Caterpillar P315

The Caterpillar P315 is a passive hydraulic pulverizer, built to crush and cut concrete and rebar as a bolt-on excavator attachment rather than a self-propelled machine. It has no engine, no ECM, and no undercarriage of its own; it mounts via pin-on bracket or CW-series quick coupler onto a mid-size 15-25 t class excavator carrier, spanning Cat 315C/D up through 324D and select 325/UHD carriers, and runs entirely off that carrier's hydraulic system. It is the base model in Cat's P315/P325/P335/P360 primary pulverizer family, per Cat's factory work-tool catalog literature. Operating weight excluding the mounting bracket is roughly 1890 kg, with a jaw opening around 731 mm and closing force rated near 90 t at the tooth tip and up to 190 t at the primary cutter. The crush-close circuit runs at an optimum of about 150 l/min at 350 bar, while the separate 360-degree rotator circuit runs lower flow, around 40 l/min at 140 bar. Heavier siblings P325, P335, and P360 scale the same architecture up to larger jaws and bigger carriers.

Across the P315-P325-P335-P360 family the core layout stays the same: a pin-on or coupler-mounted jaw, a single crush-close cylinder, and a hydraulically driven 360-degree rotator, all fed from the carrier's own circuits. What changes moving up the range is jaw size, weight, and the carrier class each model is matched to, so wear parts and service logic carry across the line even though tonnage and mounting patterns differ. Cat later replaced this generation with a separate P318-P365 pulverizer lineup carrying its own model numbers and specifications, so the two eras should not be treated as interchangeable beyond general pulverizer principles. In the used and parts market, the P315 still holds value as a low-cost entry point for demolition and concrete-recycling contractors running mid-size excavators, since it needs no independent power source and its running gear - pins, bushings, jaw teeth, hoses, and rotator seals - is simple and inexpensive to keep serviceable compared with a powered machine. Because there is no engine to wear out, resale and working condition on a used P315 come down almost entirely to jaw wear, pin and bushing clearance, and cylinder seal condition.

Below: full specifications, fluids & capacities, the factory service schedule, common service parts, verified fault codes, what owners discuss, attachment guidance, the complete assembly directory, and a serial-number reference. Complete parts lists with full OEM part numbers, exploded diagrams, quantities, and fitment data are available free in Heavy Parts AI.