CAT 6060 shovel cylinders redesigned at Oyu Tolgoi
Recurring failures led Akaliko to change two CAT 6060 cylinder designs. The modified cylinders, supplied in 2025, were still operating at the September 2026 update.
- Engineering
- Manufacturing
At a glance
- Customer
- Oyu Tolgoi
- Location
- Oyu Tolgoi, Mongolia
- Equipment
- CAT 6060 face shovel
- Stick, bucket and clam cylinders
- Work by
- Akaliko
- Record
- September 2026
The problem
The shovel’s cylinders kept failing. On the stick and bucket cylinders, maintenance records showed rod-eye retainer bolts loosening or breaking.
Two design changes
Stick and bucket cylinders
A modified bolted connection at the rod eye, to improve how the threaded joint is tightened and held.
Clam cylinder
A forged rod, with the threaded connection moved from the eye side to the cylinder side.
About the redesign
Why each cylinder changed differently
The stick and bucket cylinders and the clam cylinder have different design requirements, so each received its own change. The bolt problem is recorded for the stick and bucket cylinders.
How to read the hours
The OEM figures are the hours to failure reported before the change in this application. The Akaliko figures are hours reached by cylinders that are still working.
They are not a completed service life, a guarantee or a fleet-wide trial, and staying in service does not mean no maintenance was needed.
Photos from the work
The installed cylinders seen from below, February 2025 
Akaliko cylinders on the CAT 6060 face shovel 
The CAT 6060 loading a haul truck at Oyu Tolgoi, February 2025
What the record shows
Hours in service
10,000 h
Stick and bucket cylinders, still operating
September 2026
Reported OEM range: 3,000–4,000 h to failure
3,000 h
Clam cylinders, still operating
September 2026
Reported OEM range: 1,000–2,000 h to failure
Hours reached by cylinders still in service. Their completed service lives are not yet known.
Source: Akaliko case record, September 2026
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