Turf Lift Vehicle Hydraulics

Wildflower Turf

Business situation

Our customer had issues with the hydraulics on their Turf Lifting vehicle with regular breakdowns, wear and tear on mechanical parts and high fuel usage.

Technical situation

The vehicle was powered by multiple gear pumps, having a fixed displacement and any excess oil was passing over relief valves. There were multiple standard Cetop valves with many hoses, making the system untidy and difficult to fault find. The control of the cylinders and motors was very coarse with pressure shocks and mechanical wear.

The cylinders were not sized correctly leading to fatigue, leakage and failure.

Solution

Torishima redesigned the hydraulic system with the supply of a mobile directional valve, manifold blocks, a load sense pump and new cylinders. The load sense pump replaced three gear pumps and provided the basis for improved machine efficiency. The directional valve and manifolds reduced the number of valves and connections and provider smoother machine control. Cylinders were replaced with custom strokes to better fit the application and some had LVDT’s fitted to monitor the movement.

A new system control panel was designed with a plc and HMI. This improved the control and troubleshooting on the vehicle.

The new system was installed and commissioned.

Benefits

• Reduced fuel usage, up to 50%.
• Much improved system reliability
• Improved control resulting in reduced customer scrap and reduced stress on the vehicle mechanics.
• Reduced number of components and hoses, reducing the number of potential leakage points.

Products and services used

• Mobile directional valve – Walvoil
• HMI & PLC - Siemens
• Axial piston pump – Kawasaki
• Hoses & Fittings - Stauff

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