Visit the Parker Hannifin web site

Hydraulic drives power the Predator

A Brevini product story
Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Feb 25, 2003

Brevini's planetary geared hydraulic wheel drive assemblies provide the power to weight ratio and compact design needed for use on the giant track-driven carriers made by Richard Larrington.

Brevini's planetary geared hydraulic wheel drive assemblies provide the power to weight ratio and compact design needed to be specified for use on the giant track-driven carriers made by Richard Larrington.

The Brevini units allow the trucks to turn on the spot and transport 20t of peat across steep and unstable terrain at speeds in excess of 8km/h.

The 20t Predator trucks from Richard Larrington are used for carrying peat across the moors in the North of England.

Thanks to their innovative design, the vehicles can transport peat up and down 20-degree inclines and boggy terrain with loads in excess of 20t - more than four times that of conventional tractors.

The secret to the Predator's superior performance is the two large rubberised tracks that spread the load over a large surface area and allow the vehicle to turn 360 degrees on the spot.

The tracks are pushed forward by a pair of Brevini two-stage reduction drive systems, which provide the levels of torque control required to power and position the machine that can weigh in excess of 43t when fully loaded.

Jon Snaith, Sales Manager at Brevini UK explains that: "The steep and boggy terrain on which the vehicle was designed to operate, required the drive system to be track rather than wheel based as traditional tractors would often 'dig in', even when carrying less than a quarter of the load.

Also, in order to maximise the load carrying capacity of the Predator, the machine itself was designed to be as light as possible without compromising strength, making a two stage reduction wheel drive system a vast improvement over heavier axel based or larger direct drive systems".

The wheel drive units themselves consist of hydraulic motors integrated with Brevini planetary gearboxes, making them small enough to fit inside the tracks themselves.

The compact motors produce rotational speeds of up to 2750rev/min, which is geared down to ratio of 40:1 by the Brevini boxes, providing levels of torque that can reach 38,000Nm.

Despite the high gearing, the Predator is capable of an impressive 13kmph unloaded and 8km/h at full carrying capacity.

As the Brevini units are designed for use on large farm machinery such as crop harvesters, the RFD255 uniquely provides a dual braking function as standard.

The Larrington Predator could therefore be stopped hydrostatically using the fluid pressure and dynamically via a disc brake inside the gearbox, which holds the vehicle while stationary.

This is an especially important feature should the machines be exported to countries where legislation requires dual braking in order for the vehicle to be road legal.

Send to a friend Send to a friend
Print this page Print this page
Bookmark this page Bookmark this page

Not what you're looking for? Search the site.

Back to top Back to top

Google Ads

 

Contact Brevini

Contact Brevini

Company profile and news

Related Stories

Contact Brevini

 

Newsletter sign up

Request your free weekly copy of the Engineeringtalk email newsletter ...

Sign up now Sign up now

Visit the Parker Hannifin web site

Browse by category

All suppliers A - Z

A Pro-talk Publication

A Pro-talk publication