Hydrostatic wheel loader boosts traction with variable shift control

A 166-horsepower air-to-air aftercooled engine and a hydrostatic transmission with a variable shift control system drive the new WA320-5 wheel loader from Komatsu America. To prevent tire slippage in wet or sandy conditions, a traction control switch can be turned on to reduce tractive effort by 50 percent. The transmission puts out only as much power as needed for a given operation and the variable shift control lets you set the maximum speed from 0 to 8.1 mph to better match hydraulic speed in applications such as tight V-cycle truck loading. The fully hydraulic braking system includes wet disc service and parking brakes that are sealed against contaminants and reduce daily service time by eliminating the daily chore of having to drain an air brake air tank.