PRODUCT FOCUS
Couplers offer the
greatest versatility
with a quick and easy
switch from a bucket
to a ripper and back
again. While grapples
allow for a wide range
of material handling
options, including rock,
debris, tree stumps,
and much more.”
Francois Martin, Kinshofer
North America
the working tool, which we send off to the
manufacturing factory in Europe, where they
oversee the data on the specific tool and the
operating requirements. They then approve
it. Should there be any consequential
damage on the machine, caused by the
attachment, warranties remain unaffected,
as it was pre-approved by the relevant
factory.”
Rhino’s Heslop adds: “We have modified
our own attachments in our own hire
fleet, but without manufacturer’s approval,
however, warranties could be obviated.
We are always available to offer advice
based on our field experiences. An example
of this would be hammer modifications
in lengthening the moils in a furnace
demolition application. Other modifications
have been in the Ripper tips; we have a
local supplier that makes tips to suit varying
ground conditions,” he explains.
Kinshofer’s drum cutters feature an exclusive pick angle and optimal chisel arrangement for
high performance and minimal wear, making the attachments ideal for mining, tunnelling, road
construction, and demolition.
SA coupler and
attachment market
Gutzeit believes that the attachment
market for wheel loaders is not large
but adds that there is room to grow.
His reasoning is because attachments
are not promoted at point of sale,
“It draws the sale process out and
creates problems with getting the
OEM’s permission and finding the right
engineering company to design an
attachment for that specific OEM and
model,” he points out.
Rudolph says that in the case
where a customer has attachments
on site and is replacing the carrier
(that is, the excavator, loader, and so
on), then Liebherr permits the use of
used attachments, so long as they are
in line with the requirements of the
specific carrier. “However, we normally
go with new attachments and not
used ones,” he points out. “Our policy
stipulates that we only configure new
attachments to carriers unless the end
user prefers to make use of a used
working tool.”
The application of used attachments
generally, is not practised across
the sector.
Gutzeit says that as the working
tool is designed specifically for each
machine model, Dezzi’s wheel loader
segment is a very small market for
attachments. “For instance, a Cat 950
timber grab will not work on a Dezzi
D2500 or Komatsu of similar size,
because each attachment has specific
mounting points that are custom
matched to that OEM’s frame design
geometry.”
Changing atta