Yeah, we know. Watching engines being assembled is sort of like watching paint dry. The entire subject can be positively boring. However, in our never-ending effort to find really cool things for you to read about, see, and watch (we know you love videos), we found a music video set in a Caterpillar marine diesel engine manufacturing and assembly plant. Well, it’s not exactly a music video, it’s more like a video set to music. Nonetheless, we found this interesting and though diesel junkies like you would too.
There are some truly massive engine blocks being machined, honed, and assembled with pistons and rods the size of your leg in this video. It’s a bit difficult to really get a handle on the size of the diesels being built in the Caterpillar Marine Engine Manufacturing Facility in Lafayette, Indiana (seen in this video above) until you catch a glimpse of one of the workers standing near one of the blocks as it’s being worked on.
One of the engines built here provides propulsion for the Z-Tech #1, one of the most powerful docking tugs on the Texas coast. It is a 6,300-hp tug designed to produce 75 metric tons of bollard pull, and is equipped with two Caterpillar 3516C diesel engines, each rated at 3,150 hp at 1,800 rpm. However, there are other engines built in this factory that weigh as much as 17,000 pounds. Just imagine what what the horsepower generated by one of these monster diesels would feel like underneath the hood of your pickup truck!