It’s barely February and we already know the fluid-power industry’s news of the year: Danfoss is acquiring Eaton Hydraulics for $3.3 billion. It paints a stark contrast between two corporations’ view of the future of hydraulics. Eaton’s CEO Craig Arnold said the sale “is part of the ongoing transformation of Eaton into a higher growth […]
EV Engineering
Keep optimism through IFPE and beyond
Each week, we see more news of the dip occurring in the industrial market here in the U.S. and beyond. Industrial markets and shipments are down and have been across the board, particularly in the fluid power space. For example, the NFPA has indicated mobile hydraulic, industrial hydraulic and pneumatic shipments decreased when compared to […]
Efficient hydraulics key to battery-powered machines
Electrification is a global trend that offers the potential to fight climate change. For mobile-equipment builders, that means intelligently melding hydraulics and electric drives. At the recent Fluid Power Technology Conference in Cleveland, Danfoss Senior Systems Engineer Simon Nielsen discussed the changing off-highway landscape and how his company is positioned to take advantage and benefit […]
The fascinating future of mobile hydraulics
At this Spring’s Fluid Power Technology Conference in Milwaukee, three panelists from major OEMs discussed the future of mobile hydraulics, and what changes designers can expect to see in the coming years. Sitting on the panel were Gary Dostal, Manager – Mechanical Engineering, Komatsu Mining Corp.; Greg Downs, Senior Principal Engineer, Zoomlion Heavy Industry NA […]
Liebherr’s strategy for electric mobile machines
Among mobile-equipment manufacturers, electrification — the concept of replacing diesel engines and traditional hydraulics with electric drives and batteries — is without a doubt a hot topic. But OEMs should consider both the financial and engineering ramifications before jumping in head first, according to Thomas Schulze, Drive System Application Engineer with Liebherr Components in Biberach, […]
The practical side of mobile electrification
Manufacturers of construction equipment are falling over each other in the scramble to introduce electrified off-road vehicles that eliminate diesel engines and, in some cases, hydraulic drives. A number of such machines were on display at this year’s bauma, and predicting more of the same at Conexpo 2020 will be the safest bet in Las […]
We’ve come a long way, baby: the evolution of construction equipment hydraulics
Modern mobile machinery has changed quite a bit. Here is a look at how construction equipment hydraulics have changed over the last couple hundred years. By Josh Cosford, Contributing Editor On a road near my home, there exists a hand-laid stone fence, perhaps 4 ft high and a hundred times as long. Crafted from locally-sourced […]
Mobile hydraulics gets an unwelcome jolt
One unmistakable take-away from this year’s bauma show was the buzz surrounding electrification. The idea of massive mobile machines running only on batteries may seem far-fetched, but for smaller equipment it has become a reality. At every turn, major manufacturers like Cat, Kobelco, Komatsu and Volvo to niche players like Ecovolve and Giant featured electrified […]
Bucher Hydraulics announces “revolutionary” new pump design
The performance of traditional hydraulic pumps has not kept up with increasingly stringent customer demands and new application requirements, according to officials at Bucher Hydraulics, Klettgau, Germany. They’re tackling such concerns with a new design for piston pumps and motors called the AX series. The AX is not an evolutionary improvement over existing products, said […]
Transforming mobile machines
Like the construction equipment industry as a whole, the Mobile Hydraulics Group of Bosch Rexroth enjoyed a good a year in 2018. “Our efforts to restructure the company and gain market share definitely paid off,” said Bernd Schunk, Senior Vice President Sales for Mobile Hydraulics. “We generated another double-digit increase in revenue, boosted by the […]
