They asked Flodraulic’s North American Hydraulics (NAHI) group to come up with a solution for providing front wheel drive on their harvesters with built-in freewheeling capabilities. NAHI stood up to the test and came up with a Black Bruin BB6 hydraulic motor that replaced a competitive brand the continually broke shafts during operation.
The harvester weighs in at 95,000lbs when fully loaded down and needs to travel at a working speed of 5.3mph. Highway travel speed is 13.0mph. Working torque when in the powered assist application is 15,727ft-lb’s per Black Bruin radial piston motor. With two motors, the combined torque of 31,454ft-lb gives the hydraulic pull that the harvester is looking for during its operation.
With the Black Bruin BB6 radial piston motor, required harvesting torques and speeds are easily achieved with the existing hydraulic system. The operator can hydraulically engage the motors for power assist while harvesting, then disengage the hydraulics once harvesting is complete and it is time to take the unit back on the highway. All of this can be done by the push of a button inside the cab of the harvester. These simple tasks make it easier and more efficient for farmers to harvest their fields.
