The
tiltrotator manufacturer Engcon is an important part of the world’s first Cat
330 Next Gen equipped with both a front blade and a tiltrotator – which has
proven to be a successful combination.
Behind
the controls of this unique excavator is Kristoffer Westman from Sundbergs
Åkeri, a Swedish plant and transportation company. He puts the excavator to
work on constructing a forest road, taking advantage of the greater flexibility
and efficiency the combination of the front blade and tiltrotator bring.
At
the end of 2018, Caterpillar launched the next generation excavators in the
30-ton class - 330 and 330 GC. When Sundbergs Åkeri chose equipment for its
newly acquired Cat 330 Next Gen in early 2019, among other things, a
tiltrotator and grading bucket from Engcon were selected.
Together
with a custom-built excavator blade from Nyströms Verkstadsservice in Edsbro,
Sundbergs Åkeri now has a one of a kind excavator that delivers significant
improvements in efficiency with the company’s road construction work.
“From
just scooping up material which I then have levelling with the bucket, I can
now plan where to place the material with the front blade. This means that I
now roll the material in front of the blade, which results in larger stones
falling to the bottom and finer material settling on the surface. It also makes
the road easier to adjust before gravelling” says Kristoffer Westman.
Up
until now when building forest roads it has been uncommon to use an excavator
with a tiltrotator, but for Kristoffer it has so far brought only benefits,
especially in combination with the front blade.
“I
haven't driven more than a couple of hundred hours, but this is how an
excavator should be. The tiltrotator complements the front blade very well as I
can use it to rotate the grading bucket to a position where it acts as a wing
along the front blade. That way I can either steer in or out of the ground from
the embankment” says Kristoffer Westman.
Kristoffer
Westman goes on to say that his new Cat® 330 is also equipped with Engcon's
automatic quick mounting system with EC-Oil.
“Thanks
to EC-Oil, it only takes 10 seconds for me to hang the tiltrotator and switch
on the tooth bucket in case I need extra breaking power. This without me even
having to leave the cab to connect some hoses” Kristoffer concludes.
The
new excavator is currently being used in the construction of a new forest road
west of Örnsköldsvik in the northern part of Sweden. The front blade is
controlled via Engcon's proportional joysticks MIG2, which means that
Kristoffer does not need to change the grip to dig or excavate. The control of
the tracks is also connected to Engcon's control system DC2.
