Hyundai and Engcon are partnering to equip Hyundai excavators with tiltrotators, and both companies were showcasing the partnership at their respective booths at ICUEE.
Engcon announced in August that it would factory fit its DC2 control system and levers on Hyundai excavators to accommodate tiltrotators, which offer 360-degree attachment rotation and tilt for more precise and efficient operations. The rollout will first be available on the European market with plans to go global, Engcon said.
The Engcon tiltrotators will “soon” be available at U.S. Hyundai dealerships by factory order on certain models, said Juston Thompson, Hyundai national account specialist, at the company’s ICUEE booth. He said he could not reveal a specific time frame and which excavators would be available for the tiltrotators, other than they would be for “future machines.” At ICUEE, an an HX140LC and an R80CR-9A, Hyundai’s largest compact excavator, were equipped with tiltrotators, and show attendees could test the device.
An Engcon tiltrotator paired with a Hyundai R80CR-9A compact excavator at Engcon’s booth at ICUEE 2019.
Thompson says the tiltrotator is becoming more in demand for projects involving intricate designs, such as waterflow management in which various grades are needed for proper water flow.
The Engcon system includes a quick coupler that allows the operator to attach and detach attachments from the cab. The coupler can also detach from the tiltrotator to link directly to the bucket for digging. It can also link to other tools, including forks and grabbing devices. The attachments and coupler are operated via joystick controls.
“It’s really simple to operate,” Thompson said. “It’s really intuitive.”
Engcon, which is based in Sweden, has also announced it is integrating its tiltrotators and control systems as factory-installed options for Doosan’s excavators in Europe. And Engcon, Kobelco and Leica announced last year they were working together to develop a new automatic tiltrotator function for Kobelco excavators.
Engcon CEO Krister Blomgren said at the company’s ICUEE booth that Engcon is working to increase product sales in the United States, where tiltrotators are not as widely used as in Europe. But he said he was pleased to see that operators here were interested in the device, and he views North America as a growth market for the company.
