Erkat remains a byword for quality and forward thinking in 2019

Erkat has been renowned within the industry for its robust, high-quality special cutter attachments for almost 20 years. Now integrated into Epiroc, Erkat is looking to expand upon its leading position once again in 2019. The development of new areas of application and the flexible usability of its broad range of products are top priorities. It is also seeking to develop a sustainable solution to the problem of fine dust pollution on construction sites. In any event, Erkat is gearing up for the future and working incessantly on even more impressive products to meet the ever-increasing demand from markets, companies and individual customers.

Breathe deeply: Erkat is developing, future-oriented dust extraction systems for rotary drum cutters

Advertisement

Dust diseases (pneumoconioses) are the most common officially recognised occupational diseases. Dust particles at the workplace consequently come under the Ordinance on Hazardous Substances (Gefahrstoffverordnung). Even more crucially, Erkat is fully aware of its responsibilities and is making a significant contribution towards occupational health and safety on construction sites with its modern dust extraction systems – straightforward, effective and future-proof.

Numerous manufacturers are already working with dust extraction systems that use water spray. However, this has various obvious drawbacks, such as sensitivity to wind and cumbersome settings. Erkat, by contrast, is a dedicated pioneer in the development of a simple, robust and highly reliable system that meets the market requirements. The solution is to spray water onto the drum cutter, which can also be retrofitted. In this case, the water spray is applied directly to the cutting head or milling area, with the water supplied via an Erkat pump system. This can be used in a targeted way at the actual location itself.

This future-oriented system is already being used successfully with the transverse cutting heads of models ER 100 to 3000. Ongoing development is planned. For indoor use where water spraying is not possible, Erkat also offers small drum cutter models with a dust exhaust hood for dry dust collection. This dust extraction system ensures maximum dust extraction precisely where the dust is produced, for optimal dust suction (uses include transverse drum cutters). If required, it can also be mounted to conventional extraction systems.

Erkat is also working on other systems with differing numbers of water nozzles and is producing special modules for specific working conditions, all with the future in mind. In the cutting head flushing system, for example, the water nozzles are integrated into the rotating cutting head and the water supply is fed via the gear box. Water spraying takes place within the very area in which the bit will be applied.

Sturdy yet sensitive: Erkat’s flexible transverse drum cutters with a cutting wheel are impressive across the whole range

The unbeatable universal applicability of the ER drum cutter series is evident across the board: for excavator classes from 3 to 70 tonnes, Erkat offers a wide range of different drum cutter sizes (ER 50 to ER 3000), plus an array of different cutting heads for the respective basic instrument, depending on the application (rock cutting head, profiling head, cutting wheel, mixing head, wood cutting head, brush drum cutter). A robust design, high load-bearing capacity, low-maintenance requirements, easy handling and, most importantly, real cost-effectiveness all come as standard.

Particularly practical: the transverse drum cutters can also be retrofitted directly for a wide variety of applications at the construction site via the utterly straightforward and rapid replacement of the cutting head, saving time and money. The ER series is thus suitable for work in duct and tunnel construction, special civil engineering, demolition, trenching and mixing soil formations alike. It is no problem to use in particularly sensitive areas, as despite its robust design it is amazingly low in vibrations, thus making it possible to work quietly.

One striking feature is the one-sided mounting of the cutting wheel on the opposite side to the motor (the motor side has a protective covering over the output shaft), allowing cutting with a very small side clearance directly against walls or side obstacles. This is ensured by a standard intermediate bracket that allows the cutter to be turned manually in 22.5° increments. As such, making targeted slits in rock, concrete or asphalt no longer presents any challenge. If you wish, you could even execute a continuous 360° turn via an additional hydraulically operated rotation module (ERU). This Erkat rotator is designed for particularly tough cutting conditions.

Extremely versatile, extremely impressive: Erkat longitudinal drum cutters and auger drive units offer top performance

These cutting ranges also fit the bill with tried and tested universal usability, a large range, robust design and solid, maintenance-free storage (designed for heavy cutting). Moreover, the direct driver of the longitudinal drum cutter with its high-torque radial piston motors is impressive for its extremely high cutting force. With an operating pressure of up to 350 bars, this enables work to be carried out even under the hardest conditions.

While typical areas of application for longitudinal drum cutters are narrow trenches, the precision-profiled cutting out of round foundation holes or the machining of bored pile heads, thanks to the different lengths of its intermediate brackets and differently fitted cutting heads, Erkat machines can also tackle tasks with special requirements. For instance, it has a robust power unit with a special seal for heating applications in the steel industry, and a service-free, non-smear sealing system for use at up to 30 metres underwater. It can also be used at even greater underwater depths thanks to the Erkat retrofit kit.

Changeable and thus highly efficient, the longitudinal drum cutters allow the cutting head to be easily replaced with a robust auger drive unit for boring vertical and horizontal holes. There is a wide selection of auger drills of up to 1,500 mm in diameter for working in a broad range of different soil types (all the way up to rock). The ADU drill drives are indestructible high-performance tools that have been optimally tried and tested for boring into medium-hard limestone rock up to a uniaxial compressive strength of 60 MPa. Only one additional adapter is required to make the connection from the auger drive to the hexagonal connector of the auger.

Getting down to the roots: Erkat’s stump grinders owe their effectiveness to their slow running

We all know that sometimes there is strength in tranquillity. This is strikingly borne out by the stump grinders from the ER series (in this case, the ER 600 and ER 650). Their slow-running high-torque motor affords a high cutting power with ‘only’ a slow cutting head speed. The big advantage of this is that the milled material remains lying immediately beside the tree stump and thus poses no danger due to material flying around, as is the case for conventional fast-running rootstock drum cutter. This ensures not only safety, but also eliminates the need for extra barriers, enclosures or cleaning up.

Nevertheless, the results are impressive. The high cutting power and robustness of the drum cutting also make it possible to carry out work in the soil, such as clearing the stump beneath the turf. There are no limits on how deep it can go. In addition, the excavator arm extension allows a large range, even over obstacles such as trenches or slopes.

The stump grinders are also strikingly cost-effective. Switching quickly and easily from a wood-cutting to a rock-cutting head makes it is ready to use for channel construction or demolition tasks. This allows the carrier to be used more effectively, resulting in better amortisation for the drum cutter.

The perfect mix: Erkat soil-mixing cutters can cope with any subsurface

The huge versatility of Erkat machines is also evident when it comes to its soil-mixing cutters. The basic cutter comes from the field of rock and tunnel construction and is designed for the toughest conditions of use. The mixing heads for these longitudinal and transverse drum cutters for models ER 650 to ER 2000 allow the range of applications to be extended. This ensures better utilisation of the support machinery, making it cost-effective and efficient. An extremely reliable, low-service and non-smear sealing system also guarantees sustainable, environmentally friendly working.

It is driven by means of a high-torque motor, which ensures a high cutting power at a slow cutting head speed. This allows hard soils to be broken and the mixing of tough materials. If required, however, the switchable hydraulic motor also provides a fast rotational speed for mixing more fluid and slightly paste-like soils. Aggregates are added directly in the area of the cutting head itself. Moreover, a choice of extension brackets allows it to be used at a depth of up to 8 metres (depending on the carrier and use). Customer-specific special models for exceptional applications are just as feasible with the soil-mixing cutters as with other Erkat products that allow customisable and flexible use.