ADR ahead of the times with "overrun brakes"

Final countdown to the entry into force of EU legislation on road traffic of agricultural machinery, which, awaited for 2016, provides, among other things, the green light to the use of overrun brakes in the EU. Used in the automotive sector and based on the exploitation of energy produced by the mass of the trailer on the drawbar when the towing vehicle is braking, this type of brakes is currently not very common in agriculture, due to its prohibition and restrictions in many states of the Union. But not in Germany although, where are allowed agricultural trailers with mass up to eight tons and where they have contributed to improve security, by confering a good brake performance even with tractors without brakes connected to the trailer. In 2016 new interesting perspectives will be open for the sector of agricultural machinery and so ADR from Uboldo (Varese) has chosen the Bolognese event in order to get prepared for such a relevant appointment and to enter the market with this innovative braking system, which soon could be used on trailers transporting cutter bars for combine harvesters. In Italy, a country for which ADR has studied a custom-made model with Cuna lunette ring, overrun brakes could be used on other types of vehicles, such as trailers for fruit harvesting. “The operating principle – explains in a technical note the business from Varese – is quite simple: the machinery is formed by a mechanical brake control and a telescopic drawbar. During the braking, the interaction between tractor and trailer results, through the drawbar's movement, in a force that acts on the brakes of the trailer by means of tie rods. The effectiveness of the braking system is tightly connected to the ratio of the masses of  tractor and trailer”. The engineers' ability consists in calibrating the response of the drawbar, in order to guarantee the highest efficiency with the widest range of coupling between tractor and trailer. In this respect, the ADR Group has developed, on the base of the experience gained in decades of work in the German sector of agricultural machinery, three different series of drawbars suitable for all kinds of trailers and compatible with overrun brakes (both to central axles and double axle with thrust block), while the line of brakes ranges from a “small” brake (from size 300x60 to 300x90), looking forward to the robust one, with size 350x90, which is still being tested.