While there are several criteria that determine the correct attachment for a particular skid steer or CTL, perhaps one of the least understood is hydraulic compatibility. In a recent webinar, product experts at Case Construction Equipment simplified the selection process by educating attendees on the basic hydraulic system considerations.

The process really begins with the hydraulic flow and pressure ratings on both the machine and attachments. Understanding the relationships between flow and pressure is critical when matching attachments to a skid steer or CTL. Start by looking at the fundamentals. “Flow is going to be the speed of the attachment under no restriction,” explains Ted Polzer, director of product and customer support, Case Construction Equipment. If an attachment lists a 30-gpm maximum flow, that is at no pressure or resistance to that flow. “As soon as we start to resist flow, that’s when we start to build pressure. It’s really important to understand what your maximum constraints are for the attachment on the flow and that pressure.”

If you chart flow versus pressure, there is a point where flow and pressure cross to create the most productive setting for a specific attachment. Consider a cold planer. “If you are crowding it too hard and you are running at 3,000 psi, for the sake of discussion, you are going to start generating heat, and you are not helping the productivity of the machine,” says Polzer. “You could be more productive by actually backing off a little bit and reducing some of that resistance to the flow. Your attachment will probably run more consistent with its speed, in addition you’re not fighting that additional heat that is being built in the system. So it’s extremely important to understand exactly what your machine will do and what your attachments are capable of accepting.” This is where a pressure gauge on the attachment can prove beneficial.

Pressure Gauges Can Eliminate Guesswork
“Pressure gives you an idea of how much work you can do,” says Polzer. “One of the training aides that we have used is we simply put a pressure gauge in an area that’s visible to the operator. We mark that and say you’re more productive at this pressure.” This helps eliminate operator concerns. “It is a very inexpensive way to understand exactly where you can be (when operating) and it will drive a lot of consistency with your operators if they are watching that target.” It is worth noting that some of today’s attachments come with a pressure gauge mounted on the attachment clearly visible to the operator.”

Hydraulic horsepower can serve as a good indictor to match machines and attachments in terms of hydraulic system compatibility. This can be calculated by the simple equation hydraulic horsepower = [pressure (psi) *flow (gpm)]/1714. Hydraulic horsepower is good to know because it is essentially telling you what your machine is capable of doing, what your attachment can accept and what kind of productivity to expect. “What’s important about that is many hydraulic attachments are also rated by their hydraulic horsepower.” This is starting to be more common with the newer attachments.

Read more: How To Size Skid-steer and CTL Attachments for Hydraulic Compatibility

Spurred by new demands for efficiency, hydraulic equipment across the industrial and mobile markets is rapidly evolving. For hydraulic fluids and lubricants, this kind of evolution represents both a challenge and opportunity. Not only must these fluids be able to deliver robust protection under increasingly strenuous operating conditions, but they also can directly improve operational efficiency.

Among the current market trends and their implications for hydraulic fluids:

Increasing power density and internal pressures. Modern hydraulic system design increasingly prioritizes lightweighting and power density in order to best compete with electric systems that continue to gain marketplace traction. These design parameters result in much higher internal operating pressures, which can be as high as 450 bar in current mobile equipment. Pressure levels are likely to only grow higher.

However, higher pressure increases the potential for internal fluid leakage. This phenomenon can lead to a reduction in the clearances between moving parts, which can severely compromise machine durability. As such, lubrication here has needed to move from hydrodynamic protection into the mixed film region, requiring new additive technologies and formulation expertise.

Finer filtration. Higher pressures and lower clearances in hydraulic components also mean that fluids must remain very clean throughout components’ operating life. Wet filterability has become a critical fluid performance parameter for fluids because even tiny particles that may become trapped between moving parts can have serious consequences.

Smaller oil coolers and reservoirs. In order to save space and further reduce weight, the size of new oil coolers and reservoirs are smaller. The challenges here for hydraulic fluids are significant—in smaller applications, operating temperatures can increase by as much as 10°C, effectively halving the fluids’ life. Smaller cooler and reservoir sizes also mean that less fluid is doing the same amount of work, which may increase the severity of operating conditions. Such fluids must be formulated to demonstrate thermal stability, and increased additive levels will be required to maximize performance.

Read more: A “Greener” Hydraulic Lubricant Gets a Lift

A North East hydraulic specialist has secured a ‘major’ project for a new dock gate in Lincolnshire.

Middlesbrough firm Industrial and Marine Hydraulics (IMH) has been commissioned to provide the hydraulics for a pair of new dock gates at the Port of Boston dock entrance.

The news comes following IMH’s work on the Boston Barrier supporting BMMJV – a joint operating venture of BAM Nuttall and Mott MacDonald.

This phase of the project will see IMH deliver a single main hydraulic power unit (MHPU) which will power both the North and South wet dock entrance gates, as well as two emergency hydraulic power units (EHPU) which are diesel driven.

James Griffiths, managing director at IMH, commented: “We’re delighted to have the opportunity to once again work alongside BMMJV following our successful work together on the Boston tidal flood barrier.

“The team at IMH has successfully completed manufacture of the pipe spools and are currently finalising the manufacture of the hydraulic power units ready for the factory acceptance test within the next few weeks.”

Guy Russell, MEICA project manager at BAM Nuttall added: “We’re delighted with the input and support provided by IMH through the Boston Tidal Barrier project.

“The pro-active relationship between BMMJV and IMH has meant that challenges were identified quickly and solutions implemented effectively to ensure the project continued on time and to budget.”

Read more: Teesside hydraulic engineering specialist lands ‘major’ dock project

The Global Hydraulic Power Unit Market 2021 Report provides the most recent industry trends, developments, and forecast market information. This report provides in-depth insights into the Hydraulic Power Unit industry based on market size, Hydraulic Power Unit growth, development plans, and opportunities. The forecast market data, SWOT analysis, Hydraulic Power Unit restraints, and feasibility studies are important aspects analyzed in this report. A comprehensive view of the Hydraulic Power Unit industry is provided based on definitions, product type, applications, top players driving global market share, and Hydraulic Power Unit revenue. The information in the form of graphs, pie charts will lead to an easy analysis of an industry. The market share of the major players, their business plans and policies, growth factors will help other players to get useful business tactics.

The Extensive and up-to-date information about the product, industry growth curve and end clients will drive revenue and productivity. The Hydraulic Power Unit report aims to provide a 360-degree market overview, present status of the business to examine future development openings and risk factors. At first, the report gives Hydraulic Power Unit introduction, fundamental overview, objectives, market definition, Hydraulic Power Unit scope, and market size estimate.

Read more: Global Hydraulic Power Unit Market Dynamics (COVID-19 Impacts) Analysis and Forecast (2020-2027)

Tray fillers provide uniform media, allowing uniform watering and plants. Here’s what you need to know when picking out one of these machines.

Filling containers is one of the large labor users in the production of plants. The typical hand-filling rate of 60 to 100 flats/person-hour is considered good. On the other hand, machines are available that will fill more than 1,000 flats/person-hour.

The advantage to choosing a machine over hand-filling is the uniformity of media in the container. There are no compacted areas. This results in more uniform watering and therefore more uniform plants.

Although a tray filler can be used as a standalone machine, they are more efficient if they are part of a production line. Tray fillers can include a soil feeder, seeder, transplanting machine or conveyor, watering tunnel and tagger. It is usually best if all equipment is purchased from the same manufacturer so the components match.

Basic components

What should you look for in a container-filling machine? The following are the basic components of most machines.

Soil bin — The bin should be able to handle the type of mix you are using without bridging or sticking. Bin capacities ranging from 6 cubic feet to 4 cubic yards are available. One yard will fill about 75 flats or 480 6-inch pots.

Conveyor for flats — A belt or chain conveyor is used to move the containers under the soil bin or flight conveyor. A variable-speed drive, either electric or hydraulic, will allow you to adjust the feed rate depending on the size of the container. Feed rates of five to 30 trays per minute for small machines and 20 to 60 for large machines are common. Pot rate will depend on size and whether they are individually fed or are placed in a template tray.

Read more: Selecting a tray filler

Components that collectively make up an entire hydraulic system assembly are referred to as hydraulic components. These components come in various shapes and sizes and are extensively used in a variety of machinery and hydraulic equipment worldwide.

Global Hydraulic Components Market: Market Dynamics

Hydraulic components are majorly use for various end-use applications such as automation, automobiles, aviation, defense, fabrication industry, food and beverage, foundry, materials handling, mining, newspapers and periodicals, oil industry, paper and packaging, robots, ships, transportation, under sea, wood working, plastic industry, press tools, entertainment etc.

In addition, hydraulic machines are widely used in various equipment such as hydraulic lifts and vibration control systems for high-story buildings and trains, sluice gates, crushers, and compactors. Moreover, demand for heavy machinery and equipment is increasing from various end-use verticals such as industrial, material processing/forming machinery, aerospace, mining, automobiles, testing machinery/simulator, and ships/fishing machinery.

Moreover, hydraulic cylinders are widely used in production of agricultural equipment such as tractors, combine harvesters, harvesting machines, loaders, planters, tillage machines, log-splitters, fertilizer spreaders, front-wheel packers, front-power lifts, seed-conveyors, and mulching machines. In addition, growing global population have led to increasing demand for food products, which is further expected to result in need to enhance farm productivity, thereby increasing rate of adoption of more technologically-efficient methods of farming in developing as well as developed countries. Growing demand for food across the globe is a key factor that is expected to lead to increasing utilization of agricultural machinery over the forecast period.

Global Hydraulic ComponentsMarket: Market Forecast

The comprehensive research report comprises a complete forecast of the global hydraulic components market based on factors affecting the market and their impact in the foreseeable future. According to the forecast projections, revenue from the global hydraulic components market is expected to expand at a CAGR of 5.4% during the forecast period.

Read more: Global Hydraulic Components Market to Reach US$ 49.1 Billion by 2021 and is Projected to Register a CAGR of 5.4% by 2026