A ‘pick of the crop’ from Brevini
02 September 2010
Compact size, lightweight design and an ability to accept directly-mounted standard wheel rims are among the reasons why Brevini’s RF series wheel drives were selected for an agricultural tea harvesting vehicle built in the UK for a tough overseas assignment
Tea harvesting is a tough process requiring vehicles that are able to withstand a host of inhospitable conditions, ranging from rain sodden, muddy fields; to areas so dry that dust ingress poses a constant problem. However, this environment is apparently posing no problems for a range of wheel drives supplied by Brevini featuring an efficient combination of planetary gear unit and high-speed hydraulic motor. This combination is more economical than using large slow-speed hydraulic motors alone and offers significant operating advantages. In the event of hydraulic fluid contamination only the inexpensive package motor need be replaced, and this can be removed and refitted in minutes, without having to jack up the entire unit. The gearbox/motor combination is capable of running at extremely low speeds and producing a high level of torque when it is required.
Torque capacities are between 1,000Nm and 38,000Nm, and the radial load ratings are as high as 200,000N. The units supplied for the tea harvester were from Brevini’s RF range. Each unit uses a two-stage reduction gearbox with a ratio of 25:1 and an SU2 plug-in male shaft. The RJ series is particularly suitable for self-propelled vehicles that have individually motorised wheels.
The drives feature a mechanical disconnect device that is manually operated from the hub end-pate and enables the vehicle to which it is fitted to be towed in an emergency. Several braking options are available with these drives, including double action drum brakes, hydraulic service braking and mechanically activated parking brakes that offer an emergency fail-to-safe system should hydraulic pressure.
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