator, grapple and track conditions, so those equipped figures need a separate reading from the original comparison.

Separate the grapple's rotation supply from the magnet generator

The Series II brochure describes a dedicated rotation gear pump and another pump for the generator. A grapple that rotates normally does not prove the magnet power supply is operating. The two functions have different hydraulic provisions.

Its magnet monitor distinguishes overheating, voltage and ground faults. Those are separate indications; recording only “magnet warning” loses information that the control panel supplies. The brochure also disables automatic engine-idle reduction while the generator operates.

An engine remaining at working speed in magnet service should be assessed with that operating mode identified.

Do not subtract the grapple alone from an equipped brochure weight

The original table explicitly excludes the attachment. The Series II cover instead gives an equipped operating condition that includes a generator and grapple. Those records also differ in their track-shoe conditions.

A difference between their weights cannot be assigned entirely to the grapple.

For a transport quote, write the offered machine's configuration beside the attachment-free entry: installed handling front, cab riser, generator, shoes and any attached tool. That comparison exposes what the weight excludes. It does not manufacture a new total by borrowing components from another edition.

A folded riser and retracted tracks describe transport preparation

Caterpillar describes the Series II riser tilting forward for shipment. Its shipping instructions also require removal of access extensions and specify retracted gauge for shipping only. A height measured with the cab raised cannot stand in for the prepared transport height.

The handling-front table's maximum height and ground reach are different envelope limits. Neither is a rated load at that position. Likewise, the fixed-riser cab height describes the operator station, not the attachment pin.

Keep those distinctions on an inspection sheet so a loading-clearance question is not answered with a cab dimension or an unsupported lifting capacity.