Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) shares have been on a tear over the past year, up more than 85%. And CAT has trounced the performance of the industrials sector in general, which has returned about 30% over the same period. What's the catalyst for CAT's surge? Well, many investors viewed the U.S. stimulus spending program as a clear boon for Caterpillar shareholders. In addition, the company is making big investments in Brazil and China to grow its share of emerging markets.

Will these investments continue to drive Caterpillar's share price up, or are there other industrial companies better positioned to put more money into your pocket?

We asked our Motley Fool CAPS community to nominate two industrials peers that are likely to outperform Caterpillar.

And the nominees are
Our 165,000-plus-member CAPS community views Japan-based Komatsu (OTC BB: KMTUY.PK) as a better opportunity among similarly sized companies in industrials. Komatsu is a five-star stock (the highest rating given by our CAPS community) and Caterpillar currently stands as a four-star stock. CAPS member gopirque makes the case that Komatsu has a strong competitive position and growth story:

Quality machinery from a non-US source (Asian). Grabbing a good share of the market here in the US and abroad, great alternative to [Caterpillar] and [Deere] (which I'm fans of both).

Debt is very low for such a large machinery company (especially compared to [Deere]). [Komatsu] has been steadily increasing revenue each year and has every reason to continue considering their great locations geographically.

Komatsu recently raised its net income forecast 41% for the first half of the year based on better-than-forecast growth in Asia and Latin America. North American and Japanese demand has been improving over the prior year as well. Both Caterpillar and Komatsu would likely suffer if the global economy slows down significantly, or worse, double dips. But Komatsu may have more upside at current prices.

If you're looking for a small cap that may grow up to become the next machinery superpower, the CAPS community points us toward John Bean Technologies (Nasdaq: JBT). Unlike its construction machinery counterparts, John Bean focuses on two niches: airport equipment and food processing technology. John Bean sports an eye-popping return on equity of 123% and a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 10.3. 

But unlike Caterpillar and Komatsu, John Bean hasn't shown as strong a growth in the first part of 2010. In May, John Bean announced that its air transportation business unit declined 8% year-over-year because of slowing air traffic trends. That was offset by 7% growth in its food processing segment and it reaffirmed its full-year revenue targets.

Make your vote count!
Do you agree that Komatsu and John Bean may be better buys than Caterpillar? Click over to CAPS and let the rest of the community know what you think.