PRESS ARTICLE

Functionality is paramount

Murrhardt-Fornsbach, 14.06.2023

 

Functionality is paramount

Pure rotation leads to greater efficiency with the excavator – no frills

Digitalization is advancing in all areas – including the construction equipment sector, where attachments for this purpose also intervene in the control systems of excavators. But electronics are not always a must for good operability and efficiency: With its RotoTop, Holp GmbH shows how this can be done differently and consciously sets the focus apart from some market trends.

"For us, the focus is always on functionality and operability, because that is the precondition for achieving maximum performance and thus the greatest economic efficiency for the entrepreneur," explains Günter Holp, Managing Director of Holp GmbH and still a passionate excavator operator. From his earliest youth, he has been concerned with making the work with the excavator better, faster and more efficient with his developments. This applies to the various attachments he has developed since then, but especially to the steadily growing series of RotoTop rotary drives, which are now available for excavators from 600 kg to 45 tonnes operating weight. Holp can be described here as a pioneer company in the field of rotation on excavators, because since 2007 the Swabian company has deliberately focused on pure rotation, which enables the three-dimensional movement of the attachment on the excavator and corresponds to the ability of a human wrist.

Robust and not prone to faults

The RotoTop itself is designed for an extremely long service life - in other words, for more than one excavator life. Its robust and at the same time lightweight design with the large-dimensioned rotary feedthroughs for the largest oil volume on the attachment which ensures that really tough jobs can be worked without restrictions.

In the market and in many trade magazines it is often communicated that only electronics offer full control and enable the detection of faults in the implement. In contrast to this, the RotoTop does without electronics completely and deliberately relies on mechanical solutions that are not prone to faults and thus allow maximum performance. "We avoid any frills that are not essential for the function of the RotoTop. Thus, there are no error messages and nothing needs to be fixed," explains Günter Holp. The RotoTop does not have to interfere with the excavator's control system. It works on all excavators that comply with the European standard, no matter how old they are.

The only exception: If the RotoX tilt rotator is used, this means that the excavator must have more cables, but this can be ordered from most manufacturers. If the RotoX is then used in the sandwich, it requires the MIC 4.0 system, which is of course available and can also be retrofitted, as this is very useful additional equipment such as current feed-through and absolute encoders for 2D/3D controls.

Pure rotation is sufficient for all standard construction sites

Another trend in the market is to present the possibilities of a tilt rotator as a panacea. This completely ignores the massive disadvantages such as the high superstructure and the heavy weight, which cause a loss in performance of up to 4 excavator classes on the excavator arm. What’s more, the operation of the tilt is incomparably more complicated, since four axes of movement are used here, which means that it can do more than the natural movements that can be compared to those of a human wrist. Two axes, the swivel movement (turning the upper carriage) and the up and down movement (tipping the bucket in and out) are provided by every excavator. Due to the endless rotation, the entire spatial movement is achieved on the third axis, which everyone can intuitively understand and easily learn.

Of course, there are situations in foundation engineering where pure rotation is not quite enough at some times. However, those who need the last 5-10 % in freedom of movement can always retrofit with a tilt using the Holp modular system and thus turn it into a RotoX, or simply use a tilt in a sandwich for the temporary special tasks, which, however, is only taken up when it is really needed.